A Chicago author’s tribute to the historic eateries and storied local haunts that the Windy City has loved and lost. Many of Chicago’s greatest or most unusual restaurants are “no longer taking reservations.” But even if they’re gone, they're definitely not forgotten. From steakhouses to delis, these dining destinations attracted movie stars, fed the hungry, launched nationwide trends and launched a smorgasbord of culinary innovations. Stretching across almost two centuries of memorable service and adventurous menus, Lost Restaurants of Chicago revisits the institutions entrusted with the city's special occasions. Noted author Greg Borzo dishes out course after course of fondly remembered fare, from Maxim's to Charlie Trotter’s and Trader Vic's to the Blackhawk.
Chicago author, Greg Borzo, recalls the city's celebrated lost restaurants. Many of Chicago's greatest or most unusual restaurants are no longer taking reservations, but they're definitely not forgotten. From steakhouses to delis, these dining destinations attracted movie stars, fed the hungry, launched nationwide trends and created a smorgasbord of culinary choices. Stretching across almost two centuries of memorable service and adventurous menus, this book revisits the institutions entrusted with the city's special occasions. Noted author Greg Borzo dishes out course after course of fondly remembered fare, from Maxim's to Charlie Trotter's and Trader Vic's to the Blackhawk.
The City of Big Shoulders has always been our most quintessentially American—and world-class—architectural metropolis. In the wake of the Great Fire of 1871, a great building boom—still the largest in the history of the nation—introduced the first modern skyscrapers to the Chicago skyline and began what would become a legacy of diverse, influential, and iconoclastic contributions to the city’s built environment. Though this trend continued well into the twentieth century, sour city finances and unnecessary acts of demolishment left many previous cultural attractions abandoned and then destroyed. Lost Chicago explores the architectural and cultural history of this great American city, a city whose architectural heritage was recklessly squandered during the second half of the twentieth century. David Garrard Lowe’s crisp, lively prose and over 270 rare photographs and prints, illuminate the decades when Gustavus Swift and Philip D. Armour ruled the greatest stockyards in the world; when industrialists and entrepreneurs such as Cyrus McCormick, Potter Palmer, George Pullman, and Marshall Field made Prairie Avenue and State Street the rivals of New York City’s Fifth Avenue; and when Louis Sullivan, Daniel Burnham, and Frank Lloyd Wright were designing buildings of incomparable excellence. Here are the mansions and grand hotels, the office buildings that met technical perfection (including the first skyscraper), and the stores, trains, movie palaces, parks, and racetracks that thrilled residents and tourists alike before falling victim to the wrecking ball of progress. “Lost Chicago is more than just another coffee table gift, more than merely a history of the city’s architecture; it is a history of the whole city as a cultural creation.”—New York Times Book Review
Today, visitors and locals in Greenville enjoy a vibrant, diverse and acclaimed culinary scene. Some will remember recent favorites like the American Grocery Restaurant that helped pioneer the farm-to-table movement. Others will remember longtime favorites like Carpenter Bros. Drug Store, Charlie's Steak House and Gene's Restaurant that were around for three or four generations. Few in the second half of the twentieth century would not have dined at one of Vince Perone's restaurants for some occasion. Author and tour guide John Nolan recalls the fond memories of the owners and their cuisines, with recipes included.
A contributor to Serious Eats and Gothamist among others with an obsession for great food made it her mission to dig up the best and vintage recipes from glamorous and now defunct restaurants in this nostalgic celebration of great food.Jaya Saxena takes readers on a tour around the country, into some of the once most popular restaurants in America to discuss the history and how-to's of their most infamous dishes. It is sort of vintage meets foodie. In their heyday, the legendary restaurants profiled by The Book of Lost Recipes were frequented by celebrity clientele and served food that became institutions of the American restaurant landscape, many of which are still reminisced about by those who had the opportunity to experience their cuisines. Read the stories of some of the most legendary restaurants in America and follow the recipes to recreate their most celebrated dishes. Depart from New York's Moskowitz & Lupowitz after learning all about their M & L Chopped Liver, of course, to Horn & Hardart Automat in Philadelphia to find out the secrets behind their Fried Fish Cakes and Famous Baked Beans. Discover the story behind the Blintzes at Ashkenaz's Deli in Chicago to Paoli's Baked Canneloni in San Francisco. Take a step back in history to visit some of the most iconic restaurants in America and learn to make the dishes that helped re-shape the industry forever.
Chicago's system of elevated railways, known locally as the "L," has run continuously since 1892 and, like the city, has never stood still. It helped neighborhoods grow, brought their increasingly diverse populations together, and gave the famous Loop its name. But today's system has changed radically over the years. Chicago's Lost "L"s tells the story of former lines such as Garfield Park, Humboldt Park, Kenwood, Stockyards, Normal Park, Westchester, and Niles Center. It was once possible to take high-speed trains on the L directly to Aurora, Elgin, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The L started out as four different companies, two starting out using steam engines instead of electricity. Eventually, all four came together via the Union Loop. The L is more than a way of getting around. Its trains are a place where people meet and interact. Some say the best way to experience the city is via the L, with its second-story view. Chicago's Lost "L"s is virtually a "secret history" of Chicago, and this is your ticket.
Omaha is known for its beef, but the history of its most famous restaurants goes far beyond. The French Café was the place to go to celebrate. Piccolo Pete's, Mister C's and Bohemian Café helped shape neighborhoods in Little Italy, North Omaha and Little Bohemia. The tales of restaurateurs like the tragic Tolf Hanson; the ever-optimistic Ross Lorello; Anthony Oddo, once a resident at Boys Town; and Giuseppa Marcuzzo, a former bootlegger, also tell the story of the city. Restaurants played a prominent role as history unfolded in Omaha during prohibition, wartime rations, the fight for equal rights and westward expansion. Author Kim Reiner details the fascinating history behind Omaha's classic eateries.
Nominated for the National Book Award, chef Iliana Regan’s debut memoir chronicles her journey from foraging on her family’s Midwestern farm to running her own Michelin-starred restaurant and finding her place in the world. Iliana Regan grew up the youngest of four headstrong girls on a small farm in Indiana. While gathering raspberries as a toddler, Regan learned to only pick the ripe fruit. In the nearby fields, the orange flutes of chanterelle mushrooms beckoned her while they eluded others. Regan’s profound connection with food and the earth began in childhood, but connecting with people was more difficult. She grew up gay in an intolerant community, was an alcoholic before she turned twenty, and struggled to find her voice as a woman working in an industry dominated by men. But food helped her navigate the world around her—learning to cook in her childhood home, getting her first restaurant job at age fifteen, teaching herself cutting-edge cuisine while hosting an underground supper club, and working her way from front-of-house staff to running her own kitchen. Regan’s culinary talent is based on instinct, memory, and an almost otherworldly connection to ingredients, and her writing comes from the same place. Raw, filled with startling imagery and told with uncommon emotional power, Burn the Place takes us from Regan’s childhood farmhouse kitchen to the country’s most elite restaurants in a galvanizing tale that is entirely original, and unforgettable.
An evocative, gorgeous four-season look at cooking in Maine, with 100 recipes No one can bring small-town America to life better than a native. Erin French grew up in Freedom, Maine (population 719), helping her father at the griddle in his diner. An entirely self-taught cook who used cookbooks to form her culinary education, she now helms her restaurant, The Lost Kitchen, in a historic mill in the same town, creating meals that draw locals and visitors from around the world to a dining room that feels like an extension of her home kitchen. The food has been called “brilliant in its simplicity and honesty” by Food & Wine, and it is exactly this pure approach that makes Erin’s cooking so appealing—and so easy to embrace at home. This stunning giftable package features a vellum jacket over a printed cover.
Founded next to a great lake and a sluggish river, Chicago grew faster than any city ever has. Splendid department stores created modern retailing, and the skyscraper was invented to handle the needs of booming businesses in an increasingly concentrated downtown. The stockyards fed the world, and railroads turned the city into the nation's transportation hub. A great fire leveled the city, but Chicago rose again. Glorious museums, churches and theaters sprang up. Explore a missile site that became a bird sanctuary and discover how Chicago's first public library came to be located in an abandoned water tank. Follow the steps of business leaders and society dames, anarchists and army generals, and learn whose ashes were surreptitiously sprinkled over Wrigley Field. Combining years of research and countless miles of guided tours, author Greg Borzo pursues Chicago's sweeping historical arc through its fascinating nooks and crannies.
