The Lion Princes: Meet Chicago’s New Royalty
Lions are called the kings and queens of the jungle, so I’m happy to introduce Chicago's new princes. The three new male cubs born in January at Lincoln Park Zoo made their first public appearance this morning (April 14) at a members-only two-hour event that started at 8 a.m.
We’re proud to have a genuine pride, as these triplets join Pilipili, who was born in March 2022 (big brother didn’t make an appearance with the family this morning). The babies have been named Pesho, which means “unexpected gift” in Swahili; Lomelok, which means “sweet;” and Sidai, which has alternate definitions — good lion or, believe it or not, good food.
I’m going to make Sidai the mascot of Local Food Forum if I can ever figure out which one he is.
The lion cubs will be outside on a regular basis going forward, so make sure to visit while they are still this adorable. Barb and I live about 1-1/2 miles north of the zoo and we’ll be visiting often and posting photos as they turn into mighty beasts.
For Your Weekend Craft Beer Itinerary…
Being Local Food Forum’s craft brewery scout is a tough job, but someone has to do it. This past week I visited two that I can heartily recommend.
Last Saturday, I visited the Logan Square pop-up farmers market. There was a long wait for the next bus back cross-town, so I started to amble down Milwaukee Avenue to kill time when I stumbled upon Hopewell Brewing and decided to pop in.
I’ve known about Hopewell for some time and have had some of their excellent beers, but I’d never previously visited and actually didn’t know exactly where they were located. Proof that I need to get to Logan Square more often.
It was one of the first warm, beautiful days this spring, which made me think of thirst-quenching sour beer. At the bartender’s advice I ordered a Clover Club raspberry sour and it was luscious. Since I didn’t have time for a second glass, the bartender gave me a sample of Italian Ice, a sour made with Meyer lemons, and I’ll be going back for more. Sure better than any of those hard lemonades out there.
I enjoyed chatting with the Hopewell folks, and learned they are going to be expanding their production capacity. Cheers to them!
Then on Monday, after I wrapped up the day’s work, I walked the short distance to Lakeview’s DryHop Brewing for a couple.
There is no brewery with which I have a longer history. In 2012, as I was starting to develop a second career as a food writer, I did several freelance stories about craft breweries and distilleries. The person who hired me introduced me to the folks creating DryHop, which was being built out to fill a craft brewery void in the Lakeview East neighborhood where I live.
The first story I wrote about them was that July, when their location was still a gut rehab.
I attended their grand opening the following June, people quickly fell in love with the excellent beers created by head brewer Grant Dubovick, and DryHop not only became an instant success, but later spawned the owners’ two other Chicago breweries, Corridor Brewery & Provisions, about a mile west in Lakeview, and Crushed by Giants, a block off Michigan Avenue’s Magnificent Mile in downtown Chicago.
Like many of the area’s craft breweries, DryHop is producing a greater volume of traditional German styles that faded into the background during the recent era of IPA dominance. On Monday I enjoyed a Zombie Prom Kolsch and a Weiner Mobile Vienna Lager… and I look forward to helping them celebrate their 10th anniversary in June.
It’s Bloomin’ Beautiful Out There
The tulip trees, among Chicago’s great spring flowerings, are really popping with this week’s warm weather. Get out there this weekend, enjoy some beauty… and visit a local farmers market to support our local growers (schedule below).