Sign-In
Cart
The Chicago Way: An Oral History of Chicago Dining
Hardcover
Culinary BiographiesFood WritingRegional: Midwest
Publisher Price: $36.00
ISBN13: 9781572843608
Publisher: Agate Midway
Published: Feb 3 2026
Pages: 580
Weight: 1.98
Height: 1.57 Width: 5.83 Depth: 9.06
Language: English
[A] must-read for Chicago's foodies.-- Publishers Weekly
The untold stories behind Chicago's globally celebrated culinary scene--from revolutionary chefs to kitchen disasters to public uproars to Michelin stars, told by the cooks, servers, restaurateurs, critics, dreamers, and rebels who built America's most fearless food city.
Whether serious destination diners, weekend visitors, or fans of The Bear, everyone knows Chicago has long outgrown its mid-twentieth-century reputation as a steak-and-potatoes town. The last fifty years have seen it explode into world prominence as one of America's best places to eat--and ground zero of some of America's greatest cooking. When Michelin first started awarding stars in the United States, they selected Chicago as one of the first cities so recognized. But the story of this ascendency--and of nationally famed chefs like Rick Bayless, Charlie Trotter, Grant Achatz, Stephanie Izard, and many others--has never been fully revealed in all its messy, dramatic, high-energy glory.
The Chicago Way traces Chicago's growth as a dining capital over the past fifty-plus years through an oral history made up of the voices of those who led, drove, and otherwise took part in that transformation. Readers will learn how the city's diners (and millions of happily sated visitors) grew to love new and more adventurous ways of eating, from hot dogs with foie gras to molecular gastronomy. These first-person accounts show how restaurants played a key role in transforming the city's culture, creating hot new neighborhoods--before sometimes getting priced out of them--and driving economic growth not just downtown, but increasingly into its kaleidoscopically diverse neighborhoods.
This is a dynamic plunge into the chaos and glory of the restaurant world, charged with the unfiltered voices of the men and women who helped make Chicago's food culture what it is today. Focusing on real estate, finance, and economics as well as food and creativity, these insider accounts together tell a powerful story about the essential influence of Chicago chefs and restaurants on contemporary American cuisine that will appeal to everyone interested in food, restaurants, and dining.
James Beard Award-winning Michael Gebert has written for decades about hundreds of Chicago food figures from every background, and in The Chicago Way, he includes contributions from national celebrities such as Top Chef winners Stephanie Izard and Joe Flamm, Alinea chef Grant Achatz, and Michelin-starred chef and author Lane Regan, among many other notables. His vast network and deep knowledge are reflected in the scores of both famed and unsung food professionals included here, arrayed into a narrative mosaic that reveals the stories behind the story of Chicago's greatest, most important, and most memorable places to eat food.
Also in
Culinary Biographies
Make It a Double: From Wretched to Wondrous: Tales of One Woman's Lifelong Discovery of Whisky
Sackier, Shelley
Hardcover
Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect
Guidara, Will
Hardcover
Kitchen Confidential Annotated Edition: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
Bourdain, Anthony
Paperback
Main, Middle & Gay: A Chef Finds His Place in the World Against All Odds
O'Connell, Patrick
Hardcover
What Could Possibly Go Right?: The Essential Journey to Scale an Enduring Culture
Meyer, Danny
Hardcover
Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook
Bourdain, Anthony
Paperback
Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks
Wilkinson, Crystal
Hardcover
The Devil in the Kitchen: Sex, Pain, Madness, and the Making of a Great Chef
White, Marco Pierre
Paperback
El Chef Migrante: La Vida Y Los Tiempos de Lalo García / The Migrant Chef: The Life and Times of Lalo García
Tillman, Laura
Paperback
The Meat Teacher Cookbook: The Ultimate Backyard BBQ Guide for an A+ in Pitmastery
Groark, Matt
Hardcover
Roasting in Hell's Kitchen: Temper Tantrums, F Words, and the Pursuit of Perfection
Ramsay, Gordon
Paperback
The Secret in the Sauce: Kitchen Wisdom and Life Lessons from an Irish Cookery School, with Recipes
McMichael, Kelly
Paperback
Dining Out: First Dates, Defiant Nights, and Last Call Disco Fries at America's Gay Restaurants
Piepenburg, Erik
Hardcover
Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste
Bosker, Bianca
Paperback
Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef (Large Print Edition)
Hamilton, Gabrielle
Paperback
Julia Child's Kitchen: The Design, Tools, Stories, and Legacy of an Iconic Space
Johnson, Paula J.
Hardcover
The Upstairs Delicatessen: On Eating, Reading, Reading about Eating, and Eating While Reading
Garner, Dwight
Paperback
Make the Bread, Buy the Butter: What You Should (and Shouldn't) Cook from Scratch to Save Time and Money
Reese, Jennifer
Paperback
Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip--Confessions of a Cynical Waiter (Harper Perennial)
Dublanica, Steve
Paperback
Eat Like a Fish: A James Beard Award Winner: My Adventures Farming the Ocean to Fight Climate Change
Smith, Bren
Paperback
The Gentleman's Companion: Being an Exotic Drinking Book Or, Around the World with Jigger, Beaker and Flask
Baker, Charles Henry
Hardcover
Hunger Like a Thirst: From Food Stamps to Fine Dining, a Restaurant Critic Finds Her Place at the Table
Rodell, Besha
Hardcover
The Food Explorer: The True Adventures of the Globe-Trotting Botanist Who Transformed What America Eats
Stone, Daniel
Paperback
The California Pizza Kitchen Story: How Two Federal Prosecutors Changed the Way America Eats Pizza
Rosenfield, Rick
Hardcover
Rambutan: Recipes from Sri Lanka, Accompanying the Acclaimed New London Restaurant
Shanmugalingam, Cynthia
Hardcover
What Could Possibly Go Right?: The Essential Journey to Scale an Enduring Culture (Large Print Edition)
Meyer, Danny
Paperback
From Here, You Can't See Paris: Seasons of a French Village and Its Restaurant
Sanders, Michael S.
Paperback
Beaujolais In My Blood: Growing Up Gay and Well-Fed in a Family-Run French Restaurant
Pitsenbarger, Eric Neil
Paperback
Jean Paré an Appetite for Life: The Inspiring Story of Canada's Most Popular Cookbook Author
Schultz, Judy
Paperback
Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany
Buford, Bill
Paperback
Hunger Like a Thirst: From Food Stamps to Fine Dining, a Restaurant Critic Finds Her Place at the Table
Rodell, Besha
Paperback
We've Always Had Paris... and Provence: A Scrapbook of Our Life in France
Wells, Patricia
Wells, Walter
Paperback
The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears in Paris at the World's Most Famous Cooking School
Flinn, Kathleen
Paperback
Reflections of a Vintner: Stories and Seasonal Wisdom from a Lifetime in Napa Valley
Kenward, Tor
Hardcover
Gluten for Punishment: Just Desserts for the Heartbroken, Lovesick, and Jilted
Seyler, Julie
Paperback
Hungry: Eating, Road-Tripping, and Risking It All with the Greatest Chef in the World
Gordinier, Jeff
Paperback
Old Farm Country Christmas: Favorite Recipes, Homespun Crafts, and Merry Memories
Apps-Bodilly, Susan
Apps, Jerry
Paperback
Life, on the Line: A Chef's Story of Chasing Greatness, Facing Death, and Redefining the Way We Eat
Achatz, Grant
Kokonas, Nick
Paperback
The Roast Penguin Chronicles: Hoosh, Scurvy Days, Sleeping with Vegetables, and Other Adventures in Antarctic Cuisine
Anthony, Jason C.
Paperback
Poor Man's Feast: A Love Story of Comfort, Desire, and the Art of Simple Cooking
Altman, Elissa
Paperback