The Chicago Foodcultura Clarion

My gallery attracts eccentric folx, some who seem to show up just to eat the home made snacks I serve at openings (remember when we could do that, I sure do miss it.) So I didn’t bat an eye when, about a year ago, a man in his 70s wearing a hot pink puffy coat with a tightly wound top knot made a beeline to my famous pigs in a blanket and helped himself.

But then he looked up from the buffet and asked me, in a Spanish accent, are you Eric?

Almost immediately, it struck me who he was – legendary food artist, Miralda. I knew he was in town teaching at University of Chicago. My friend Zach Cahill had tried to connect us a year earlier and I thoughtlessly let the e-mail sink in my inbox. But more recently, another old friend, Peter Engler, renowned scholar of Southside culinary oddities, had reached out to let me know he was working with Miralda and that I should meet up with them for an eating adventure. Sounded great, but I had a packed calendar of catering work with the holidays approaching.

So Miralda, the man about town he is, found himself at UIC’s art department’s open studio night. I had catered the event, serving up what I called “party subs around the world.” Miralda was apparently impressed and was chatting with the department’s Associate Director, another friend, Jen Delos Reyes. Jen encouraged Miralda to check out the opening at Roots & Culture the next night (for more snacks perhaps?) And the rest is history, Miralda ate his first pig in a blanket and we hit it off immediately.

The next week, I took Peter up on the offer to go eat with him and Miralda. We were joined by one of their students, Paige Resnick, who is an accomplished food writer in her own right. We traversed the Southside to head to my favorite restaurant in town, the temple of goat, Birrieria Zaragoza, making stops at Tortilleria Atotonilco and a “pollos vivos” spot that Paige was working on a project about.  The goat was sublime and the conversation was lively. I suggested that we make a stop at Southwest Signs, just on the other side of Midway from Zaragoza’s.

Chuck, Carol and Dan, who run the 65 year old sign shop are like family to me (its like a big extended family down there, they are also close with the Zaragoza’s.) So it was an amazing convergence of worlds for me to introduce them and show off their art to word famous Miralda.

Fast forward to this past summer and I was contacted by Miralda, Peter, Paige, and U of C Anthropology Chair, Stephan Palmié about contributing to a publication they were putting together, culminating their work with their class, The Chicago Foodcultura Clarion. My beat was fitting – to interview the folks at Southwest Signs. It was a real treat to sit down for a chat with Chuck about the history of his art form and the shop. Miralda and his designers in Barcelona decided they wanted to use Chuck’s lettering for the design of the paper, so I helped to arrange that, as well. Beyond the honor of working with such admired colleagues, it’s just been nice, in this moment, to have a project to keep my head in the world outside my house. Many Zoom meetings later, and all the work somehow earned me the title of Senior Editor and I’m thrilled to work with the Clarionistas on two more issues to be released in 2021. Check out a .pdf of the first issue HERE.