Tucked into the brick façade of downtown Holland, Michigan’s W. 8th Street, where Late Victorian architecture meets contemporary, mixed-use development inspired by the style, Mezkla Taqueria & Fruteria is bringing a fresh, bold flavor to the vernacular palate. While modest in footprint, the brick-and-mortar storefront is just one chapter of a much larger story for Founder and Owner Patricia Vasquez,…
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Daisies: from seed to radical taproot
For Joe Frillman, executive chef and owner of Daisies in Chicago, Illinois, food is a deeply personal act that often evokes memory and nostalgia—for better or for worse. It is an experience that invites diners to participate in a journey that can delight the palate, tie generations, and expand horizons, and it is also one that seeks a certain level…
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A culinary tradition
Today, many Americans have easy access to pre-prepared food—whether it be slabs of meat packaged at the grocery store or a ready-to-eat meal from a fast-food chain, acquired from just five minutes spent in a drive-through line—and the life cycle of each plant or animal behind the meal is often not thoroughly considered. With an outlook inspired from more than…
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Eclectic flavor
In Downtown Detroit, a city known for its community of designers, industrialists, creatives, and culinary artists, this adaptive reuse of a 1940s-designed Art Deco Streamline Moderne building near Woodward Avenue along Parker’s Alley is a thoughtful curation of the old and the new. Realized by a collaborative design, build, and creative team led by the award-winning firm of McIntosh Poris…
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Skyline coastal
In an open-air ode to leisure dining as seen in seaside towns along the Iberian Coast, the makers of renowned Chicago destinations like The Violet Hour, Big Star, and The Publican, have launched a new rooftop bar concept offering sweeping views of the Chicago skyline, and a relaxed interpretation of the outdoor cervecerías signature to Spanish and Portuguese coasts. Bar…
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MDRD in cityscape
The skyline in Grand Rapids, Michigan could be considered one of the most changed in the Midwest, with development projects and creative moments of design found around most corners of the downtown core, which spreads along western Michigan’s Grand River. It is a burgeoning travel destination with a bent for hospitality, with several recent hotel projects hosted in hospitality families…
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Venteux Chicago
Nearly a year after restaurant scenes were shaken nationwide by the coronavirus pandemic, Chicago’s Magnificent Mile will be invigorated this spring by a brand-new French café, brasserie, and champagne and oyster bar to be helmed by hospitality industry leaders, including Chicago’s youngest Michelin-starred chef. Venteux, a French adjective roughly translating to “windswept,” embodies the familiar character of the Windy City,…
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Escape, blended
Tucked within an unassuming building near the corner of N. Kedzie Ave. And W. Diversey Ave. in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago, there is a place that promises to delight imbibe and culinary enthusiasts alike the moment they step beyond the threshold and leave the city’s residential and commercial architecture interplay behind. Its façade, which features a splash of…
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Barbershop lounge
“There is a lot of same-old-same-old in the world and differentiating yourself to really make sure you are answering questions for your guests or customers that aren’t even asked—that you have thought through it—design is everything about that,” said James Geier, founder and president of 555 International in Chicago. “Answer the questions before they are asked and when somebody walks…
