Raising Cane's, the popular Louisiana-based restaurant company known for its ONE LOVE® – quality chicken finger meals – put the finishing touches on its first Chicagoland restaurant in anticipation of its grand opening; a ribbon cutting was held in partnership with the Village of North Riverside, the City of Berwyn and the Berwyn Development Corporation (BDC) on January 31.

As in the past, Budweiser came on stronger than a stud of Clydesdales, with two Bud Light and one classic Budweiser spot that focused on bros not brews.

The Berwyn Development Corporation's (BDC) Berwyn's Best competition began in mid-January and was fixed on finding the best local soup. Tacos Y Salsa (6346 W 26^th St; facebook.com/tacosysalsa) walked home a winner with its Caldo de Camaron. This soup is made with a tomato base, cabbage, carrots, medium shrimp, celery, onions, garlic and secret family spices. The bowl is garnished with avocado, cilantro, onion and lime and served with warm bread or tortillas.

"The Founder," a movie about Oak Parker Ray Kroc and the building of his McDonald's empire, seems unlikely to be very successful. Even on a Friday night, the seats in the audience at the Lake Theater were perhaps 20% occupied. A movie like this, a movie about a salesman and his business, is a hard sell.

Cooking sous vide involves heating food in a plastic bag for a long time at a consistent and relatively low temperature. Sous vide cooking was once the province of fancy pants restaurants, but consumer models of sous vide cookers are now available for home cooks like me.

In a creatively conceived and comfortable space, Honey's consistently presents drinks and dishes that made us very happy.

The current plan is that we'll be leaving at some point in the next 12-18 months. We're not entirely sure when we'll be back to the USA (though probably not until at least 2020, if there's even a country to come back to by then). I figure if I'm going to relocate to another part of the world, I might as well choose a place that serves the kind of food I may be eating for the rest of my life.

In 2017, I resolve to bake all my bacon.

Those who seek the versatile option of revving up your evening with a live music show or simply meeting friends to grab a low-key drink have a new spot to add to their list of favorites. Owners David Lipka and Eric Starkill have opened Krew Rock Lounge (krewrocklounge.com), a new live music venue, bar and lounge at 6319 W Roosevelt Rd. The 6,000 sf space includes two bars, two stages and a diverse selection of house made cocktails, craft beers and traditional tavern offerings. The business anticipates that its kitchen will be open in early 2017. Krew Rock Lounge held a ribbon cutting in partnership with the City of Berwyn and the Berwyn Development Corporation (BDC) on December 15. The business officially opened on August 13.

Hot buttered rum seems so right for this cold snap: it's warm, it's got extra calories (which we're burning like crazy to stay warm) and the rum suggests piratical celebration (yo-ho-ho) to lighten the heaviness of this frigid season.