—Warm vibes: Jewel-Osco is bringing a tropical holiday takeover to Water Tower Place on Dec. 13-14, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., transforming the shopping destination into a warm, festive escape.
Hot Holidays. PR graphic
At “Hot Holidays,” guests can make leis (insert your favorite “lei” joke here), take part in surf school, paint holiday cookies and even learn to hula. This event will be free and open to the public.
And now on to culinary items…
SPOTLIGHT: Here are more Fast Foodie Facts, courtesy of Terri Schlichenmeyer and yours truly:
Good news! Just sitting quietly for an hour after you eat will burn calories. Not many—generally fewer than a hundred calories, depending on your health and metabolization.
Water caltrops (or water chestnuts) must be cooked because they have toxins (and even parasites). Once they are edible, they have nutritional value with calcium, iron, fiber, zinc and potassium, and are low in fat.
There are roughly 2,000 calories in an ostrich egg—but if you decide to have one, you’d better be hungry. One ostrich egg is equal to two dozen chicken eggs. (If you wish to try one, Exotic Meat Market will sell you one—for $149.99.)
Popcorn is the official snack food of Illinois.
The Hotel InterContinental Chicago—the home of Michael Jordan’s Restaurant—was once known as the Medinah Athletic Club. In fact, it was originally designed by the Shriners Organization to serve as the future gathering place for the club’s 3,500 members.
—Now open: Dēliz—a newly opened neighborhood Italian steakhouse from Restaurateur Steve Gogolab, Chef Partner Jakob Peterson, Pastry Chef Jessica Scott, Beverage Lead Omar Douglas, and General Manager Matt Ivanovich—has now opened in Bucktown.
The restaurant features a menu anchored by premium Midwest steaks, limited full-blood Australian Wagyu, coastal-inspired seafood, wood-fired sides and housemade pasta, with dishes prepared over custom Argentinian-style grills from Grillworks and a wood-fired oven. Menu highlights include charred octopus, buffalo ricotta gnocchi, a 40-ounce tomahawk and pistachio Basque cheesecake. Reservations are now live at SevenRooms.
—Give ‘em a Grinch…: Dr. Seuss’s The Grinch is taking over the Golden Arches to unleash his limited-time culinary debut: The Grinch Meal, in partnership with Dr. Seuss Enterprises and McDonald’s.
The meal includes Dill Pickle “Grinch Salt” McShaker™ Fries—a tangy twist on McDonald’s Fries® that’s now debuting in the U.S. The meal also has a choice of a Big Mac® or 10-piece Chicken McNuggets® and a medium drink—as well as a pair of spirited socks.
—Cater aid: The Goddess and Grocer is aiming to make Hanukkah entertaining easy with an a la carte to-go/delivery menu full of twists on the classics, with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options as well as sommelier wine selections.
To order, visit GoddessandGrocer.com. Select items will be available in stores for pick-up as well. Locations include Fulton Market, River North, Gold Coast and Bucktown. Pre-order catering by noon on Monday, Dec. 8, as the observance is taking place Dec. 14-22. Starters include potato latkes and butternut squash risotto cookies, with some of the other items including horseradish-crusted beef brisket, classic and gluten-free noodle kugel, braided challah and rugelach.
—Wine and where: At Mariano’s Lake View East, 3030 N. Broadway, on Wed., Dec. 10, 5-8 p.m., there will be the Holiday Wine & Spirits Spectacular, which will transform the store into a sparkling holiday destination showcasing the world’s most iconic wine and spirits brands—Dom Pérignon, Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Chandon and many more.
From exclusive gifting ideas to indulgent tastings, this soirée will aim to be your passport to seasonal sophistication. There will even be a PAWS puppy and information on how to adopt the perfect pet for the season.
—Table manners: On Dec. 13, 6-9 p.m., there will be “Many Lights, One Table”—a collaboration involving The Evolved Network’s Chef Sebastian White and James Beard Award–winning Chef Zach Engel (Galit) at Cafe Yaya, 2431 N. Lincoln Ave.
The event will be a four-course, family-style dinner with wine pairings that aims to celebrate connection, generosity and the season. Tickets start at $180/each; purchase them here.
Heritage Hanukkah Market items. PR photo
—To market we go: Heritage Restaurant & Caviar Bar—which is now a catering business—is holding its Heritage Hanukkah Market with artisanal Hanukkah staples, treats and chef-prepared favorites.
Pickup will only be on Sunday, Dec. 14, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., at 1516 W. Carroll St. Order items at this link.
—Perry good: Forbes recently recognized Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille as one of America’s Best Customer Service 2026 award winners, ranking #28 overall across all industries and #1 among U.S. full-service restaurants, making it the highest-rated steakhouse in the nation.
The 2026 Forbes list—developed in partnership with HundredX, a leading customer insights and analytics company—relied on feedback from 158,000 U.S. consumers collected between August 2024 and July 2025. Companies were evaluated on four factors: personal interaction, speed, services and resolution. The top five companies (in order) were The UPS Store, Mary Kay, Chick-fil-A, USAA and REI; a few others on the list of 100 businesses included Trader Joe’s, Amazon, Ace Hardware, Eddie V’s, Royal Caribbean, Nordstrom and Abbott Laboratories.
—GIVEAWAY!: Don’t forget that I’m giving away another box set of the Chicago-set show Shameless!
All you have to do to qualify is to be a paying subscriber (for less than $5/month) to either SAVOR for Andrew (future3733.substack.com) or Pop-Eds (Andrew449.substack.com). The deadline is Friday, Dec. 12, at 5 p.m. Good luck!
Until next time…
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