Spring it on! New food ventures await

Were you planning to go to Egypt? Even if that’s not in your summer travel plans, you can still get a taste of Egyptian street food at North Avenue Falafel, 6814 W. North Ave., Chicago. According to owner Youssef Salama and baker Amr Hassan, theirs is the first restaurant to offer these dishes in the Chicago area. Take your pick from a range of savory to sweet.

Bailey Sullivan, scion of Goldyburgers and executive chef at Chicago’s Monteverde, is still in the running for Top Chef on season 22 of Bravo’s TV show.

Take home freshly made pasta from Ciro, 1048 Pleasant St., Oak Park. Owner Ciro Parlato says his new machine, which cuts dough using a bronze die, gives a pleasant roughness to the exterior. Once cooked that surface grabs sauce, unlike commercial pasta which is slick on the outside.

There’s a notice on the front window of Old World Pizza, 7230 W. North Ave., Elmwood Park. It reads: same great recipe, new great family. “When people ask us why we bought it, we tell them we loved it so much we didn’t want to risk anybody changing the recipe,” said long-time local and store runner Danielle Michelon.

Ice cream season is upon us. In Oak Park Three Spoons Ice Cream, 133 Ridgeland Ave.; Hole in the Wall, 901 S. Oak Park Ave.; and Courageous Cones, 736 Lake St.; have all resumed soft serving. Petersen’s, 1100 Chicago Ave., is scooping, too.

New take-out restaurant Crown’s Fish and Chicken opens its doors at 420 N. Austin Blvd., Oak Park, on May 1.

The next day, May 2, is set for the opening of Brooklyn’s Berwyn Subs, 7001 Roosevelt Rd., Berwyn. “This is a neighborhood deli, named after my daughter Brooklyn. We’re trying to bring simple, good deli sandwiches to the neighborhood,” said co-owner Samantha Munley.

 Wise Cup’s new, expanded seating area is open at 1018 Lake St., Oak Park. May 3 will be a grand opening with specials and live music.

Also on May 3, Café Cubano, 113 N. Oak Park Ave., celebrates its one-year anniversary in Oak Park with giveaways and live music. While you are there order a cocktail collaboration with local liquor Catan Pisco. “Catalina, the owner of Catan Pisco stopped by,” said Mayra Fernandez, owner of Café Cubano. “We did a tasting and loved her product. We put it on the menu and there is such a demand for it!”

The Meat Counter at 7406 Madison St., Forest Park, is open with a grand opening set for May 8. The retail butcher shop, focusing on Midwest farms and artisanal producers will also have a hot food menu.

North Riverside boba tea and coffee purveyors The Wolf plans to open their new Oak Park location, 132 N. Oak Park Ave., by the middle of May.

The Oak Park Farmers Market debuts its 50th season on May 17. Produce, meat, pastries, honey, eggs, donuts, oh my! All in the Pilgrim Church parking lot, 460 Lake St.

The recent opening of Dandelion Bookshop got me thinking about the book Dandelion Wine by famed science fiction writer Ray Bradbury. The 12-year-old main character is based on Bradbury’s own childhood in Waukegan. And that got me wondering whether anyone has actually made dandelion wine? If so, drop me a line. Or if you’ve made wine before and would like to collaborate on making a batch with those love/hate yellow pom-poms of spring, I’m game.

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