Debate collection preserves eternal conflict between Jewish holiday foods

By Rebecca Klymkowsky / November 29, 2005

It goes without saying that the University of Chicago has something of a reputation in the academic world for doing things, well, a bit differently than other schools. The University experience begins with the Uncommon Application, then proceeds through a tour de force of madcap antics such as Scav Hunt and the Polar Bear Run....

Behind the scenes of new exhibit, our reviewer gets Smart to the art of the print

By Rebecca Klymkowsky / February 11, 2005

Walking into the Smart Museum’s opening for Paper Museums: The Reproductive Print in Europe, 1500-1800 last Thursday was like stepping into another world. The new exhibit seeks to reassess the functional and aesthetic value of prints that copied existing paintings, sculptures, and sometimes other prints. During my time on campus, I’ve toured the Smart’s galleries...

Decisions, decisions: you choose the ingredients at this North Side hot spot

By Rebecca Klymkowsky / April 2, 2004

Chicago’s weather has taken a turn for the warmer. For most of us, winter meant long hours in the Reg, studying and working on our nonexistent tans under the harshly-artificial lights. For me, it meant all of those things, plus more than my fair share of exam panic—and bags under my eyes that could have...

Take a cue from the goddess of wisdom and discover Chicago’s Greek cuisine

By Rebecca Klymkowsky / March 5, 2004

Chicago has a reputation for amazing food. I write restaurant reviews. Therefore, whenever anyone comes to visit me, I’m responsible for making sure we eat well. Even I am hard-pressed to find a believable excuse to justify living off of Pad See Ew from the Snail every Friday and Saturday (despite my lingering fondness for...

Come for the tapas, but be sure to desert the dessert

By Rebecca Klymkowsky / February 17, 2004

Sometimes it seems like the vast majority of my activities outside of academia center around food. Whether it’s the rather tired dinner and a movie (or museum exhibit, theater show, etc.), meeting friends for lunch, or even taking a break from studying over a steaming mug of hot chocolate, a rather inordinate number of social...

New-Futurists: still fresh after all these years

By Rebecca Klymkowsky / January 27, 2004

For me, Friday nights at the University are usually reserved for dinner out or a night of recuperating from the demands of the week. Especially now, when the wind is cold enough to freeze just about any body part (as was nearly demonstrated during the polar bear run), it’s hard to work up even a...

The eateries of Chicago: a short journay can take you a long way

By Rebecca Klymkowsky / January 20, 2004

Growing up in the Midwest, one’s idea of comfort food can grow pretty narrow. As winter blusters into the Windy City with its typically freezing temperatures, mine revolves more and more around large bowls of my mom’s homemade chicken soup. Recently, I realized that one person’s exotic, cutting-edge cuisine is another’s old-fashioned, tried-and-true peanut butter...

A journey to Chinatown: come for the dim sum and then some

By Rebecca Klymkowsky / January 11, 2004

One of our favorite spots in Chicago (when the pressure of even being in the immediate vicinity of the Reg is too much to bear) is Chinatown. Since it’s a simple matter of jumping on the Red Line, Chinatown is also one of the easiest ethnic neighborhoods to reach from Hyde Park. The real reason...

Off-Off declares war on tame humor; Off-Off wins

By Rebecca Klymkowsky / November 14, 2003

Every Friday night I find myself with the same problem: what to do to fill the time between the end of dinner and the beginning of other late-night activities. Not much fits into that odd two- or three-hour window. It’s not really enough time to head downtown for wild carousing, but it’s also too long...

Greektown gem pleases the palate

By Rebecca Klymkowsky / November 3, 2003

With its celebrated Taste of Chicago food festival in the summer, and an enormous amount of restaurants, Chicago is arguably one of the cuisine capitals of the country, if not the world. Whether you hunger for Italian pasta, Chicago’s own deep-dish pizza, or slightly more eclectic entrees such as kabanosy, a type of Polish sausage,...