The Business of Food with Steve Alexander

There are many great reasons to go to the Illinois State Fair: The carnival, the grandstand concerts, the food, the 4-H and FFA exhibits, and … the Piglet Parade. In the audio clip below, Illinois Pork Producers Association Pork Ambassador Jobeth Matli tells WGN’s Steve Alexander all about the 10-day old baby pigs and their very pregnant mommas who were brought in just a few days before the fair to give birth. The piglets are not actually parading, but thousands of fair visitors are parading through the Birthing Center to see the little critters, hold them, and take photos with them. There’s also a “Guess the Piglet’s Weight” contest.

If you can’t make it to Springfield, here is a LIVE PIGLET CAM where you can watch what they’re up to, 24/7. (Spoiler alert: They don’t do much other than eat and sleep, much like human babies, but cuteness abounds.)

If you do go to the fair, the Pork Producers are again hosting their Pork Patio, a tradition for over 30 years. Fairgoers can get their favorite pork products from August 8-18th. The menu will feature the classics, including chop on-a-stick, pork twister, pork burgers, pork chops, and BBQ pulled pork sandwiches. 

“Sarah Mac,” as her friends call her, is a Board Certified Physical Therapist who practiced at the University of Chicago until recently deciding to go back to school for another degree. In her spare time, she bakes, and is known for her version of the French macroon. (Her Instagram handle is a nod to that: @SMAC_aroons.) She had planned on entering the Chicago’s Best Baker competition in 2023, but was so far along in her pregnancy that her obstetrician “laughed in my face and told me no way are you doing this.” In July of 2024, with a toddler in tow, she entered the competition in Uptown. Organizers are fans of “The Great British Bakeoff” and wanted something similar to honor the great amateur bakers of Chicago, while also raising money for the homeless shelter at Cornerstone Community Outreach. Of 106 entries, Sarah snagged two second-place ribbons in the Heirloom and Gluten-Free categories. When it came to the naming of the overall winner of the contest, the panel of professional Chicago bakers chose Sarah’s bakes. In the audio clip below, she describes the experience to WGN’s Steve Alexander. When asked if she has considered going pro now that she’s been judged Chicago’s best amateur baker, Sarah said she likes the idea of baking as a job, but doesn’t like the hours. She’s a night owl, and if bakers could start at three in the afternoon instead of three in the morning, she’d consider it.

Dick’s Last Resort long reigned as one of the rowdiest bar/restaurants along the Chicago River, proudly calling itself “the place your mama warned you about.” It encouraged women customers to leave their underwear behind, which were strung up across the bar. Dick’s closed, Legal Seafoods claimed the space. “All the underwear is gone, and there was a significant cleanup that had to happen before we could even start demolition,” says Legal Seafoods president and COO Matt King.

In the audio clip below, King tells WGN’s Steve Alexander that a grand staircase now connects the space that was Dick’s with the level above once occupied by a Subway. The upper level is an oyster and sushi bar, the lower level is a 10,000 square foot restaurant seating more than 300, including 60 outside along the river. This is the first Legal Seafoods restaurant not on the East Coast. King says the Berkowitz family started Legal in 1950 as a market in the Boston area where people could get stamps that were a legal tender, similar to what became food stamps. The Berkowitz family sold its restaurants in 2020 to the company that owns Smith and Wollensky, which occupies the space adjacent to the new Legal Seafoods. In fact, during the pandemic, the seafood company tested a virtual kitchen in the Smith & Wollensky kitchen for pickup and delivery. It went so well that the chain was sure that the Midwest was ready for its clam chowder, lobster rolls and a full menu of fresh seafood. When asked how fresh, King cited the restaurant’s motto: “From boat to plate in 48.”

The USDA is out with its forecast for food prices in 2025, and if it becomes a reality (it is a forecast and we know what happens to forecasts sometimes) it will be a relief: a .7% increase in average food prices at the grocery store. Compare that with the run-up in “food-at-home” prices — grocery bills — in the first three years of the pandemic. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York published an analysis of what caused the increase. In the audio clip below, Thomas Klitgaard, an economic research advisor in International Studies in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Research and Statistics Group, tells WGN’s Steve Alexander what drove the prices higher: commodities (but he says we shouldn’t blame it on farmers), and wage increases for supermarket workers (but we shouldn’t blame the mostly underpaid workers). And about “Greedflation,” the accusation tossed around by politicians? Klitgaard says yes, grocery retailer profits were up about 20 percent, but their expenses were also up by about 18%.

More than 100 vendors, including some of Chicago’s iconic restaurants, will be serving food at the 2024 Lollapalooza in Grant Park. From pizza to Italian Beef to BBQ to tacos to waffles, plus desserts and drinks of all kinds (see lists below), concert goers will be in no danger of going hungry or thirsty. Back in ChowTown for a 13th year is Chicago’s very own Wow Bao. In the audio clip below, president and CEO of Wow Bao, Geoff Alexander tells WGN’s Steve Alexander that setting up a restaurant at Lolla for four days is difficult — more challenging than any of the 30+ restaurants he’s opened — but it’s great fun for him and his team as they steam up and serve more than 30,000 bao over the four days, plus more than 10,000 pot stickers. Wow Bao is celebrating its 21st year in business. It started as part of the Lettuce Entertain You restaurant group in a 350-square foot space in the entrance to Water Tower Place on the Mag Mile. Below is a listing of all food vendors at the 2024 Lollapalooza. There’s pretty much anything you could want–but you’ll have to have a ticket to get into Grant Park.

CHOWTOWN Bacci Pizzeria, BaseHit BBQ, Beat Kitchen on the Riverwalk, Benjyehuda, Billy Goat Tavern, BJ’s Market & Bakery, Boxcar Betty’s, Broken English Taco Pub, Cafe Tola, Carnitas Don Alfredo, Castaways Beach Club, Cheese’s Grilled Cheese, Chicago’s Doghouse, Chicago’s Pizza, Chubby Wieners, Cleo’s, Connie’s Pizza, Dark Matter Coffee, Doom Street Eats, El Campeon, El Taconazo Express, Epic Burger, Esperanza, Fatso’s Last Stand, Frannie’s, Harold’s Chicken, Haus Of Sausage, Joey G’s Mac N Cheese, Josephine’s Cooking, Kamehachi, Koko’s Bavarian, Lito’s Tacos & Empanadas, Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria, Novi’s Italian Beef, Pasta Fasta, Prime Tacos, Robinson’s No.1 Ribs, Shake Shack, Shawarma Point, Taco Pros, Tacotlán, Tandoor Char House, Tecalitlan Mexican Kitchen, The Budding Southern Chicken, The StopAlong, The Tamale Guy, Uncle Bud’s, Wow Bao.

DESSERT ISLAND Candy Cloud World, Chills Italian Ice, Cloud Cookie, Dat Donut, Dippin’ Dots, Donut Dudes, Eiffel Waffle, Gaby’s Funnel Cakes, Ice Cream Social, Ida’s Artisan Ice Cream & Treats, Lorenzo’s Frozen Pudding, Normita’s Conchas & Café, Pretty Cool Ice Cream, Rolling Chicago, Silver Spoon Desserts, The Original Rainbow Cone, Vero Gelato, Windsor Ice Cream Shoppe, Winston Snow Cones, XO Marshmallow, Xurro.

PLANT BASE   Alice & Friends, Banato, Blue Agave, Elephant & Vine, Fons Empanadas, Glow Superfood, MeetStop by SteMartaen, Penelope’s Vegan Taqueria, Soul Veg City, Vegan Plate Chicago.

VIBE VILLAGE Candy Cloud World, Kong Dog, Kurimu, Matcha Cita, Sugar Bliss, Taiyaki Chicago.

GA+ LOUNGE  Mr. Chilaquil, Stix & Noodles, The Original Uncle John’s Barbecue, Uncle Remus Saucy Fried Chicken, Zaza’s Pizzeria.

VIP LOUNGE Bad Johnny’s Wood-Fired Pizza, Fatso’s Last Stand, House of Meltz, Latin America Cravings, Pretty Cool Ice Cream, Slice Factory, Sugar Bliss, Thlaco Taco Tijuanense.

When Genesis Winter was watching “The Great British Bake Off” years ago, she wondered why there wasn’t a similar competition for amateur bakers in America. So, she and a friend put together the “Chicago’s Best Baker” competition. In the audio clip below, Genesis tells WGN’s Steve Alexander the event, which began in 2018 and took two years off for COVID, will feature around 100 bakers, all meeting the requirements that they be amateurs and from Chicago. Judging will be done by professional Chicago bakers and winners will be chosen in each of the categories: cakes, pies, cookies, pastries, bread, and gluten-free items, and there will be one overall entrant chosen as Chicago’s Best Baker of 2024. The real winners, though, are members of the general public who can taste samples of each entry after the judging. Winter says the deadline for entries is July 18, and bakers will drop off their entries Saturday morning, July 20. At 2 p.m., after the judging, the doors to the public will open, and after an awards ceremony, the tasting begins at 3 p.m. Tasting tickets are $10 per category, or $50 for an all access ticket. Winter says even at $10, tasters will have the opportunity to easily satisfy their sweet tooth, with dozens of samples available. It’s all happening Saturday, July 20, at 935 West Wilson in Uptown. (Walk through Everybody’s Coffee Shop to get to the event space.) The big winner, though, is the Cornerstone Community Outreach, a homeless shelter that will receive the proceeds of the day.

You can find grapes in the grocery store year round, but fresh from the vine California grapes can only be found in the summer and fall. In the audio clip below, farmer George Matoian tells WGN’s Steve Alexander that 99% of the grapes produced in the United States come from California and harvest in the biggest grape producing areas has begun and will continue into November. He says early harvest began in May in the Coachella Valley, with the San Joaquin Valley harvest just now getting into full swing. While shoppers generally think of grapes as green, red, or black, there are more than 90 varieties grown in “The Fruit Basket of the World,” aka central California’s San Joaquin Valley, with more being developed each year.

Matoian raises fruit on a fourth-generation farm near Reedley, CA. He’s part of a group of family farmers who pooled their marketing muscle under the Mountain View Fruit Sales banner. Their Estate Vineyards brand of table grapes are available in black, red and green grape varieties and Matoian says, “This year’s harvest promises to deliver exceptional quality grapes, with maximum berry size on the first varieties to be harvested.” He estimates the crop will come in at about 94.5 million boxes, with each box containing 19 pounds of grapes. That works out to just under 1.8 billion pounds of grapes.

He says 30-35% of the crop will be exported to Canada, Mexico, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, Central America, and Singapore. There is competition from other countries, such as Chile, and while grapes are available year-round in Chicago stores, there’s a good chance summertime grapes are from California. Matoian adds that he and his fellow farmers would appreciate it if you would “support the California growers.”

Matoian says 100% of the grapes are picked by hand, and the growers rely on immigrant farm workers do to the work. “We love them,” he says, adding, “it’s almost like a partnership. They feel like they’re involved in the company and have a real sense of pride in the end product as they pack those bags and boxes of grapes.” It isn’t easy work, and right now, it’s hot work. Temperatures have routinely been above 100 degrees in early and mid-July, so the vineyard work begins at sunrise, around 5:30 a.m., and ends before it gets too hot, around 10 or 10:30 a.m. Matoian says fruit growers in California, as did farmers across the Midwest and nationwide, struggled with finding and keeping workers through the visa programs. But he says over the last couple of years the process has become easier and there’s now a good balance of work and workers.

In the 91-year history of Whitey’s Ice Cream in Moline, Illinois, Sweet Corn Ice Cream has never been one of its flavors. Until now. In the audio clip below, Annika Tunberg, vice-president at Whitey’s Ice Cream, and a third-generation family member to run the chain, tells WGN’s Steve Alexander how the concoction came about and, most importantly for the doubters, how it tastes. (For the doubters, Annika says she understands, but it really is good.) Whitey’s is a vendor at the annual John Deere Golf Classic in the Quad Cities, and when Deere wanted to feature a special ice cream flavor for the 2024 event that celebrated farming, someone came up with the idea of marrying two of the Midwest’s most important commodities: corn and dairy. Thus, “Awww Shucks,” sweet corn ice cream was born, complete with sweet corn flavoring and chopped up kernels of corn mixed into the vanilla ice cream.

Shouts of “Blasphemy!” followed by the loud clanging of a bell are what happens when a customer orders ketchup on their hot dog at Michiganders Windy City Diner. Despite being 150 miles away from Chicago, the family-owned and operated diner brings an authentic taste of Chicago to Windy City transplants in southwest Michigan. In the audio clip below, owner and founder Andra Lee tells WGN’s Steve Alexander that when she relocated across the lake to Michigan after a lifetime in Chicago, she missed authentic Chicago staples, like Vienna Beef hotdogs, and brats, and sausages, and Italian Beef, and others. So, she quit her corporate job and opened the diner in Portage, Michigan, just south of Kalamazoo. After opening in March, business is good with Chicago transplants and locals enjoying the Chicago favorites. Lee says she occasionally needs to instruct newbies to eating an Italian Beef on “The Stance” for properly eating the sandwich. Not only is the menu authentic, so is the decor. Lee says instead of going with sports-related posters like many Chicago diners do, she opted for the movies: films shot in Chicago, such as “Blues Brothers,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Untouchables,” “Some Like it Hot,” and others.

It seemed odd to WGN’s Steve Alexander that the dairy case of U.S. supermarkets contained so much butter and cheese made in Ireland. So, he asked Kate Saul, vice president of marketing at Evanston-based Ornua Foods North America, how it happened. In the audio clip below, Saul says the Kerrygold story began more than 30 years ago with the goal of exporting Irish dairy products. It’s been a success: Kerrygold products are sold in more than 80 countries, including the U.S. Saul tells Alexander the milk comes from cows on more than 14,000 Irish farms, and while it may seem odd that an Irish dairy producer is thriving at a time when American dairy farmers continue to struggle, with hundreds going out of business each year, Saul says Kerrygold’s disruption of the market has invigorated the market and benefits all brands.