Eat. Watch. Do. — Global foods in Chicago, chicken Caesar wraps, plus ‘MJ the Musical’ review
It’s Thursday, Chicago.
Maybe you didn’t get to be a globe-trotter this summer. But who needs to leave Chicago when there are so many great international food options right here at home? We have two new food features to leave you feeling well-traveled.
If you want to take an international food tour without leaving the city’s limits, take heed from journeying TikTokker @Bored_In_Chicago, aka Cam Brenson, who is documenting his quest to eat a dish from every country in the world, one meal at a time. Or maybe the fantastic chip flavors of faraway lands are all you need to get that worldly feel. International snack shops are booming in Chicago right now, and we have that covered too.
On Chicago stages, we have reviews from critic Chris Jones for “MJ the Musical” now at Nederlander Theatre — which blew me away when I saw it on Broadway last year — and “Next to Normal” at Paramount Theatre.
Enjoy the weekend, and we’ll see you next week.
— Lauryn Azu, deputy senior editor
From Armenia to Zambia: This TikTok influencer is eating a dish from every country (in alphabetical order) without leaving Chicago
If you ever wanted to travel the globe on a limited budget, Chicago’s many international restaurants are the next best thing. Chicagoan Cam Brenson is attempting to eat food from every country without leaving the area. Here’s how his TikTok quest came to be.
Review: ‘A Compassionate Spy’ is a Manhattan Project espionage story that began at UChicago
Seen in the context of “Oppenheimer,” Steve James’ film serves as a fascinating complement — and in some ways, a corrective — to the Christopher Nolan blockbuster. The movie is playing through Aug. 17 at the Gene Siskel Film Center.
The chicken Caesar wrap is the viral dish of summer. Here are 5 of our favorites.
Chicken Caesar wraps haven’t been trendy since the “Macarena,” but after going viral on TikTok, they’re increasingly popular in Chicago. Tribune food critic Nick Kindelsperger gets to the bottom of the trend and shares his five favorite wraps at Chicago restaurants.
Review: ‘Next to Normal’ at Paramount Theatre is on a simpler stage but still rewarding
Paramount Theatre artistic director Jim Corti pares down a show set inside a big suburban house to the minimum amount of physical stuff needed for this show to sing, and rewards those who see the boldly themed musical in the intimate space.
Seven Treasures, home of the 554 and late-night wonton noodles, closing in Chicago’s Chinatown
Seven Treasures is one of the increasingly few Chinatown businesses left that are family-owned. It closes Aug. 15.
‘Only Murders in the Building’ review: This time it’s a musical!
Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd bring new energy to Season 3 of Hulu’s comedic-melancholic whodunit “Only Murders in the Building.”
Lobster Lay’s and mojito 7UP: International snack shops are booming in Chicagoland
International snack shops in the Chicago area are seeing floods of customers as the trend spreads online, and are offering unique treats from mango-dragon fruit Fanta from France to masala Lay’s from India.
Artist JeeYeun Lee’s walking tours tell a very different story about Chicago and its lakefront
Artist-activist JeeYeun Lee leads walking tours set to audio along Lake Michigan, where she educates participants on Indigenous history in Chicago. “Her projects, which are part history, part performance art, part activism, are intended to raise unsettling questions about who is entitled to the lakefront and what is meant by ‘public land,’” Tribune reporter Chris Borelli writes.
Review: ‘MJ the Musical’ in Chicago is a fabulous launch of the national tour
The King of Pop’s enduring appeal lives on through “MJ the Musical.” At the Nederlander Theatre in the Loop, the atmosphere was electric and the action on stage was halted several times for standing ovations, Tribune theatre critic Chris Jones writes.
Dairyland getaway: From tiny towns to new Art of Cheese fest, the best Wisconsin stops for cheese lovers
Got milk? America’s Dairyland, Wisconsin, sure does. If you go, you’ll find something for every kind of traveler at Wisconsin’s dairy farms.
