As another day begins I’m proud to say I’ve survived until 8^th week as a UChicago student. My brain, although fatigued, is mostly still ready to fight but I’m really not sure if my stomach can take it. That’s why I’m passing on dining hall food this Thursday and heading over to Cedar’s Mediterranean Kitchen for an event that will allow me to revive my stomach until I get to gobble down turkey on Thanksgiving and help out some genuinely needy people in the process.

This Thursday, November 17, Cedar’s Mediterranean Kitchen, located at 53^rd & Woodlawn, will donate 15% of their proceeds from customers with a special flyer to help fight homelessness in a nearby south side Chicago neighborhood.  The event is part of the Student Public Interest Research Groups’ campaign to raise awareness and fight the problems of hunger and homelessness and even falls during National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week which runs from November 12-20, 2011. This money that is raised during this event will be donated to the Maria Shelter, which functions as both a homeless shelter and domestic violence center in Englewood. The Maria Shelter provides safe and secure housing and food for women and their children, as well medical and psychological treatment, counseling, and educational opportunities for both mom and her kids.

Remember, to have 15% of your bill benefit the Maria Shelter you must have a flyer. You can either print out a copy of the flyer here or they will be available at the Hunger and Homelessness Awareness table in the Reynolds club Monday and Tuesday afternoon from 1:45 – 4:00pm. At the table you can make a monetary donation if you wish (no pressure) directly towards the Maria Shelter and learn more about hunger and homelessness in the Chicago area.

I’m definitely passing on breakfast burritos, greasy pizza, and questionable soup, but even if you’re sitting down to a nice home cooked meal I hope I’ll see you at the event.

For more information about the Maria Shelter: http://www.instituteofwomentoday.org/iwtPrograms.php

Courtesy of Gordito1869/Wikimedia Commons

Three days ago in our very own Chicago, a grand event took place. One that had been widely publicized, even garnering an event page on the prestigious Facebook. What am I talking about? Did Obama come to Hyde Park? Not exactly. I’m referring to Una Noche de Paella, at which Mexican Consul Eduardo Arnal Palomero indeed played chef for the day at the National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA), cooking up some of his delicious paella.

Let’s first get down to the facts. A rice dish (in simplest terms), paella is traditional to the Valencia region of Spain, and generally contains vegetables, seasonings, seafood, meat, beans…and obviously rice. It is famous for being cooked in a large, round, shallow pan—an all-too important fact since the dish got its name from the Latin term patella meaning pan, although many Arabic-speaking nations take the credit, citing their own بقية (baqiyya), meaning leftovers (which they would essentially mix together in a Moorish dish similar to the paella), as paella’s real etymological ancestor.

To my own knowledge, Palomero has not won any prizes in paella-making. The official Guinness World Record holder for the world’s largest paella is still Juan Galbis, who made a dish that fed roughly 100,000 people back in 1992 (picture above). Galbis then broke his own record in 2001, that time feeding 110,000 people. It should be noted that this accomplishment was entirely self-proclaimed by Galbis on his website and not supervised by any Guinness specialists. Maybe Palomero was trying to bring the paella back to the global spotlight, perhaps even claim Galbis’ unrivaled title? It would make sense, seeing as the paella has lost its competitive charm over the years. It is commonly considered merely a delicious main course dish without any competitive appeal. Even hot dogs have a better competitive reputation than paella!

With NMMA’s emphasis on Palomero’s “delicious” paella, they could have also been trying to put out the message that not only can paella last as a competitive art, but it can also prosper in the sphere of subjective competitions, up there with Iron Chef and the UK’s National Chili Awards’ Amateur Sauce Contest. Or “delicious” paella, rather than “average” paella or just “paella,” was a better business move to get more people to attend. Who wants to pay $125 for “average” paella? You better be getting something “delicious”! Since the NMMA is “a first voice institution for the Mexican community,” perhaps this event was Mexico’s way of challenging Spain in claiming the better tasting dish. But Palomero simply could have wanted to spend some quality time with and befriend Chicago residents. As the saying has it, the way to someone’s mind is through their belly.

Uh-oh! Looks like Palomero has some competition, as professional chef Ayo makes what Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi calls “the best paella”:

I would have done some hardcore investigative journalism on this story, but how awkward would it have been to call the NMMA and say: “Hello. I would like to inquire as to why Mr. Eduardo Arnal Palomero has been invited to cook me and my friends his ‘delicious’ paella? What exactly are his qualifications to act as chef? And what makes his paella so ‘delicious’?” So I’ll leave it a mystery—plus, who doesn’t love a good mystery? Why was the Mexican Consul brought to cook his special paella? Was it simply an act of altruism?  Were there other intentions?  I guess we’ll never really know.

Although I found myself remaining in Hyde Park this weekend at the UofC, some of my friends took a trip to Pilsen and returned with two white paper bags filled with pastries. The baked goods, from Nuevo Leon Bakery, came in an array of shapes, colors, and textures. For just a little over six dollars, there were enough portions to serve eight people and still have leftovers. After a longwinded search for clean plates and knives, we split the freshly baked goods into bite sized portions.

Our makeshift dessert spreads covered all ranges of flavors and forms. A flat golden brown pancake surprised us with its cornbread flavor and denseness. Under a delicate dusting of powdered sugar, jelly rolls leaked fruit preserves from its ends while an empanada kept its apple filling sealed tight within its flaky pastry shell. One bun had concentric circles of a crisp, sugary topping with dough so light and airy that it weighed almost nothing. Coconut covered a ball of lemony cake that had been filled with a thin layer of raspberry jam. The most popular item among us was a donut sandwich whose middle was filled with a smooth, creamy custard.

While eating these delicious creations was no substitute for seeing Pilsen in the flesh, it did provide a sneak preview of sorts. The Mexican desserts highlighted one of the many reasons why Pilsen should be on everyone’s “to explore” list, even if you live in the neighborhood. On some level, the goods were familiar, resembling foods that we had eaten without much thought or found in local bakeries in our own hometowns. However, it was clear that they were imbued with their own unique, nuanced flavors and steeped in equally unique cultural traditions that could not be found elsewhere. The desserts are now long gone, but what remains is the awareness that there is a neighborhood with plenty to eat and plenty to explore.

Elysia Liang

On the corner of 25th and Christina Avenue in Little Village stands a small, two-story building with a pointed tower. Behind its plain exterior is a room with goldenrod walls and decorations featuring crosses, saints, and depictions of the Virgin Mary. A few people sat in small chairs and someone stood behind the counter, looking busy. From a room in the back, the music from a child’s birthday party floated through when its guests wandered into the cafe. A few framed photos sit on a small table next to a flight of stairs. Cafe Catedral had all the makings of a coffee shop, but with two noticeable exceptions: no drinks or food items could be found, and a homemade sign announced that the building was for sale in bold Times New Roman.

The cafe has a history that is as unique as its decorations. Abraham Dueñas and his wife, Alma, opened this cafe in 2005 after noticing that there was something missing in the neighborhood. When Mr. Dueñas, who grew up in a college town in Mexico, moved to Chicago, he noticed that the coffee shops that were so ubiquitous in his childhood were missing in his new home. After traveling in Europe with his wife, Dueñas wanted to bring a little piece of the Continent to Little Village. “We had tapas from France, crepes from France, and paninis from Italy,” he said about his menu.

Elysia Liang

Sitting in at a table near the entrance, Dueñas sat in a white polo after giving tours of the building to interested passerby also discussed the cafe’s decorating scheme. “The building used to be a flower shop, and we thought it looked like a cathedral.” The various portraits, carvings, and statues of religious figures and symbols came from friends, yard sales, regular customers, and even archeological excavations. In one corner, there is a small figurine of Saint Anthony who “can help you find your better half,” noted Dueñas as he surveyed his collection in search of notable finds.

The cafe’s claim to fame extends beyond its fascinating inception. The coffee shop was featured in Stranger Than Fiction as the setting for the 2006 release, featuring Will Ferrell. It has seen patronage of famous faces such as Rahm Emmanual. Perhaps most importantly, it has been a place to foster a sense of community. Various organizations used the cafe’s space to host and plan events. Dueñas himself is vice president of a local newspaper and a group that runs internet radio shows, both of which are based in the second floor of the space. “We created an impact,” he noted.

Due to recent economic conditions, Dueñas has been forced to shut down his business. However, he hopes to sell or rent the space “to someone who will continue to do what we do.” For the time being though, the cafe still stands, opening its doors briefly to groups that had asked to used the space before the decision to close had been made. Even after its official closing, it still has deep roots in the neighborhood in which it resides and the people who live there.

Hannah Fullmer

My stomach grumbled as I sat on the #6 bus, headed towards the Loop. It was only a short bus ride to Roosevelt Road where my friends and I would transfer to the red line train but I was already excited and, more importantly, hungry. After transferring, we rode south for several minutes and stepped off the train at Cermak/Chinatown. The journey may seem long (although it only took about an hour) but it was definitely worth it because that day I was on a mission of epic portions. A mission to find the best custard bun in Chinatown.

I first discovered custard buns last year when I happened to purchase one from a small Chinese bakery on Michigan Ave. and ever since I’ve been hooked. Custard buns are a sweet roll usually about the size of a tennis ball and are filled with a tasty egg custard roughly the consistency of the cream used to fill doughnuts.

When we finally arrived at Chinatown it was about 6:30 in the evening and the sun had already gone down, which was fine by me because I love this neighborhood at night. The marquees of restaurants and shops had been flipped on and were shining brightly as I walked up and down the streets of Chinatown, searching for bakeries and cafés. We were tempted by other treats, especially ones like green tea cake, cream cones, and almond cakes from the shops, but we controlled ourselves. In the end we purchased several buns, one from every bakery offering them.

Hannah Fullmer

My friends and I were famished from our custard bun search and decide to eat dinner before the judging. We stopped at a small restaurant within Chinatown and were seated on the second floor. The table was equipped with a large lazy susan, perfect for a group of friends to share a meal. We ordered several dishes and shared them amongst the table. Rice, pot stickers, pan fried noodles, crab rangoon, and shrimp spun around the table and were quickly devoured.

Our bellies were full and we began the judging. We gave each bun a number, ate them, and then compared. One bun’s custard filling was more yellow than the others, in another the dough was softer and sweeter, in some the custard was smoother or creamier.

We tallied the results and determined our winner: Feida Bakery. Their custard bun is of medium size but the dough is especially soft. An added sprinkling of salt atop the bun enhances the flavor of the sweet custard.

Dinner and judging completed, we make our way back to the red line station. We rode the train back to Roosevelt Road where we could the South Loop Shuttle home. Our stomachs were full, our heads buzzing. We enjoyed custard buns, friendship and the vibrant Chinatown neighborhood. Mission accomplished.

The Chicago Weekly, Metropolis Coffee, and the University of Chicago’s Student Run Coffee Shops invite you to a coffee tasting on the UofC’s campus. The tasting will take place at Hallowed Grounds (5706 S. University, 2nd floor) tomorrow, April 8th, from 5-7pm. For $5, witness a cupping session, hear performances by local bands Lakesigns and Sparrowdown, and enjoy a variety of desserts!

Tony Dreyfuss, owner of Metropolis Coffee, will be coming in to demonstrate a cupping session and discuss some of his recent adventures to Ethiopia to get beans. Stacey Brown, Coffee Shop Coordinator at the UofC, will be leading a coffee tasting, where we get to know what we’re drinking.

All proceeds of the event will go to promoting local journalism!

(Ellis Calvin)

Coffee shops sometimes have great food, restaurants can have outstanding drinks, and bars even occasionally serve excellent coffee. The South Loop’s Little Branch Cafe is a rare combination of all of the above, as we reviewed in our 2009 Best of the South Side.

The comfortably elegant Little Branch Cafe has been expanding their menu since opening in 2007, most recently adding a heavenly-sounding dinner menu. With dishes like a Croque Madam [sic] Crepe, Warm Mediterranean Farro Salad (“toasted pine nuts, roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese, eggplant puree, balsalmic vinaigrette”), and the Little Branch Burger (“fontina red onion gratin, truffle oil roasted mushrooms, garlic aioli served with sweet potato fries & habanero raspberry ketchup”) added to their selection of sandwiches, espresso drinks, and cocktails, I can’t wait to go back. Finding a place that skillfully handles this trinity of modern urban living (great coffee, great food, great booze) can be tough. Finding Little Branch Cafe can be tough too, so be sure to take a look at a map before setting out.

1251 S. Prairie Ave. Monday-Tuesday, 7am-4pm; Wednesday-Friday, 7am-10pm; Saturday, 8am-10pm; Sunday, 8am-8pm. (312)360-0202 littlebranchcafe.com

(courtesy of Liren Chen/Flickr)

An early morning fire spread through the kitchen of popular Chinatown restaurant Lao Sze Chuan. The blaze also damaged two neighboring restaurants in the Chinatown Square complex, but no one was injured. Although Lao Sze Chuan will likely be closed for a while, the indefatigable chef and “culinary superhero” Tony Hu has two other excellent restaurants nearby, Lao Beijing and Lao Shanghai. This fire follows a little over a year after another beloved Chinatown restaurant, Penang, succumbed to a kitchen fire. (via Gapers Block)

On a happier note, Chicagoist is reporting that the 47th Street Marketplace, destroyed by a fire in January, should be open again soon. Repairs are underway, and tenants such as Blu47 and the Jamaican Consulate are expected to be able to return in three to four months, according to building owner East Lake Management.

Gapers Block recently published an article and video about Chicago’s street vendors, many of whom can be found on the sidewalks of Little Village selling elotes (corn with mayo, cheese, and chili powder), chicharrones (pork rinds), and other cheap, delicious snacks. It’s currently illegal to sell food that’s been prepared at a street cart in Chicago, and the Little Village-based Asociación de Vendedores Ambulantes (AVA) is lobbying the city to create a new license that would allow them to do so. You can read more about the issue in an In These Times article by CW writer Robin Peterson.

Bon Appetit magazine’s Restaurant Editor, Andrew Knowlton, includes Dat Donuts as one of the “Top 10 Best Places for Donuts” in the country.  Dat joins the ranks with Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery in Yountville, CA—a far cry from the South Side of Chicago, but arguably better as the “purists’” first choice.

The Jibarito (jntolva/Flickr)

Dining Chicago has an article up on four incredible-sounding Chicago sandwiches that haven’t yet acquired the same status as the Chicago hot dog or Polish. You’ve got the jibarito, a Puerto Rican steak sandwich between two crispy fried plantains, and the big baby, a sort of double cheeseburger with a particular list of condiments and probably invented by a man unfortunate to have the name Nick Vaginas. Then you’ve got the Freddy, an Italian sausage sandwich created by Calabria Imports founder Benito Russo, and finally, the mother-in-law, which is a… well, you should just read the article. The last three have South Side origins, even the jibarito can be found outside its Humboldt Park birthplace at places like Desde Puerto Rico in South Chicago. Be sure to check out Fat Johnnie’s Famous Red Hots for the mother-in-law, and Nicky’s the Real McCoy for a big baby.

Do some good for Haitian disaster relief–and your sweet tooth–by checking out the charity bakesale held tomorrow from 2-6 pm at the Medici on 57th Bakery (1327 E 57th St.)  All proceeds are given directly to Doctors Without Borders and Oxfam, and goodies will be available from individual volunteers and pro bakeries from across the city, including Bleeding Heart Bakery, Jimmy Jamm Sweet Potato Pies, and Luscious Layers Bakery. More info, including the full list of participating bakeries and items (gluten-free goods should be available too), is here.

De Colores, a new restaurant, opened on Halsted on the edge of Pilsen just over a week ago. The menu is Mexican with an emphasis on fresh ingredients prepared from scratch. Our meal began with a smokey salsa that the chef had just worked out, and a citrusy tamarind agua fresca. The entrees came out complex, generously portioned, and deliciously rich.

The space also serves as a gallery, and our waiter told us that they were soliciting local music to replace the Massive Attack that was playing over their stereo.

De Colores will be offering free cooking lessons during the monthly Second Friday gallery crawls, starting this Friday at 8pm with salsa and homemade tortillas.

De Colores, 1626 S. Halsted St. Entrees $8-12. (312)226-9886‎.

Despite the cold weather, Shawn Michelle’s seemed to be doing good business yesterday when we saw (and sampled) their ice cream truck parked in Kimbark Plaza in Hyde Park. They were back today as well. We’ll try to confirm whether they’ll be in the same place every weekend and for how long into the season they’ll be around—hopefully they’re planning to come back when the weather’s warmer, because that ice cream is good.

Update, 10/14: The plan right now is to have the truck in Kimbark Plaza 2pm-10pm, Wednesday through Sunday, and they’ll be year-round. They also said they’re working on some things like hot fudge to warm up the winter months.

Just the name of the Great American Cheese Collection is probably all the information you need before you start wondering where to find it. In case you’re still not hooked, here’s a little more: The warehouse is dedicated to small production cheeses from all over the country, with more than 67 producers and over 300 different cheeses in all. Many, the website claims, are among the finest in the world, something that owner Giles Schnierle would love to prove to you. This brings me to the best part—the warehouse is open every Saturday from 9am-1pm for tasting and shopping.

Great American Cheese Collection, 4727 S. Talman Ave. Saturdays, 9am-1pm. (773)779-5055

South Campus Café Exterior (Sam Bowman)

The University of Chicago’s South Campus Café and Convenience Store opened without fanfare or promotion today on the Ellis Avenue side of the new South Campus Residence Hall (6031 S. Ellis Ave.). For what I have heard talked about as a welcoming gesture towards the north Woodlawn community that the new building abuts, it is not very visible. The café is on the euphemistically termed garden level—a section of the basement with enough space around it to have windows—and is reached by steep stairs leading down from the edge of the dorm’s newly built plaza. Entering also currently involves walking past the café and then through two sets of unmarked doors. It took me three tries and some gestures from the cashier. Then again, it seems to have been built more for undergraduate regulars than for anyone else.

South Campus Café Interior (Sam Bowman)

The Café is operated by Campus Dining Services (read: Aramark), and so their primary target is likely undergraduates in housing. The restrictive Flex-dollar account included with mandatory meal plans ensures that students will be able to afford the convenience store’s unusually high prices. The 7am to 3am hours should also keep people coming when nothing within a mile is open save for Campus Dining Service’s identically priced Bart Mart on 57th Street. (Incidentally, the de facto name Bart Mart for what has officially been Maroon Market has finally been recognized on the Campus Dining website.)

South Campus Café Interior (Sam Bowman)

The quality is nothing special. The convenience store shares Bart Mart’s combination of name-brand snack staples and bizarrely expensive organic and allergy-friendly options, and the café still seems to be working out some kinks. The pastries looked pallid and the hot chocolate had neat layers of milk and syrup. The café space was pleasant enough though, and I was surprised to find that most of the coffee and café supplies come from Hyde Park’s own Ambassador Organics, a young company founded by former U.S. Senator and New Zealand ambassador Carol Moseley Braun.

Care2/Local Harvest just announced the results of their “Love Your Farmers Market” contest, where fans voted online for their favorite markets from June 19 to September 17, and the results are a bit surprising. Woodlawn’s own 61st Street Farmers Market, begun only 16 months ago in a vacant lot across from the Experimental Station, came in 66th place, higher than any other Chicago market, beating out 10-year-old, year-round powerhouse Green City Market (#76) up in Lincoln Park. No other markets in the city limits placed within the top 100, although the northern and western suburbs had a good showing with Woodstock at #41, Grayslake at #55, Brookfield at #57, Libertyville at #87, Crystal Lake at #92, and Gurnee at #93.

Shawn Michelle’s Homemade Ice Cream, which we wrote about in last year’s Best of the South Side issue, has some of the most delicious ice cream I’ve ever tasted. Unfortunately it’s located so far south, at 119th and Western, that I rarely get down there. Now, presumably because of some good karma I’ve been accumulating, Shawn Michelle’s is getting its first ice cream truck specifically in order to serve Hyde Park! Founder Yahya Muhammad explains, “This truck is intended to be a mobile extension of Shawn Michelle’s, targeting those who have an appreciation for distinctive ice cream.” In addition to their “Sweet Sixteen Flavors,” Muhammad says the truck will offer “several perfect combinations.” Hopefully this will include the “Barack Supreme” (made up of Melanin Magic and Butter Pecan Supreme), which I tried for the first time last week and have been craving ever since. The truck begins its route within the next two weeks.