Kevin Pang

Happy New Year

2009-01-27 11:15:46

HONG KONG--Twenty years have passed since I left this gleaming metropolis on the South China Sea. Those memories came rushing back on a sweltering afternoon in a crowded stall with one perfect bite. At Kau Kee Restaurant in the Sheung Wan neighborhood,...

Navigating Italy's Cinque Terre

2007-07-10 00:00:00

GETTING THERE Milan is the best international gateway to Cinque Terre. From Milan's Central Station (Milano Centrale), it's a three-hour train ride to Monterosso for $30. Add another $10 for First-Class comfort. Consider Genoa, halfway between Milan...

Top 5 of Italy? Cinque Terre, say locals

2007-07-10 00:00:00

What looks to be another home at 84 Via Santa Antonio is, in fact, a church. It is a modest place of worship, the size of a small living room. There is a marble altar, checkerboard floors, two chandeliers, an organ, 16 wooden chairs and four more in the...

Authors M-Q

2013-04-22 12:55:00

div.article div.byline p.date {display:none;} Anthony Madrid Anthony Madrid lives in Chicago. His poems have appeared in Boston Review, Gulf Coast, The Iowa Review, Poetry and Web Conjunctions. His first book is “I Am Your Slave Now Do What I...

Top tips on bag lunches -- overrated and underrated foods to tote to work

2013-04-10 16:32:09

In Gladstone Park, Mom's knows best

2013-03-28 00:00:00

Cuernavaca, in the state of Morelos, an hour's drive south of Mexico City, can claim in its culinary heritage a curious dish unfamiliar to many Chicagoans: tacos acorazados. This style of taco is a beloved regional idiosyncrasy, but also something Paula...

Fast-food jackpot for salad, taco and fish

2013-03-22 00:00:00

For the first time in this column's history, we give thumbs up to three new fast-food menu items. Panera Bread Spinach Power Salad: The name makes it sound veg-heavy, but this salad should satisfy greens-resisting carnivores. The bed is baby spinach....

Lessons from a 'Top Chef'

2013-03-07 00:00:00

Around this time last year, Beverly Kim was something of a minor television celebrity on "Top Chef." Several Saturdays ago, we found Kim calling out dinner orders from a cavernous and modern West Town kitchen, a space that would be the envy of every...

Beyond the usual 'burger bar' label

2013-01-24 00:00:00

Appreciating Three Aces in Little Italy requires two approaches: one for the burger bar identity locals know it for, and the other, a surprisingly refined Nightwood-esque restaurant waiting to be embraced by greater Chicago. The first squares with this...

Chicago French Market finds

2012-12-06 00:00:00

The Chicago French Market, steps from the West Loop's Ogilvie Transportation Center, is what Cheap Eater Kevin Pang calls "the closest thing Chicago has to a food truck pod." See photo gallery for a visual tour of smoked pastrami, Japanese-imported...

Beyond the Filet-O-Fish

2013-02-07 00:00:00

The fried fish sandwich exists for the same reasons the fried chicken sandwich or the fried pork chop sandwich or the fried steak sandwich exists — justifying fried food as lunch by placing it between two slices of bread. USA! USA! For 95...

Behind the Tribune's profile of Curtis Duffy

2013-02-15 00:00:00

The story began in June 2011, when I heard rumblings Curtis Duffy was leaving Avenues restaurant for his own venture. I moonlight as a filmmaker on the side, and thought documenting the building of his restaurant would be fascinating to watch. So I...

Balena's Peter Becker and Amanda Rockman are two faces in an unjustly anonymous position, that of the baker and pastry chef. First, the baker: I recall seeing "Peter's Bread" on Balena's menu and wondered who Peter was.

2013-01-16 14:26:53

Many chefs work themselves into a lather talking about Thai food. The type of Thai cooking they describe is one level up from the obvious ? pad thai, pad see ew ? and involves shrimp paste, fish sauce or fermented sausage, ingredients that might clear a room if left unattended.

2013-01-16 13:47:45

The former provides the cured sausages and smoked meats for the latter to fashion into fully formed menu items.

2013-01-16 13:47:42