The layout of Brown Sugar Bakery seems specially designed to invoke all five senses in the gustatory experience. Pressing your hands and face to the counter, witness a veritable feast for the eyes, while a tantalizing aroma wafts in from the kitchen, and owner Stephanie Hart chats with customers about her decadent desserts. As she spoons out samples of her caramel cheesecake, exclamations gush forth, but any praise falls short of fully capturing each creamy, sugary mouthful. Despite its richness, the cheesecake only stimulates our humble appetite: we carry an extensive selection of baked goods back to our table. Read the rest of this entry »

Serial dieters and otherwise picky eaters beware: Café Trinidad serves up generous portions of Trinbagonian food just like your fantasy grandmother used to make. The food is as filling as it is flavorful. You may want to save the calorie counting for when you’re back on campus because each bite transports the palate. Read the rest of this entry »

When Wesley’s sassy sister-in-law, Lily, comes home for a visit, her agenda includes more than just reminiscences of familial life with her late father and sister; Wesley’s single widower status and indecision about the fate of his daughters provides more than enough fodder for the chiding of firebrand Lily. As the story of the eta Creative Arts Foundation’s new play “Levee James” meanders along at a pleasant and conversational pace, the two eventually plow up a love that—though appearing ambiguous—seems long deterred. Read the rest of this entry »

In some ways, Grand Crossing and adjacent Chatham are like a case study in urban history. Both were originally settled by European immigrants working on the railroads and, later on, in factories. Both neighborhoods prospered during the first half of the 20th century. And starting in the 1950s, both were integrated; but here is where the two diverge. Grand Crossing saw a typical case of white flight, blockbusting by corrupt realtors, and subsequent economic stagnation. Chatham, on the other hand, integrated slightly later and learned from the mistakes of other neighborhoods. The whites still left, but their institutions and community groups were peacefully turned over to the new black residents. According to the Encyclopedia of Chicago, Chatham “has the distinction of being perhaps the only neighborhood in Chicago that developed from a European American middle-class community into one composed of middle-class African Americans.” To this day Chatham is more comfortable, while Grand Crossing is less well-off. Read the rest of this entry »

eta Creative Arts Foundation’s new play opens on a scene of newlywed bliss, which quickly turns into an argument before marital harmony is restored and the couple rushes off stage to have sex. It is a scene repeated countless times in “Checkmates,” written by acclaimed playwright Ron Milner and first performed at eta in January 1987. Like most of Milner’s previous works, “Checkmates” was a success and toured the country after its initial run at eta. It arrived on Broadway in the summer of 1988 for an extended run that featured a young Denzel Washington as Sylvester, a recently married black man rising through the ranks at a mostly white corporation. Syl (in this production, Keir Thirus) and his wife Laura (Caren Blackmore) serve as stand-ins for a younger generation of African-Americans who, the play implies, have had opportunity served to them on a silver platter. Syl and Laura’s foil is found downstairs in the form of Frank (Willie B. Goodson) and Mattie (Davalie Friend), an older couple who own the two-family house and rent out the upper floor. Read the rest of this entry »

Yassa’s African Restaurant was easy to find, just west of the intersection of 79th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue. Its unassuming exterior matched the rest of the gritty block—simple yet bright signage above the entrance, dark brick exterior, and a row of open parking meters lining the front. Knowing little about Senegal, a few stereotypical questions filled my mind. Would we eat with our fingers, like in an Ethiopian restaurant? Would we sit on the floor? Would the décor have elephants or lions? Entering the restaurant was like walking into someone’s back door. We were eagerly welcomed by the owner, a member of the Wolof people of western Senegal, who opened the place in 2004 as the first Senegalese restaurant in Chicago. The dining room was open yet dimly lit, and a family sat around the largest table. The seating was informal, around oversized square tables that were subtly oriented toward a big TV buzzing the latest political commentary on CNN. Everyone who came and sat down was eventually drawn in by the political banter, which harmonized with the drone of the lights and coolers. Read the rest of this entry »

“I always believed that we were doing art with a purpose, not art for art’s sake,” says Director Runako Jahi, “I believe that art should support humanity in some way.” Read the rest of this entry »

Chatham is famous for being the stoutest stronghold of Chicago’s African-American middleclass. Peace and quiet dominate the neighborhood’s character as well as its history. Before the Great Migration of the 1950s, Chatham was variously populated by Hungarians, Irish, and Jews. By the 1960s, the townhouses and apartment buildings were occupied by African-Americans. The transition came without any of the discord arising in other neighborhoods throughout the city. Rumors of crime and widespread property neglect in the 1990s turned out to be unfounded. Peace and quiet reigned. Same as it ever was. Read the rest of this entry »