Drop Leaf Dinners

12/01/2017

Cabbage on coals!

12/01/2017

12/01/2017

11/27/2017

our friends-across-a-couple-state-borders and drop leaf dinner alums Justin Tootla and Jennifer Jackson launched a restaurant this year in detroit. it's slaying. it's up for an eater award. please show them some love and vote for it here:

https://detroit.eater.com/2017/11/27/16704180/best-restaurants-detroit-eater-awards-2017.

and make the drive sometime soon! detroit making waves! so don't miss the boat! or the oysters...

Which restaurant made this fair city run wild in 2017?

10/24/2017

DINNER No. 7 // Nov. 12, 2018 @ Great Lakes Yard with Chef Dani Kaplan.

Chicago craftsmanship lives! Our November dinner is a nod to the resourceful people who built Chicago from the ground up with their hands and feet and arms and legs. Our host for the evening is Meegan Czop, owner of Great Lakes Yard. We’ll welcome you to her Lake Street warehouse, which is filled wi...

05/08/2017

Our first Sunday without soup! We're feeling really bellyfull just looking back at the past 8 weeks. From pho' to chowder, from farm to front page breaking news - we couldn't have asked for a more inspiring lineup of luminaries. This city is lucky to have this fempire of hard working humans making it a more artistic, sustainable, historic city for Chicagoans to be themselves in. Thanks again to everyone who popped in and shared a bowl. With YOUR help we were able to raise $650 for our hungry neighbors at the Marquard Center Soup Kitchen. And as always ❤️️ to for hosting our party.

05/02/2017

MEET THE MAKER // Soup on April 30
Nik Zaleski * mama's minestrone *

What do you do?

i make cultural experiences, mostly plays, mostly in reproductive justice spaces. i'm the arts justice director for the illinois caucus for adolescent health, where i manage the FYI theater company, an organizer for swarm artist residency, a cultural strategy consultant, playwright and director.

Why is it important?

talking about our bodies, our sexuality and violence is hard. art makes it easier. people have to be seduced to confront ugliness (r**e culture, racial and reproductive injustices, for ex). we need the tonic of the imagination to sustain difficult conversations and envision less broken worlds. i've seen this directing original plays to prevent sexual assault at universities across the country, in my work with reproductive justice orgs using visual arts to unpack personal histories, and in my personal life.

What neighborhood do you live in and what is it's best kept secret?

logan square. my neighbor, alex's ceaseless smile.

If you could host a pop-up dinner anywhere in the city, where would it be?

calumet fisheries

04/29/2017

"We need the tonic of the imagination to sustain difficult conversations and envision less broken worlds." Join us for our final pop-up soup dinner tomorrow night at where our celebrated guest can tell you more about her role as the Arts Justice Director at ICAH and her involvement with the ever inspiring FYI Theater Company. 5-8 pm with specials.

04/25/2017

Meet The Maker // Soup on Sunday April 23rd
Emily Wallrath Schmidt * Spring Asparagus *

What do you do?

I work at the National Main Street Center, which focuses on historic preservation-based community revitalization in small-town downtowns and commercial districts within larger cities.

Why is it important?

Main Streets are the heart and soul of a community. Our organization helps communities identifying what they already have to improve in their older and historic downtowns--from wonderful old buildings, to local quirky local traditions--so that they can bring businesses, restaurants and residents back downtown to stay.

Historic preservation is valuable for many reasons, the most obvious is of course being aesthetics--old buildings are beautifully built. But there's also the components of sustainability (the greenest building is the one that's already built thanks to embodied energy) and economics (renovation pumps more money back into the local economy than new construction AND adaptive reuse of historic buildings yields far "cooler" spaces).

I really see historic preservation as stewardship of our tangible and intangible cultural history--it's just a bonus that it also makes good economic sense for communities!

What neighborhood do you live in and what is it's best kept secret?

Buena Park/Uptown. Best kept secret is the lakeshore path that goes around the golf course--prairie grasses meet the harbor!

If you could host a pop-up dinner anywhere in the city, where would it be?

The Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool in Lincoln Park.