I had really intended to begin this history of the past weekend in the airport terminal at O’Hare. I appreciate the narrative romanticism of someone sitting down to write a dispatch from this most liminal of spaces, using the ambiance of passersby and terminal intercom announcements to set the mood. Alas, as I settled down into my seat after waiting in the security line, I was too tired and hungover to do anything but nibble at my terrible burnt bagel, because these last three days were — as they say — a whole movie.
On Friday, four of the five Ravenous founder-owners boarded planes and trains for the Windy City (where one already lives), just in time for the James Beard Foundation’s annual awards. I have always thought it was a bit annoying and pretentious to call this annual celebration of chefs, journalists, and restaurants the “Oscars of food,” but I will begrudgingly admit that it really does feel like the center of the American culinary universe for this one weekend.
I will also admit that this trip was my first time ever visiting Chicago, a mistake I am thrilled to have now rectified. After six months of planning, writing, figuring out how to run a business, meetings, and conversations, all five founders were finally in the same room for the first time since we began building Ravenous. It was, as you might expect, incredibly emotional and exciting to introduce our baby bird to the world. We also ate so, so well, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it. Hold on to your hats, this is going to be a long one.
Our Chicago adventure began at Hermosa, chef Ethan Lim’s incredible restaurant in the neighborhood that inspired its name. By day, Hermosa is a counter-service destination for Lim’s Cambodian fried chicken, which combines his culinary heritage with his experience of growing up in Chicago. By night, Lim transforms the small space into what is essentially a private dining room for what he calls “Family Meal,” an 11-course dinner service that both tells an incredible story of his culinary history and also just tastes really fucking good.
Our meal began with a bright, brothy soup with radish and bitter melon, then moved into heartier fare, like that aforementioned fried chicken breaded schnitzel-style and served with a massive tangle of pickled carrot and radish. There was an enormous tomahawk steak frites drowned in kompot pepper au poivre, Lim’s nod to French colonial influence in Cambodia. There was so much wine, graciously supplied by our own Ashok Selvam, and a perfect little coconut panna cotta to finish the evening.
From there, we took our completely full stomachs to Bucktown cocktail bar Truce, where many of us (Ashok excluded, obviously) had our first taste of Chicago’s most notorious liqueur via the RBF, a stunningly smooth mix of Malört, cacao, Aperol, and lemon. I don’t know what I thought Malört was going to taste like (the descriptions online are … less-than-flattering), but it was really not as terrible as I was expecting. Later, I would have the real thing, unbuttressed by the smoothness of the cacao, and fully understand why Malört is so widely reviled. The liqueur itself isn’t so bad, but the aftertaste is brutal.
It was also at Truce where we shared what was possibly Ryan Sutton’s final cocktail before his win at the James Beard Awards in the Columns and Newsletters category for his work at The Lo Times. We were already endlessly proud of him, but it was great to see his work recognized in the way it should be. You should also check out his acceptance speech at the Awards, which shouts out a litany of fellow worker-owned, independent media outlets, including a little publication called Ravenous.
The next morning, the four of us who traveled in from out of town met up with Ashok, his wife Shilpa, and their son Avi at Kasama, the Michelin-starred Filipino restaurant that I have been dying to go to since the first time I ever cooked their mushroom adobo in my own home kitchen. The flavors at Kasama are at once creative and fun, but also so precisely executed. It’s really no wonder that tire company bestowed them two stars!
Our meal began with a dazzling array of pastries, which ranged from the famous ham-and-cheese danish to a lush mango tart topped with a structurally improbable amount of fruit. There were at least three baskets of lumpia and multiple bowls of mushroom adobo served with garlicky rice, and a glorious bistek and eggs. As a Texan, it is rare that I am so thoroughly impressed by another city’s treatment of beef, but the steaks of Chicago were incredible.
We then spent the afternoon in full tourist mode, first taking in an architecture boat tour before speed-running the Art Institute of Chicago. If you think we rested after this packed-full day, you would be wrong — we headed to Off Color Brewery for some really fun beer, plus a selection of pizza expertly curated by Ashok. My favorite among the bunch came from Milly’s Pizza in the Pan, a pepperoni-laden number with a naturally fermented crust that was absurdly flavorful.
The next day, we rushed around early in the morning before jumping in a car to Maxwells Trading, which graciously hosted our panel on the state of food media for more than 70 of our food and hospitality industry colleagues. Our panel was pretty great, thanks in large part to the contributions from our panelists, Pervaiz Shallwani of Chaat Dog and Atlanta Journal-Constitution senior editor of food and dining Monti Carlo, who shared such incredible insights into the current media landscape. And, of course, the chefs at Maxwells prepared a menu of bites for our guests, including a killer walleye katsu and crispy soft-shell crab. I had to remind myself that the ikura-topped deviled eggs were for the people who showed up, not for me to eat in bulk before chatting about the scourge of profit-driven media executives!
The rest of Sunday night was a blur. We headed first to Queers at Beards, a celebration of LGBTQ+ folks in the industry held at impossibly cool cocktail bar Nobody’s Darling, where we feasted on caviar-topped Doritos and smoky brisket mac and cheese. There were, of course, more cocktails at the AAPI Culinary Celebration held at Korean steakhouse Perilla, where bites like cumin lamb hand pies were paired with Korean beers. We ended the night at the Chicago Cocktail Classic, sipping drinks from bars all over the world, including Loma, the Providence spot that took home the Beard for Best Bar.
If that all sounds like it was a whirlwind of a weekend, that’s because it was. Two days later, I am still recovering from all the booze I consumed in those three days. But that extended hangover was totally worth it to get this incredible first taste of Chicago, surrounded by some of my incredible Ravenous co-founders and so many of our colleagues in the industry.
I believe now more than ever that sites like Ravenous (and our friends at Gourmet, Caper, and Best Food Blog, among other indie outlets) are a crucial part of the food media landscape.
There is so much cool and interesting shit that’s happening in the world of food right now that just isn’t getting the exposure it deserves as food media becomes more homogeneous, more focused on appealing to the lowest common denominator. We need more indie outlets, more diverse journalists, and more in-depth food writing to keep that vibrancy alive.
Hey, remember when I said we need more in-depth food writing to keep the culinary universe thriving? That work costs money, and we’d love it if you would consider a paid subscription to Ravenous to help support our journalism. Subscriptions start at just $7/month, and you’ll get access to every delicious Ravenous story and newsletter.
🐦⬛ Bird Droppings
- ICYMI, Frances Dumlao wrote about all the chefs and restaurants who have started Substacks, and often use them to be honest about the struggles of the industry.
- The James Beard Awards happened! A lot of people won them! Here’s the full list of winners.
- Our own Jaya Saxena spoke with The Creative Independent about honing her voice, building Ravenous, and the freelance journalism hustle.
- Courtney E. Smith gave a new $300 per person tasting menu in Dallas the punk purity test.
- We are all deeply enjoying the stories of European tourists discovering and devouring American food during the World Cup, from the Japanese tourist who learned about free chips and salsa the hard way to the Scottish fans who drained Boston dry of beer. Already. Send us all your favorite TikToks of Brits having a margarita for the first time.
