Dave Samber proudly displays his cupcake creation.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Taste of Chicago and his 25 years in the restaurant business, Dave Samber created a special treat for this year’s event. His “Mashed Potatoes Stuffed Chocolate Cupcake” will sell at the Taste for $2. He says the chocolate cupcake is an homage to his five years in candy/confectionery and the mashed potatoes represent his shift to catering. “Besides,” he said, “cupcakes are red hot right now.” No argument there.
If you can’t wait until June 25 to try a cupcake, Polo Cafe & Catering will be at Prudential Plaza today between 11am and 2pm for the Taste of Chicago Preview event. Iyanze, Timothy O’Toole’s Pub, Lagniappe-Creole Cajun Joynt, & Robinson’s Ribs will also be serving their Taste samples.
Another preview event is scheduled for June 8 & 9 at Daley Plaza.
Bridget and I get a lot of questions about food. It’s one of the occupational hazards of running a blog and podcast about Chicago restaurants. Whether we’re talking to tourists or old friends, they always want to know where to eat.
Over the summer, I wrote a week-long guide to Chicago dining for friends who were visiting the city. It included breakfast, lunch, a cupcake stop, and dinner for every day of the week. To actually use the guide as written was utter madness because there was way too much food, but my friends loved it. It took them out of their comfort zone and into the city’s neighborhoods. I was both the trusted source and goad to try new things, the purveyor of classics as well as the latest and greatest places on the scene. It was the type of reference that didn’t exist and couldn’t be compiled by looking at tourist sites or scanning through web reviews. At least, not without a lot of work and firsthand knowledge of Chicago. I felt that doing a guide like that provided a way of experiencing the city that didn’t exist anywhere else.
And then I started thinking about other ways of elevating Chicago’s restaurant scene. Guides for newcomers were one thing, but I wanted to do something for people who were stuck in a routine or who didn’t see the value of branching out to try new things. I picked cupcakes as the subject of my next guide, and realized that it would be bigger than a few pages — there was simply too much information and too much to say. Foodies in Chicago take their cupcakes seriously, and I realized that I needed to put together a guide worthy of their zest for baked goods. I also discovered that while everyone loves cupcakes, very few people have tried more than one or two places. There was nothing out there to meet the needs of the true cupcake lover — no information that showed them just how many good options they have.
I hope that people visit the site, buy the book , and then come back to share their opinions on what they find. If you try the guide and you find it valuable, please let me (and all your friends) know. If you think it sucks, I still want to hear from you. I love talking about Chicago food. Thanks and happy dining!
(7.5 M)
Show Notes:
00:00 – 01:37 An adventure for you
01:38 – 03:05 Uncovering cupcakes, bakery info, routes
03:06 – 05:02 The need for side-by-side tasting
05:03 – 06:41 Know what to look for, how to rate
06:42 – 08:98 The good work of finding the best cupcake.
Want to know where to find cupcakes? Try one of our routes!
Over thirteen challengers threw down for Chicago's first Iron Cupcake Challenge.
Last night, we nibbled our way through thirteen Iron Cupcake entries to declare Nicole Lapointe the winner with her Ruby Red Cupcakes with avocado Green with Envy icing. Her cupcake had the right combination of biteability, cupcakeness and of course, citrus! Tracy Vasquez came in second with her Blood Orange cupcakes and Flourgrrrl Heather Sennett rounded out the top three with a Dark Chocolate-Orange Nostess creation.
Beautiful Cakes plans to sponsor monthly Iron Cupcake competitions at Veranda, 5700 W Irving Park Road. The next theme will be announced soon!
Iron Cupcake Chicago | Blood Orange These delicious blood orange cupcakes took second place in the citrus challenge.
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