Top 10 Chicago restaurant recipes of 2009

The Dining Chicago blog hasn’t been around a whole year yet, and our weekly “Eat this!” recipe column has been going an even shorter time, but that isn’t going to stop us from giving you a list of our most popular recipes from 2009. The list below contains our most-visited recipes from local restaurants.

Petterino’s, Loop: [...]

Eat This! Arancini, great balls of flavor from Sicily

What it is: An arancino is a ball of rice formed around a savory filling and fried to a delicate outer crispness. In their native Sicily, arancini are typically flavored with saffron and stuffed with chopped meat in tomato sauce.
Where it comes from: Arancini date to the 10th-century Kalbid rule of Sicily, when rice [...]

Imminent openings

Early adopters will have lots to choose from in coming weeks. About-to-open Chicagoland restaurants include:

Avli Estiatorio, Greek, Winnetka: Louis Alexakis, former general manager of Greek Islands and owner of the erstwhile Ouzeri, has recruited culinary expert Diane Kochilas direct from Greece as consulting chef for this 112-seat eatery specializing in regional Greek cuisine. Look for [...]