Hi, everyone!
The Party Cut is officially one year old, if you can believe it. My first official post was on October 19, 2022, when I announced I was starting the newsletter. Here we are now, nearly 50 editions later, celebrating its birthday.
I originally started The Party Cut because I’d been doing that social media thing where I was regularly posting photos of our meals on Instagram. After a long time of doing so, I realized I was fielding a lot of questions about these Chicago restaurants, many of them via direct message. I loved it, but my poor fingers were getting tired of typing responses via my phone.
So I thought, hey, I’ve already got another fun newsletter going, might as well start up a new one for the most inquisitive ones, aka, you. That way the information could go straight to your inboxes, and I could give you much more detail than I could in a dinky Instagram caption. Food blogging isn’t dead yet, it’s just gone through a few costume changes, that’s all.
And writing the newsletter has been so rewarding—it’s given Davida and I a great excuse to go exploring our home every week.
We found Ecuadorian family food in a convenience store, I had an excuse to talk about my favorite greasy sandwich place in the suburbs, and showed you where to get New Haven pizza that’s not from Piece Pizza in Wicker Park. I talked to the family that owns Superdawg, who was gracious enough to tell me about their magical pickled tomatoes, introduced you to a style of Korean food that’s often overlooked, and gave you the inside scoop on where Davida and I can afford to get sushi and sashimi regularly. And that barely scratches the surface, so make sure to take a stroll through the archives.
Then, of course, there’s the invaluable work that my pizza friend Brian Erst has contributed. He aims to eventually teach you about all the native styles of pizza in Chicago, and so far, he’s gone in-depth on three of them: deep dish, deep pan (yes, it’s different), and the oft argued-over thin-crust.
I couldn’t have kept any of this work up without your support (don’t worry, I paid Brian too), and just wanted to tell you that I’m grateful to all of you for being here. Subscriptions basically just exist to keep the newsletter above water and pay for expenses, the work’s on me.
In order to celebrate The Party Cut’s first birthday, I’ve included a 20% off discount for a one year subscription. This link’ll only be good until October 30, so better hop on it quick.
The upgraded subscription gets you one big benefit, and that’s twice the content. Every other edition of The Party Cut is behind the paywall, because independent food writing needs support somehow—and in this case, it’s from you. No pesky banner ads here.
If you can’t afford a paid subscription, the other best way to help out is to share it on social media.
Fortunately, only two of the places I’ve written about have closed since I started the newsletter. One of them is ZaZa’s Deli, which was a Polish deli on Milwaukee Avenue in Avondale.
It was bought out, and is now a new shop called Chicago Pickle. Davida and I stopped in once to say hi, but haven’t had any food yet; the place specializes in sandwiches, chicken wings, burgers, and salads.
The other restaurant that closed was John’s Pizzeria, which was a real bummer, considering it had been in business since 1957. It’s reported that the institution closed over a family dispute. Considering how rough things have been for restaurants, it could certainly have been worse than two closures over the course of The Party Cut’s baby year.
Here’s to hoping the rest of them thrive, and here’s to you for reading the newsletter. Thanks for being along for the ride with me and Davida, and if anything, I hope The Party Cut has encouraged you to go out and try something new. Chicago’s an incredible place, and there’s no time like the present to go and appreciate it. Especially through a hot dog stand.
I love you all, and I’ll see you again next week.
Your friend,
Dennis
Happy bday, Party Cut!
Congrats on the the year Dennis. It’s no small feat to keep a newsletter going consistently. Never mind two like you do. Thank you for your work.