20 ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago

 

Celebrate the ‘Celtic Muse’ at Davenport’s, Wicker Park, 8 p.m. tonight and Friday, March 19, $15 plus two-drink minimum. Gillian Kelly and Claire Bigley perform Irish favorites such as “The Nightingale,” “Finnegan’s Wake,” and “The Rising of the Moon.” $3 Harps and Guinness, too.

Visit the Irish American Heritage Center, Irving Park, through March 20. Events begin [...]

Eat this! (St. Patrick’s Day edition): Guinness, an iconic taste of Ireland

What it is: After shamrocks and leprechauns, the most distinctive icon of Ireland in the world may be a glass of Guinness stout, a rich, dark beer made with roasted, malted barley and hops, topped with a creamy white head.
Where it comes from: Guinness dates to 1759, when Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000-year lease [...]

Two rivers: Drinking green in Chicago this St. Patrick’s Day

Who cares if they don’t tint beer green in Ireland?
I don’t know who first thought of green beer, but in a town that has — despite canceling one — still boasts two other St. Patrick’s Day parades, I shouldn’t have to tell you why green-tinted beer is a Chicago thing, or when and where [...]

Free Irish whiskey for St. Patrick’s Day

If you don’t start in the morning, you can’t drink all day. Binny’s Beverage Depot celebrates St. Patrick’s Day from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 17, with a free breakfast open house featuring Irish scones and coffee made with Feckin’ Irish Whiskey, plus music from the City of Chicago Pipers. The event takes place [...]

Lent 2010: 20 Chicago-area Friday fish fry favorites

A flotilla of deep fryers is going full tilt at local restaurants and bars. It’s Lent, the season of the fish fry, when Roman Catholics, some 2.5 million strong here in the Chicago area, and some other Christians seek out seafood each Friday throughout the 40-day, pre-Easter period of abstinence.

Check out these spots for your Friday fish fix.

Chicago food news and views from around the Web

We check out all the best foodie news from Chicago restaurant chefs and others….

Chef Grant Achatz of Alinea in Lincoln Park recounts his experience judging the Bocuse d’Or culinary competition, where competitors included Jennifer Petrusky, a sous chef at Charlie Trotter’s. He ponders whether the international contest could become a reality show, like “Top Chef [...]

In Chicago, Mardi Gras is Paczki Day!

In New Orleans, the Tuesday before Lent, this year Feb. 16, culminates a riotous season known as Mardi Gras. Here in Chicago, some celebrate Louisiana-style, but to a million or so Chicagoans, Fat Tuesday is Paczki Day (say “POONCH-key”).
They’ll be lining up at bakeries to buy dozens of rich, plump Polish-style jelly doughnuts, and maybe [...]

Gung hay fat choy! Chicago Chinese New Year celebrations

With a clash of cymbals and the bang of drums and firecrackers, as well as traditional dragon parades and lion dances, the Asian New Year will explode into the Chicago area on Sunday, Feb. 14, with a variety of events at restaurants and around town.
Chinese legend says the noise and dancing animals chase away evil [...]

Eat this! Rich chocolate pudding, a decadent dessert for Valentine’s Day

The decadently rich, port-infused chocolate pudding Chef Kendal Duque recently served at Lakeview’s new Cuna restaurant deserves a fanciful moniker. It’s a perfect dessert for Valentine’s Day!

Six heartfelt (chocolate) traditions for Valentine’s Day in Chicago

Well before we were married, my husband, that crafty man, established a sweet Valentine’s Day custom. Each year on Feb. 14, he gives me a heart-shaped box of chocolates. (Then he eats half of them.) It’s a tradition. As much as I might yearn for, say, diamonds or rubies, I know I can expect that [...]