Friday food porn: Dinner and a show

Part of the $29 three-course Pre-Theater Dinner at Waterleaf Restaurant on the College of DuPage campus in Glen Ellyn, tender crab cakes served with cucumber tartar sauce and micro green salad are one of several starter options. For patrons of the McAninch Arts Center, as well as other early diners, the Pre-Theater Dinner menu is [...]

Friday food porn: Ay, ay, ayu!

Ayu, a Japanese river fish also known as sweetfish, is skewered, lightly battered and deep-fried tempura-style at Lure Izakaya Pub in Chinatown, $7.

Seafood to die for: Fugu in Chicago

If you’ve been checking off the “100 Foods to Eat Before You Die,” here’s a chance to get one more … though you might want to save it for last.* Through the end of March, Ai Japanese Restaurant and Lounge in River North currently offers fugu, a potentially deadly Japanese delicacy. This mild-tasting blowfish carries [...]

Chicagoland restaurants host seafood fests

Craving crustaceans? The annual Crab Festival at Shaw’s Crab House in River North and Schaumburg, through Jan. 31, offers prix-fixe dinners with a choice of Maryland-style crab cakes made from Louisiana blue crab ($35.99) or a 1-pound Alaskan golden king crab ($52.99) accompanied by a cup of clam chowder, cole slaw, au gratin potatoes and [...]

Friday food porn: Steamy and creamy

Have a hot, creamy bowlful during National Soup Month! Riva Crab House on Navy Pier serves such daily choices as New England-style clam chowder and this lobster and corn bisque laced with sherry and brandy ($7 lunch and $9 dinner).

Top 10 Chicago chefs’ recipes for 2011

Our top 10 recipes from Chicago chefs.

100 Chicago restaurants open Christmas Day 2011

You don’t have to cook Christmas dinner.

Friday food porn: Beautiful bivalves

Skillet-seared mussels with bay, chilies and roasted garlic, one of the signature dishes at West Town Tavern, $10.50.

Friday food porn: Sizzling scallops

Hand-harvested sea scallops sizzle at Naha in River North. After pan roasting with vanilla bean, citrus and spices, they’ll be paired with caramelized Belgian endive, Hamuka Farm hearts of palm and Tamworth bacon for a dinner appetizer, $21.

Eat this! Cod, making slow recovery

What it is: Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), a lean mild-tasting fish, with large flakes and a medium texture. Often used in fish frys, it’s a good source of low-fat protein, phosphorus, niacin and vitamin B12. The fish reach lengths of 51 inches and weights of up to 77 pounds. Small, young cod (under 2½ pounds) [...]