The food that fuels hardworking Chicagoans needs to be hearty, portable and inexpensive. Featuring select stories and recipes, author Amy Bizzarri surveys the delectable landscape of Chicago's homegrown culinary hits. Enterprising locals transform standard fare into Chicago classics, including Spinning Salad, Flaming Saganaki, Jumpballs, Jim Shoes, Pizza Puffs and Pullman Bread. The restaurants, bakeries, taverns and pushcarts cherished from one generation to the next offer satisfying warmth in winter and sweet refreshment in summer. This timeless balancing act produced icons like the Cape Cod Room's Bookbinder Soup and the Original Rainbow Cone, as well as Andersonville Coffee Cake and Taylor Street's Italian Lemonade.
Amy Bizzarri is an extreme Chicago history buff and freelance writer. She lives with her two children in a vintage 1910 home in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago. When she's not writing, you'll most likely find her swimming laps at Holstein Park pool, riding her bicycle around Humboldt Park or sharing an Atomic Sundae at Margie's Candies. Amy blogs at DiscoveringVintageChicago.com