July is picnic, parade and celebration times. I can’t claim to know a lot about poetry, but one of my favorite lines is from a Robert Frost poem, The Death of The Hired Man.
“Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.”
To me, the meaning is kindness – a claim we make on each other that binds us into community, if we are willing to open our hearts to each other. It’s a reminder that we don’t have to agree in order to love each other. Good food can help us find common ground:
Cucina Paradiso, 814 North Blvd. in Oak Park, is celebrating its 30th anniversary by giving a lucky diners presents. The grand prize is a trip to Italy; second is a Vespa scooter; and weekly $100 gift cards.
Pure Green juice bar has opened the doors on a new location at 703 Lake St. in Oak Park. Franchise owners Tangelia and Anthony Ward were drawn to return to the area for their first retail business after meeting while working at the nearby Mars factory earlier in their careers.
“We became a little bit more health conscious,” Anthony Ward said. “And when I ran across Pure Green I just loved the product so much. No added sugar. No added preservatives. It’s just 100% naturally organic. So, I brought the idea to my wife.”
The menu includes smoothies, acai and oatmeal bowls and bottled juices that are high-pressure, cold-pressed.
“All the nutrients are still locked in there. Each bottle has 5 lbs. of fruit inside,” Tangelia Ward said. “Our most popular smoothie has spinach, kale. You’ll think it’ll taste more like veggies, but it’s actually pineapple, banana. You taste that fresh fruit and its love.”
Takeout 25 is back with its fifth annual Taste the Town on Saturday, July 19 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. inside Distro Music Hall, 6815 Roosevelt Rd., Berwyn. The event features live music and dishes from nine local restaurants, as well as a fully stocked cash bar. For the $50 cost, you receive two food coupons (additional coupons available on site). Youngsters under 16 eat free with a ticketed adult. Each year part of the proceeds go to a local charity. This year it is Our Future Reads, Oak Park’s new nonprofit bookstore.
When purchasing a ticket, you can add on a Takeout 25 Community Cookbook. The book will include recipes and stories from 25 local restaurants.
“We are excited about the cookbook and now you can be part of this special publication by reserving your copy,” said Takeout 25’s Ravi Parakkat. “Cookbooks will be available by our anniversary, Nov. 17, just in time for the holidays.”
Crumb Crusher, 805 North Blvd., has just been certified “Illinois Made” along with only 25 other bakeries statewide. According to Enjoy Illinois, the state’s office of tourism, businesses with this certification source materials or expertise from other locals, demonstrating what makes the state unique. Layering onto that mission, the bakery has summer college interns learning to bake and decorate cakes, and a high school student, Lucy Horkavy, participating with the OPRF Chamber of Commerce’s NEXT program, which is a youth internship program that bridges the gap between education and real-world experience.
A new location for authentic Mexican ice cream and snacks shop, La Flor Michoacana, is opening soon at 1023 Lake St. in Oak Park.
Blackout Baking Co, 210 S. Marion St. in Oak Park, is celebrating Pride, by selling a boxed rainbow of sugar cookies this month with 20% of the proceeds going to Howard Brown Health.
Vote for Anfora, 128 S. Marion St. in Oak Park, as the USA Today Best Wine Shop. Currently our vino vendor is number two on the leader board. Help push them into the top spot! Voting closes July 21.
While I wait for the first tomatoes ripening off my vines at home, farmers markets are in full bloom:
• Riverside Farmers’ Market, Wednesdays 2:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at 10 Pine Ave. in Riverside
• LaGrange Farmers’ Market, Thursdays 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 53 S. La Grange Rd. in LaGrange
• Austin Town Hall Farmers’ Market, Thursdays 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at 5610 W. Lake St., Chicago
• Oak Park Farmers’ Market, Saturdays 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 460 Lake St. in Oak Park
• Brookfield Farmers’ Market, Saturdays 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 8820 Brookfield Ave. in Brookfield
Got news, questions or answers for this column? Email them to us at Eats@oakparkeats.com.
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