Julia Thiel
Bio:
I've worked at the Reader since 2007 and have had more titles than I can remember right now, the most current being staff writer. I write Key Ingredient, a chef-to-chef recipe challenge that won a James Beard award last year, and review pretty much anything that moves (or doesn't): restaurants, theater, books. Most of my articles focus on booze or food, from a Frenchman making quinoa vodka to a brewery that aspires to be off the grid. I also like to write about my personal failures, like getting lost on a bike ride to the Indiana Dunes or making mozzarella that could double as a SuperBall. Currently, I'm heading up the Reader's Bedbug Investigation Unit. Semicolons are my favorite punctuation mark, followed closely by em dashes--but I'm in a recovery program for chronic over-users and am not allowed to use them anymore.
I've worked at the Reader since 2007 and have had more titles than I can remember right now, the most current being staff writer. I write Key Ingredient, a chef-to-chef recipe challenge that won a James Beard award last year, and review pretty much anything that moves (or doesn't): restaurants, theater, books. Most of my articles focus on booze or food, from a Frenchman making quinoa vodka to a brewery that aspires to be off the grid. I also like to write about my personal failures, like getting lost on a bike ride to the Indiana Dunes or making mozzarella that could double as a SuperBall. Currently, I'm heading up the Reader's Bedbug Investigation Unit. Semicolons are my favorite punctuation mark, followed closely by em dashes--but I'm in a recovery program for chronic over-users and am not allowed to use them anymore.
- Food & Drink, Key Ingredient, Jan 18, 2013
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Key Ingredient: Celery
NoMi Kitchen's Ryan LaRoche gets back to basics with the "humble vegetable."
- Blogs, Bleader, Jan 16, 2013
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Totally good: Vander Mill Totally Roasted Cider
An apple cider made with cinnamon-roasted pecans and vanilla is pricey but worth it.
- Blogs, Bleader, Jan 11, 2013
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Flour and . . . something, now known as Bistro Dre
Charming atmosphere, less-than-charming food at Lakeview's Bistro Dre
- Blogs, Bleader, Jan 9, 2013
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Now open: Avondale's Beer Temple
A new beer store opens on the northwest side
- Food & Drink, Key Ingredient, Jan 3, 2013
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Key Ingredient: warabi starch
L2O’s Matthew Kirkley goes classical with a weird Japanese texture
- Blogs, Bleader, Jan 2, 2013
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Beers now available in Chicago: Fireman's, Kona, Jenlain, Pietra
Beers new to the market and recent World Beer Championship medal winners
- Blogs, Bleader, Dec 27, 2012
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Wholly good at Half Italian
Simplest is best at this Logan Square grocery store and deli
- Food & Drink, Key Ingredient, Dec 26, 2012
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Got yak phlegm?
From disappearing cocoa-nib consomme to escaped eels, it was a lively year for Key Ingredient, our ongoing series of chef-to-chef challenges
- Blogs, Bleader, Dec 21, 2012
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Deep-sea discovery with Janet Voight
Janet Voight, deep-sea biologist, talks about what she's found at the bottom of the ocean
- Blogs, Bleader, Dec 18, 2012
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Local Root sandwich shop attempts to save the world
Streeterville's Local Root: local and seasonal, so what's with the tomatoes?
- Blogs, Bleader, Dec 12, 2012
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The cider renaissance: Virtue Cider launches Lapinette
Lapinette, a Norman-style cidre brut from Virtue Cider, launches in Chicago
- Food & Drink, Key Ingredient, Dec 12, 2012
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Key Ingredient: cashew apples
Dave Beran of Next straightens out an "off-balance" false fruit
- Blogs, Bleader, Dec 7, 2012
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This is your brain on coffee
How caffeine addiction works
- Blogs, Bleader, Dec 5, 2012
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One Sip: the Big O ginger liqueur
The Big O, a ginger liqueur, now available in Chicago
- Blogs, Bleader, Nov 28, 2012
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One Sip: Perennial Artisan Ales
Phil Wymore, onetime Goose Island and Half Acre brewer, now has a brewery in St. Louis
- Blogs, Bleader, Nov 28, 2012
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Products you definitely need (maybe)
Anticonsumerism? Who needs it?
- Food & Drink, Key Ingredient, Nov 26, 2012
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Key Ingredient: sea cucumber
Matthias Merges of Yusho fries up some slimy echinoderms
- Blogs, Bleader, Nov 21, 2012
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One Sip: Lagunitas Brown Shugga
Lagunitas Brown Shugga is back after a year's hiatus
- Blogs, Bleader, Nov 19, 2012
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City Winery: almost as bad as you've heard
The wine at this music venue cum winery cum restaurant is pretty good—the rest, not so much
- Blogs, Bleader, Nov 16, 2012
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Ryan Poli and the Case of the Escaping Eel
Bocuse makes a break for it
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