As immigrants came from outside the United States and settled in pockets around Chicago, each neighborhood had its own bakery--and sometimes several. At one time, more than seven thousand bakeries dotted the city streets. Stalwarts like Dinkel's, Roeser's, Weber's, Pticek and Ferrara continue a legacy that shaped Chicago's food traditions: an atomic cake for family celebrations, bacon buns in the morning or a poppy seed bun for hot dogs and pączki and zeppole for holidays. Even the never-ending debate over seeded or unseeded rye. From pioneering bakers to today's cake makers, author Jennifer Billock puts the sweet and doughy history of Chicago on display.

“[This] lavishly illustrated labor of love is a must-have for any baker who seeks to create honest, authentic and flavorful breads and pastries.” —Stanley Ginsberg, award-winning author of The Rye Baker Here is a go-to resource for bakers of all skill levels who love new information and techniques that lead to better loaves and more flavor. These forty-five foolproof recipes for delicious, nutritious, good-for-the-gut breads and pastries star a wide range of artisanal flours that are now readily available to home bakers. These flours add layers of flavor and texture, and combined with a natural starter and long fermentation, make these baked goods enjoyable even by those who have difficulty with gluten. In-depth master tutorials to starter, country loaves, and adjusting recipes for different flours are paired with step-by-step photography sequences that help visual learners get these fundamentals just right. Including recipes for one-of-a-kind rolls, scones, muffins, coffee cake, cookies, brownies, and more, this is a new take on baking for the home baker’s cookbook canon. “Ellen King is one of my favorite bakers, and Hewn is a gem—there’s nowhere else you can get such good bread made with flour that been so thoughtfully sourced and handled. Here, Ellen shows you how to do it.” —Mark Bittman, #1 New York Times bestselling author “Why on earth pick up a bag of flour with strange sounding names such as Red Fife, Turkey Red, or Marquis? Allow Ellen King of renowned Hewn Bakery to explain how these heritage varieties add complexity and mesmerizing flavor to your baking.” —Maria Speck, award-winning author of Simply Ancient Grains

The Chicago Food Encyclopedia is a far-ranging portrait of an American culinary paradise. Hundreds of entries deliver all of the visionary restauranteurs, Michelin superstars, beloved haunts, and food companies of today and yesterday. More than 100 sumptuous images include thirty full-color photographs that transport readers to dining rooms and food stands across the city. Throughout, a roster of writers, scholars, and industry experts pays tribute to an expansive--and still expanding--food history that not only helped build Chicago but fed a growing nation. Pizza. Alinea. Wrigley Spearmint. Soul food. Rick Bayless. Hot Dogs. Koreatown. Everest. All served up A-Z, and all part of the ultimate reference on Chicago and its food.

Dozens of the oldest local treasures in Chicago and its suburban and exurban areas are highlighted in this guide, which includes icons such as the city's oldest business, Peacock Jewelers; Merz Apothecary; tavern Schaller’s Pump; the Biograph Theater; and drive-in, Superdawg. Remarkable for having survived demolition and extinction for decades, these beloved landmarks have also helped define the city’s landscape, offering continuity and civic identity across generations. With Chicago having lost Marshall Field’s, Carson Pirie Scott, and many more historic gems in recent years, this book is also a reminder of the value of these familiar faces and a call to preserve them for a future sense of place. Oldest Chicago is about the places that have survived the passage of time. Oldest business: Peacock Jewelers (1838); oldest apothecary: Merz Apothecary (1875); oldest tavern: Schaller's Pump (1889); oldest theater: the Biograph Theater (1914); and oldest drive-in restaurant: Superdawg (1948). In Oldest Chicago, journalist David Witter highlights dozens of the oldest local treasures in Chicago and its suburban and exurban areas. Remarkable for having survived demolition and extinction for decades, these beloved landmarks have also helped define our city's landscape, offering continuity and civic identity across generations. Rather than celebrate the past, many of Chicago's business and political leaders have risen to power by tearing it down. Chicago has lost, and continues to lose, many great civic, architectural, and cultural landmarks. In recent years, Marshall Field's and Carson Pirie Scott have vanished from the city's landscape. Other structures like the Uptown and Ramova Theaters are also in danger of being permanently lost. Oldest Chicago is a reminder of the value of these familiar places and a call to preserve them for a future sense of place. But Oldest Chicago isn't only a history book--it's a guide. Everyone tries the newest...why not try the oldest? Visit the oldest house. Worship at the oldest church. Get on your soapbox at the oldest park. Party at the oldest nightclub. Taste the foods that generations of Chicagoans have savored at the oldest hot dog stand, pizzeria, soda pop maker, ice cream parlor, diner, chili vendor, liquor distributor, soul food restaurant, and bakery. Don't just read about Chicago's history--experience it!

The stolid landscape of Chicago suddenly turns dreamlike and otherworldly in Stuart Dybek's classic story collection. A child's collection of bottle caps becomes the tombstones of a graveyard. A lowly rightfielder's inexplicable death turns him into a martyr to baseball. Strains of Chopin floating down the tenement airshaft are transformed into a mysterious anthem of loss. Combining homely detail and heartbreakingly familiar voices with grand leaps of imagination, The Coast of Chicago is a masterpiece from one of America's most highly regarded writers.

Traditional Eastern European Jewish baking, along with the culture in which it evolved, is rapidly disappearing. Ginsberg chronicles the history and traditions of Ashkenazic Jewry in Eastern Europe and America, and recreates the breads, pastries, and cakes that once filled the shelves of neighborhood bakeries.

Famed high-protein recipe incorporated into breads, rolls, buns, coffee cakes, pizza, pie crusts, more.

Traditional treats get an innovative twist in these seventy-two recipes from the owners of the famous Baked bakeries. In Baked Explorations, Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, owners of the acclaimed Baked NYC and Baked Charleston, put a modern spin on America’s most famous sweet treats. From Mississippi Mud Pie to New York’s Black & White Cookie and the classic Devil’s Food Cake with Angel Frosting, these are the desserts that have been passed down for generations, newly updated with Lewis and Poliafito’s signature tongue-in-cheek style—just like Baked’s most in-demand item, also included here, the Sweet and Salty Brownie. They may not be your grandma’s treats, but these new renditions of old favorites will have everyone begging for more.

Within thirty years of the Great Chicago Fire, the revitalized city was boasting some of America's grandest department stores. The retail corridor on State Street was a crowded canyon of innovation and inventory where you could buy anything from a paper clip to an airplane. Revisit a time when a trip downtown meant dressing up for lunch at Marshall Field's Walnut Room, strolling the aisles of Sears for Craftsman tools or redeeming S&H Green Stamps at Wieboldt's. Whether your family favored The Fair, Carson Pirie Scott, Montgomery Ward or Goldblatt's, you were guaranteed stunning architectural design, attentive customer service and eye-popping holiday window displays. Lavishly illustrated with photographs, advertisements, catalogue images and postcards, Leslie Goddard's narrative brings to life the Windy City's fabulous retail past.

Gwendolyn Rogers, acclaimed baker and owner of The Cake Bake Shop, shares 25 seasonally inspired recipes for cakes that will dazzle.