Chicago may be blessed with Michelin-starred restaurants and an enviable dining landscape but these days it’s the city’s burgeoning craft beer scene that is taking center stage. Thanks to chef collaborations and a supportive community, the city of big shoulders has embraced the craft beer community with a vengeance.

Just as a chef starts a meal with only the finest ingredients, quality soil is an important component of a strong and healthy garden. Growing heirloom and organic fruits and vegetables in soil filled with lead residue defeats the purpose, says Jeanne Nolan, founder of the Glencoe-based The Organic Gardener Ltd., and author of From the Ground Up: A Food Grower’s Education in Life, Love, and the Movement That’s Changing the Nation.

"Everyone should remember that eating raw is not just eating salads. You will get bored and you won’t stick to it,” says Karyn Calabrese, a health advocate, author and owner of three restaurants, a beauty center and day spa, all in Chicago. “I would have never made it this long if that is all I had to eat. I grew up cooking with my grandmother on Sundays and I wanted to incorporate all those recipes in the raw world. My cookbook, Soak Your Nuts, Conscious Comfort Foods, has both cooked and raw recipes from all of my restaurants that are delicious and simple to make at home.”

The Italian beef sandwich was born and raised in Chicago as the city's answer to a French dip and a Philly cheese steak sandwich.

Master of the New American Steakhouse, Chicago chefs know how to prepare top-tier selections of sirloin. Locals and visitors alike appreciate the no-frills yet rich flavors of the generous steak portions prepared at classic institutions like Gibson’s and Chicago Cut Steakhouse. Not to be outdone, relative newcomers to the city like David Burke’s Primehouse delights its diners by bringing out intense flavor profiles by dry-aging its meat in a Himalayan salt-tiled aging room.

“What is that?”. my son asks as the server lays a plate of pad see ew with tofu in front of me. Before I can answer, he follows up with, “can I try?”. He picks up his chopsticks and digs in. He was five at the time. Friends often tell us our kids are adventurous […]

If there seem to be more restaurants offering as many vegetable entrées as meat entrées, it’s not by accident. Noted area chefs, including Grant Achatz, of Alinea fame, have begun offering a vegan menu at his nearly impossible-to-score reservations for NEXT (NextRestaurant.com) restaurant. Today, it's easier than ever to find vegetarian entrees taking center stage at even the most meat-heavy restaurants in Chicago

Those who maintain a gluten-free diet either because of a sensitivity, allergy or a lifestyle decision often find a restaurant they love and keep returning because they know they won’t get sick after dining there. Restaurateurs and chefs in Chicago, realizing there is a growing demand to develop and identify gluten-free offerings for their diners, are responding.

My contribution to the USA Today Travel piece for the best unique steak in #Chicago. Chicago's Sunda takes the concept of unique steak seriously, adding an Asian twist to two signature entrees for beef lovers. The tender melt-in-your-mouth Australian Wagyu Rib Eye is an indulgent dish that will give you a caveman moment with its presentation of sliced steak and two huge bones. It comes with two servings of bone marrow, featuring a yuzu chili that cuts through the steak's buttery taste and texture to give this dish a kick. Bone Marrow can often be too rich, but the chef's yuzu chili helps balance the dish overall. Don't let the name fool you: Sunda's Lemongrass Beef Lollipops offer steak in a bite with prime NY strip beef wrapped in lemongrass, ginger citrus and sweet soy glaze. Each bite gets a zing with a pepper ring tempered by sweet soy glaze. After each bite of beef, patrons can chew on the lemongrass stalk as a palate refresher. The lollipop steak is super tender and perfect finger food.

Food cooperatives are enjoying a bit of a resurgence in the Chicago area because many of us are fed up with unhealthy and non-local food options.

Must we trade brunch dates and Bloody Mary’s for barely edible pancakes and sippy cups once we have kids? Chicago restaurateurs, many of whom now claim the title of parents themselves, know how to host a good brunch which welcomes us and our progeny. Unlike some downtown areas which only offer chains, Chicago has a host of brunch ideas and family friendly restaurants to dine in the Loop and nearby neighborhoods.

Food preservation takes many forms, most of which can easily be accomplished in home kitchens with a little time and some basic equipment.

A number of years ago, Deborah Niemann was shocked to learn that a cheeseburger and fries wasn't a healthy meal. Meat, dairy and vegetables, right? Talk about doing a 360... In 2002, she and her husband moved their family of five to a 32-acre farm just outside Cornell, Illinois, to have better control of the food they ate.

City Provisions, an organic catering company based in Chicago's Ravenswood neighborhood, hosts monthly farm tours where participants get a glimpse into how the food we eat arrives on our plates and why we should care.