🌽 More summertime foodball, please!

Every second counts. [READER]( [Food & Drink]( June 30, 2023 If you haven’t binged the second season of The Bear yet, skip ahead to the fifth paragraph for news of the new late summer schedule for [Monday Night Foodball]( the Reader’s weekly chef pop-up at Ludlow Liquors. If you have seen it, you know it’s full of a lot of the same white-knuckled, barely controlled (restaurant and home) kitchen chaos as season one. As the matriarch of the broken Berzatto clan, for example, in the “Fishes” episode, Jamie Lee Curtis turns in a performance as unhinged and terrifying as any during her scream queen reign. I think the last three episodes this season are as good as any in the first, but there were a few unintentionally cringey earlier episodes that I could’ve done without. I’m mainly talking about those focusing on Carmy’s budding romance with childhood crush Claire, a dreamy-eyed surgeon with a curious amount of free time who seems to think she can reset this damaged man-child like a snapped tibia. The antidote to this quietly dropped on Tuesday during a pop-up at Lula with [Kedai Tapao]( Jennifer Pou Alesi, and Mike Alesi’s long-running itinerant Malaysian concept. That would be the debut of Kedai Tapao: Love and a Malaysian Takeout Shop, an 18-minute short documentary from Three Top Productions, featuring the couple preparing for their first plated dinner at Superkhana last winter. Not only are Mike and Jenn genuinely and effortlessly cute, their cool, collected prep work and service is the very antithesis of that of Carmy, Syd, Richie, and the gang. If you need a break from the show, [watch it.]( I’ve seen their work in person, [more]( than [once](. Kedai Tapao were the second set of chefs we hosted nearly two years ago when we started Monday Night Foodball. It was an auspicious night, but I had no idea we’d take it this far. And here we are on the back half of summer, with a gorgeous, sprawling patio at our disposal and a brand-new set of chefs taking over the kitchen at Ludlow Liquors. First, up on the 10th, it’s [Manny Mendoza]( of Herbal Notes. Mendoza is primarily known as a cannabis chef—he just launched his first line of edibles—but this night will be weed free. That doesn’t mean it won’t get you high. Next up is the great [Laos to Your House]( [returning]( with a handful of dishes you won’t find on their regular ghost kitchen menu. We have a preview of Dozzy Ibekwe’s upcoming Bronzeville Nigerian brick-and-mortar [Dozzy’s Grill]( followed by the [return]( of the [Hot Dog Box](. [Jake Schneider]( will slang pastrami and corned beef in a first look at River North’s forthcoming [Schneider Deli]( and [Sheal Patel]( of [Dhuaan BBQ]( is [coming back]( with a smoked Desi-cue plate. On August 21, we’re celebrating the official second anniversary of Monday Night Foodball with something undoubtedly cheesy from [Alisha Norris Jones]( of [Immortal Milk]( and we’re capping this round off with something undoubtedly [pickled]( from [Taylor Hanna and Sebastian Vargo]( of [Vargo Brother Ferments](. As always, watch this space for previews of each menu and ordering info, and follow the chefs, [myself]( and [@chicago_reader]( for updates. Plenty of summer left, but [every second counts](. [Café Nova has a strategy for Sri Lankan food in Chicago and beyond]( Kiso Sivarasa and his partners envision a nimble “Pandan Express.” by [Mike Sula]( | [Read more]( → April 2019 [Buena Vista celebrates 15 years in a changing landscape]( The family-owned restaurant remains in East Lakeview as the number of Mexican immigrants has gone down and rents have gone up. by [Gonzalo Guzman]( | [Read more]( August 2010 [From Farm to Food Desert]( Black farmers need customers. Black Chicagoans need healthy food. Connecting them isn’t as easy as it sounds. by [Topher Gray]( | [Read more]( → [Issue of June 29 – July 12, 2023 Vol. 52, No. 19]( [VIEW/DOWNLOAD ISSUE (PDF)]( [View this e-mail as a web page]( [@chicago_reader]( [/chicagoreader]( [@chicago_reader]( [Chicago Reader on LinkedIn]( [/chicagoreader]( [chicagoreader.com]( [Forward this e-mail to a friend](. Want to change how you receive these e-mails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](. Copyright © 2023 Chicago Reader, All rights reserved. You were subscribed to the receive emails from Chicago Reader Our mailing address is: Chicago Reader, 2930 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 102, Chicago, IL 60616