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Last Meal Chicago: A Beginning.
What is Last Meal Chicago?
Last Meal Chicago is distinct in its attempt at restaurant criticism. The reviews that have typically populated Chicago food media have merely explained the food, drinks, scene et al. and provide some evaluation of their worth; criticism attempts to evaluate and situate such assessments in the broader culture—both the city specifically and restaurants generally—in order to codify its meaning or significance. The zeitgeist, if you will. Or something like that.
Why "Last Meal"?
A double entendre. Literally, I'll be writing about some of my last (i.e., my most recent) forays at Chicago restaurants. Figuratively, with Phil Vettel's exit from The Chicago Tribune there are now no dedicated/full-time restaurant reviewers in the city; my aim here is to be the "last" critic--though if you've read food media here I'd seriously question if we've ever even had a first.
Who is "Last Meal"?
Well, I'm Brad, a former journalist and current author who has a love-hate (hate love?) affair with Chicago restaurants. Many cat lives ago I wrote for several prominent local and national publications; on occasion now I'll write a piece or two. (Cheap plug: I recently wrote a piece on Fooditor on the state of play of Chicago dining at the end of 2020.)
I enjoy reading restaurant criticism; I enjoy writing it, too. Hence. (Web design and photography, as you'll see: not so much.)