Alinea spot closes, a visit to Diego and Brad Edwards' pick

SAVORY news for the week of June 15, 2025 (James Beard Awards weekend!)

—And I quote: "On the Vanna White diet, you only eat what you can spell."—Joan Rivers

—Happy Father’s Day to all those hard-working dads and father figures out there.

——✨✨The write stuff: Be sure to read and subscribe to my other Substack—Pop-Eds: My thoughts on pop culture. In my latest column, I discuss Harvey Milk, Southern Baptists, fluid sexuality and much more.

And now on to culinary items…

—✨✨SPOTLIGHT: I was fortunate enough to be invited to The Spice House x Diego dinner party at the latter spot, 459 N. Ogden St., on June 11.

Basque-style cheesecake. Photo by Andrew Davis

Diego Executive Chef Stephen Sandoval prepared dishes that incorporated items from—you guessed it!—The Spice House. The incredible dishes included oysters served with cocktail sauce and pico de gallo, featuring The Spice House’s Aleppo peppers; tuna tostada with maths, avocado and leche de tigre, featuring spicy adobo seasoning; poblano relleno with lentils, peas, mushrooms and quest de cabra, featuring ground guajillo chiles; and (my favorite) steak aside with beer onion, tatemada, guacamole, beans and rice tortillas, with carne asada season. Chef de Cuisine Gavin Yang joined the fun by serving Basque-style cheesecake served with ancho blackberry jam, masa streusel and mint, featuring The Spice House’s vanilla bean sugar.

As an added treat, all attendees received bags with The Spice House’s raspberry margarita salt and Pilsen spicy adobo seasoning. Party at my place!

—✨✨SPOTLIGHT: This week’s restaurant recommendation comes from none other than former CBS Chicago anchor Brad Edwards. He now runs the Chicago communication firm BE Media.

Brad Edwards. Photo courtesy of Edwards

As for his restaurant choice, Edwards decided to go Italian.