Lite Bites: What Your Favorite Chefs & Mixologists Are Up To Around Town This Week

A recent "Discovery Dinner" party at Storefront Company (Photo: Tyler Curtis/Storefront Co.)

When will spring arrive?!

• Bryan Moscatello is gearing up for the next Discovery Dinner Series events at Storefront Co. Guests will be savoring Moscatello's seasonal dishes while sipping Double Cross Vodka, Goose Island Beer Co. Vintage Collection and the Italian beers 32 Via Dei Birrai. The events happen through May; call the restaurant for reservations.

• Brandon Wolff (La Madia, one sixtyblue, Signature Room) is the new toque at Tre Soldi, the latest project from Jack Weiss (Coco Pazzo). What's certain to be one of the standout dishes on the Roman-style menu is Carciofi alla Giudea, a traditional, double pan-fried artichoke with mint-and-anchovy infused oil. The restaurant is set to open in early June.


My, that's a mighty big knife Fountainhead's Cleetus Friedman has there! (Photo via Reuters)

• Time Out Chicago's got a first look at the space and menus at Carrie Nahabedian's French-focused Brindille. It opens April 22.

• Cleetus Friedman's new menu gets underway at Fountainhead April 19. Friedman—who's hoping to become the next host of Check, Please!—is a big fan of craft beers and whiskey, so Fountainhead should be a good fit for him. His first menu aims to pair with the beverage choices, so look out for homey, seasonal dishes like mushroom quinoa risotto with shaved parmesan and fresh basil; roasted beet salad with pickled onion, watercress and watermelon radish in balsamic reduction; and pan-roasted salmon with field greens, goat cheese and Dijon balsamic vinaigrette. He's even added an eponymous burger: the Cleetus Burger that's a half-pounder with seven-year cheddar, BBQ sauce, bacon and fried onion on brioche.


Carciofi alla Giudea, a traditional, double pan-fried artichoke with mint-and-anchovy infused oil (Photo: Tre Soldi)

• I wonder what type of hat Stephanie Izard (Girl and the Goat, Little Goat) will wear to the Kentucky Derby?! I seriously doubt a chef's hat, but she'll be there whipping up signature Skuna Bay salmon bites at the Taste of Derby, an annual culinary event kicking off the glamorous weekend on May 2.

• Former Park Grill chef Cesar Reyes just opened Polanco, a Mexican steakhouse in Logan Square that features American classics with spicy Latin accents. We're looking forward to starters like oysters served with habanero-infused mignonette and steaks accompanied by a choice of four sauces (chimichurri, chile morita, herb citrus or Bordelaise).