Dining Chicago » Buffalo Grove

Mardi Gras? In Chicago, prepare for Paczki Day!

Leah A. Zeldes — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 18:00:49 +0000

Other cities go all out for Mardi Gras, but here in Chicago, Louisiana-style celebrations and Latin-American Carnivale fiestas take a back seat. In our town, the Tuesday before Lent, this year March 8, is Paczki Day! Here are a dozen spots for Polish pastry perfection.

Chicago ushers in the Atomic Age — and its cake

Leah A. Zeldes — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 16:00:54 +0000

In 1942, on a squash court in Hyde Park, Enrico Fermi and his colleagues cooked up an "atomic pile," a roughly spherical stack of graphite bricks layered with uranium. With this pile, on Dec. 2, the physicists achieved the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction, an event that led to the atomic bomb and nuclear energy.

At some point after that, an enterprising Chicago baker dubbed his latest layered creation the "atomic cake."

Relishing Chicago’s 10 funniest hot-dog joints

Leah A. Zeldes — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:30:54 +0000

Every neighborhood in Chicagoland has a hot-dog stand, a gyros place or an Italian beef joint. Often, the menus aren't much different from one to the next — typically encompassing all three Chicago favorites. So how do you tell which is which? By the sign outside!

In Chicago, Mardi Gras is Paczki Day!

Leah A. Zeldes — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:30:35 +0000

In New Orleans, the Tuesday before Lent, this year Feb. 16, culminates a riotous season known as Mardi Gras. Here in Chicago, some celebrate Louisiana-style, but to a million or so Chicagoans, Fat Tuesday is Paczki Day (say “POONCH-key”). They’ll be lining up at bakeries to buy dozens of rich, plump Polish-style jelly doughnuts, and [...]