pilsen
In Chicago’s Pilsen barrio, the molé is made with love (video)
The Pilsen neighborhood in Chicago’s West Side — in the middle of a fierce battle against gentrification — is the center of the Windy City’s Mexican-Americam community. The recent Molé de Mayo fiesta highlighted the classic Mexican magical slow-cooked sauce of many ingredients: Molé. [Video by the students at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.]
QDEP/RIP Jose Guerrero, El Maestro de Chicago (toon)
The Chicago Reader shared an excellent obituary of artist Jose Guerrero.
Cheap Chinese chanclas choke Chuy’s Choo Repair
(PNS reporting from CHICAGO) Chuy’s Choo Repair on Ashland has been fixing heels, stretching boots and giving new soles to tired oxfords since 1956, but owner Eddie Calderon doesn’t know how long he can keep his shop open.
Calderon (photo, right), whose father opened the business when he returned to Chicago after the Korean War, says he can’t keep up with cheap imported shoes flooding the country.
“Look at the pinches chanclas on sale at the Dollar Store!” Calderon told PNS as we toured the neighborhood (photo, top.) “If people can buy new Chinese chanclas for 60 cents at the stupid Dollar Store, why would they want to get them repaired if a strap breaks? It’s not worth it!”