Highland Park homegrowns Jordan Rappaport, a pastry chef, and Peter Rauser, a former golf pro, have teamed up to start a new bakery. The Baker Boys features a variety of sweets, including cupcakes—many filled with ganache—and a rotating menu of nine homemade frozen custards in flavors such as “Red Velvet Cake and Ice Cream.” The […]
Yes, the right chocolate can be good for you. Xoçai dark chocolate is cold-pressed, so the beans retain their nutritional value—one square has as many antioxidants as half a pound of spinach—which was a dream come true for chocoholic Michelle Myers of Northbrook. Eating a nugget three times a day, Myers sleeps better, and her […]
Necessity Baking Company, owned by Ellen Carney Granda of Lake Bluff, specializes in loaves of European-style bread, and sweet and savory pastries made with high-quality ingredients, including unbleached flour. The “Faux-caccia” loaf is ciabatta on the bottom at foccaccia on top, and the Plum Crazy is studded with prunes and chocolate chips. Necessity Baking Company […]
This olive oil is a family affair. Mary Jo and Themis Vlahos, owners of Winnetka’s Caffe Buon Giorno, import olive oil from Themis’ hometown in Greece—Lalas, a village 2,000 feet above ancient Olympia. The pure, light green olive oil, made from hand-picked olives from the Vlahos’ orchard, gets rave reviews from local gourmands. Cost is […]
There’s ice cream, then there’s frozen custard. Anyone who hails from north of the Illinois border will tell you that frozen custard is the far superior freezer delicacy—made with cream, sugar and eggs, and with about 20 percent of air blended into the product, as compared to sometimes as much as 100 percent in ice […]
The full service caterer Chow! Bella will cater to your family’s every need with their new home delivery service. Local mom owners Tierney Sharif and Cory Conti usually deliver three to four meals at a time, and the menu changes weekly. If you’re too busy to fire up the grill, they’ll deliver summery dishes like […]
Tired of the ol’ PB&J? Buffalo Grove-based Futters Nut Butters, started by mom Jody Futterman, specializes in all sorts of sugar-free, organic nut butters, including Hazelnut, Chocolate Walnut and Cinnful Pecan. The caramels and brittles aren’t bad, either. Spread the love. Nut butters $6.60-$14.99, caramels $3.50-$18.95, and brittle $4.99, at Whole Foods Market in […]
When Anne Casey’s husband got laid off last year, she decided—with friends’ encouragement—to make her famous granola in a commercial kitchen and sell it at the farmer’s market. The all-natural, whole-grain snack, which comes in orange-almond-cashew and orange-almond-cashew-coconut flavors, has been selling out and sustaining her family financially. Annie’s Edibles, $8 at Grand Food […]
Great shopping? Delicious food? We’d heard rumors about the French Market downtown and we were intrigued enough to hop a train south.
Long ago, the Greeks conquered Troy. This fall, they have conquered Winnetka — at the wonderful new Greek restaurant, Avli Estiatorio, located inside the Laundry Mall. Weekend reservations are hard to come by, and justifiably so. The interior is warm and comforting, with plenty of exposed brick, warm tones and a toasty fireplace. And of […]
