Peter Glatz

My wife is not a picky eater but she’s very choosy about chicken wings. She used to love the wings served at Cafe Brio, and she was crushed when the downtown Springfield restaurant closed in 2016. Since then, whenever she orders wings, she’ll invariably say: “They’re just not as good as Brio’s!” We spent the […]

“First, you brine a nice piece of fish and refrigerate it overnight. Then, you coat the fish with mayonnaise and crushed Ritz crackers and broil it. You’ll have a piece of fish like you’ve never had before!” This advice didn’t come from a TikTok influencer or a recipe from the back of a cracker box […]

The citrus season is in full swing in the southern U.S., and I just returned from our annual Florida vacation with two 15-pound mesh bags of oranges and satsumas. Rather than letting them languish and grow old in my overcrowded refrigerator, I do what I always do when I’ve overbought produce: preserve it! This week, […]

The horseshoe is to Springfield what a cheesesteak is to Philadelphia, Italian beef is to Chicago, hot chicken is to Nashville and a muffuletta is to New Orleans – regional dishes that have achieved iconic status. In my travels, whenever I mention that I’m from Springfield, people will either remark: “Home of the Simpsons” (not […]

My wife is a film buff. When we travel, she likes to visit locations where movies were filmed. We once camped at Dames Ferry State Park in Juliette, Georgia, so she could see the Whistle Stop Café, the site of Fried Green Tomatoes. While visiting her sister-in-law in Woodstock, we danced to the Pennsylvania Polka […]

It was the last night of a jam band music festival in Wisconsin, 250 miles northwest of Chicago. I had accepted an invitation to be a guest on my friend Bud’s hippie bus before remembering that my wedding anniversary was that Sunday. As a compromise, I suggested to my wife that she take Amtrak to […]

The holiday season is upon us, and for the curious cooks and bakers in our lives, there’s no better gift than a new cookbook to inspire their culinary adventures. This fall saw the release of several wonderful cookbooks that are sure to spark creativity. These are my top picks for the best new cookbooks for […]

Once upon a time, before my hair turned gray, my teenage children “kidnapped” me for my birthday and drove me up to Chicago for a Cubs game, followed by dinner at a Colombian restaurant. Our overly aggressive server, who reeked of cannabis, recommended the “combination” platter. My daughter, who was a vegetarian, requested a meatless […]

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love your attractive yellow and green striped skin. I love your light orange flesh and mild, sweet, almost nutty flavor. I love your compact size. I love that you are easy to slice through and your tender edible skin doesn’t require peeling. You cook […]

Over my five-year career as a chef, I’ve made thousands of ravioli. I was once the pasta maker at Spoon and Stable in Minneapolis and Pastaria in Nashville. A raviolo (the singular of ravioli) is a type of dumpling with a filling sealed between two thin layers of pasta dough. At both restaurants, I made […]

I am the designated pickler and fermenter at my current restaurant job. Because we are a farm-to-table restaurant with a full-time gardener, our menu changes weekly, inspired by what’s coming out of our kitchen garden. This summer’s weather has been extremely kind to our garden, and our tomatoes are beautiful and prolific. With such abundance, […]

I will remember the summer of 2024 as my Summer of the Goat. I’ve been boondocking in my converted school bus beside a goat barn and working at Prairie Fruits Farm and Creamery’s farm-to-table restaurant Caprae in Champaign. This job has been like a Willy Wonka golden ticket for a cheese lover. Our chèvre (which […]