When we lived on the North Side of Chicago one of our favorite specialty grocery stories was Patel Brothers on Devon Avenue (2610 W Devon Ave, Chicago, IL). Devon Avenue, one of the most fascinating streets in Chicago, has large concentration of Indian and Pakistani shops and businesses (and at various other stretches is also home to Jewish and Slavic communities). For the Indian and Pakistani community, Patel Brothers served as the anchor grocery store in the neighborhood. You could find anything you wanted there, from frozen ready-made foods to bulk spices to obscure grains to fresh fruit to hundreds of varieties of packaged salty snacks (yum!). When we were in Jackson Heights in Queens several years ago, we came across another Patel Brothers and we realized that it was the same chain! Now in Cleveland, we are near yet another Patel brothers. Turns out that the Patel brothers we frequented in Chicago is the original, opened in 1974, by brothers Mafat and Tulasi Patel, who immigrated from the Indian state of Gujarat in 1968. The grocery store chain has since expanded into an empire of 52 company-owned stores, and into a line of foods that is sold elsewhere, Swad. It is interesting to learn that one of the strongest footholds of Indian food in the US originated in Chicago!
Patel Brothers in Chicago by Steve Browne
Forno Rosso (1048 W Randolph St., Chicago, IL) recently opened up a West Loop branch of their original Harlem avenue pizzeria, complete with a 
What to do when you are sick of macaroons and matzoh? During Passover leavened foods are no-go, but pre-made options can get a little old. For a change of pace, check out a delicious-sounding Tunisian lamb and artichoke stew, 
The appeal of fried dough seems to be nearly universal – and we have seen it pop up again in Tanzania as Vitumbua (though popular in Tanzania, it can be found elsewhere throughout East Africa). Vitumbua (singular: kitumbua) is a sweet, fried, rice and coconut cake flavored with cardamon. Vitumbua is usually eaten as a snack, but could even pass as breakfast for those with a sweet tooth. Vitumbua are sometimes 
We visited 
We are all about the ice cream treats from all over the world. One that has caught our eye is Thai rolled ice cream, which looks unlike anything we have ever seen! Plus, it is a perfect way to celebrate Thai New Year,
Every time we are back in Chicago we are in the mood for tacos! We take music classes on Armitage, so when we are in the area we usually stop at El Azteca aka 
When we set out to New Orleans we were excited to stuff ourselves with as much Cajun and Creole food as possible (which we did), but we are always open to a good international meal, no matter where we are. Little did we know that we would get an authentic taste of Africa right in the middle of New Orleans, and actually gain a new country in the process – Gambia! Turns out New Orleans is home to a stalwart African restaurant with roots in both Gambia and Cameroon – Bennachin (
Emojis have saturated our texts and tweets, and everyone is familiar with perennial food favorites like the coffee cup and the bowl of noodles. Some food emojis are more esoteric, however, and we needed a little help to decipher them (
We have been to Petee’s several times, and every slice is better than the last ($5 for a slice, $30 for a whole pie). On our last few visits we have tried Rhubarb, Salty Chocolate Chess, Cherry Crumb, and Blueberry, each of these pies has been absolutely delicious. M has even become a rhubarb convert due to having one of the pies here. In particular we are fans of the flaky, tender crust that is neither soggy nor too crisp. We always look forward to visiting Petee’s because there is always something new, and the seasonal flavors are a must – the Cardamon Pear we had in October was scrumptious.
We are loving the proliferation of Salvadorean pupusa places in Cleveland, and the latest stop on our pupusa exploration is Pupuseria La Bendicion (93685 W 105th St, Cleveland, OH 44111) on the southwest side of Cleveland. There are so many quality pupusas here – stuffed masa patties – that we have switched over to pupusa craving in Cleveland, leaving the taco cravings to Chicago. However, you usually have to get off the beaten path to get your pupusa fix in Cleveland: like 
One of the big events in town this Spring is the Ancient Egypt exhibition, 
Happy Dyngus Day! Dyngus Day (Easter Monday – from the Polish 
We are going to New Orleans at the end of this week, one of our favorite food destinations! To prep for our journey we’ve been doing a lot of of research into what food we want to eat, and what music we want to hear (answer: EVERYTHING). Appropriately, we unearthed a food story at the junction of food and music that involves one of New Orleans’ favorite sons, Louis Armstrong. It turns out that along with being the lauded musicians that he was, Louis Armstrong was a major foodie. In fact, he often signed his letters, “Red Beans and Rice-ly yours,” after his favorite dish. In 1971, Louis Armstrong gave one of his final performances, which was 
Eating The World 