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.