Sponsored by the Clarendon Hills Chamber of Commerce, spent its first four years after starting up in 2017 in the Sloan Triangle at Prospect and Park Avenues. It moved in 2021 to Village Hall Plaza.

“Every year our neighbors look forward to the return of the Farmers Market, which signals the end of the school year, while continuing the village tradition of gathering and shopping together on Thursday mornings,” said Shannon McDonald, the chamber’s director. “We are really pleased to welcome back many of our returning vendors as community favorites.”

One vendor that isn’t returning is LaVanway Farms, out of Berrien Center, Michigan, which had been an anchor at the Clarendon Hills Farmers Market since its first year.

“Cindy with Lavanaway Farm has said she is stepping away from her involvement with markets and has been working since last year to pass the baton on to a nearby farm, Dad’s Farm, to take over her established farmers markets,” McDonald said.

Joining Dad’s Farm as a vendor new to Clarendon Hills are Flock and Field, offering personal care products, and Pet Wants, which will be selling pet treats and food.

Eleven vendors are scheduled to be onsite in Clarendon Hills throughout the season, including popular returnee Hahn’s Bakery out of Geneva, which has become well known in the village for its doughnuts, but has several other bakery items for sale.

Also returning are Azteca Catering Co. with Mexican cuisine, Spartan Gourmet Foods featuring olives and olive oil, Hufendick Farm Market with fresh pork, beef, poultry and lamb, Maly’s Foods featuring vegetable egg rolls, The Cheese Lady, Lincoln Land Kettle Corn and Boa Acai Bowls.

Little Love Tees, featuring children’s clothing, is scheduled to be in Clarendon Hills June 5 and June 26, and a new village business, Sparrow Coffee, will be joining the market periodically, McDonald said.

She said new vendors are added each year in one of two ways.

“Vendors come to us through word of mouth, and I will seek out vendors to help us fill a void in the market, offering consumable products,” McDonald said.

Along with the vendors, the Clarendon Hills Public Library will be hosting Children’s Story Time at 11:30 a.m. at the market on the second Thursday of each month— June 12, July 10, Aug. 7, Sept. 11, and Oct. 9.

Village President Eric Tech said he believes the farmers market provides a real sense of community and a gathering place for Clarendon Hills residents.

“For my wife, it is a ritual which she looks forward to, meeting neighbors and reconnecting with the vendors,” he said. “With the creation of the functional plaza in front of our village hall, it has the added benefit of drawing from our neighboring communities and showcasing our beautiful public spaces.”

Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press. 

It was, as he called it, a turning point.

“That was about four years ago, when I had 2,000 plants started,” he recalled. “When they were really small they weren’t a problem. But when I had to up-plant them into 4-inch pots, we had them in every room in the house, next to every window I could find.

“My wife put her foot down and said you can’t do that anymore.”

Zeni began his tomato deep dive several years earlier when seeking a late-winter distraction after years of working at home as a graphic designer.

“It gets cold in the winter and I wouldn’t leave the house for weeks,” he said. “My wife claimed I was getting weird, and she insisted that I get a hobby.”

At the same time he was reflecting on the “tasteless atrocities that pose as tomatoes at supermarkets” during the offseason and decided to do something about it. He set up some tables and lights and planted some seeds.

There were mistakes — “overwatering, under watering, not enough heat,” Zeni said. But along with those setbacks were “small successes that gave me enough hope that I was on the right track.”

After a few seasons, he had enough plants that he would give them to any and all interested neighbors, and his tomato operation in La Grange Park kept growing larger. He began selling seedlings at “garage sales” to help fund his hobby, selling 50 to 75 plants.

“We put signage up when people just started showing up, telling me they’d heard about me from other people,” he said. “I got to 500 plants and sold them out. I’d get emails in January asking when’s the sale? That was the first indication I got that maybe this could be more than just a wintertime hobby.”

He decided to go all-in and started calling himself the Chicago Tomato Man.

“It’s spiraled to the point where this year we’ll grow around 15,000 plants,” he said in April.

He still grows at home, but the bulk of his operation is offsite, using contracters who deliver his plants to a warehouse near Western and Ogden avenues in Chicago, where they’re matched to orders and taken to pop-up markets throughout the city and suburbs.

Some of those seedlings are earmarked for other purposes as well.

“We give away lots of plants,” Zeni said. “We hear about efforts by nonprofit organizations or groups that are running gardens that use their harvest to give away produce to food banks. We totally support those efforts, so we give them plants every year.”

Last year, the Chicago Tomato Man organization gave away nearly 1,500 plants, and they’re looking to equal that this year.

Among the organizations that have worked with Zeni is Eden Greens Urban Farm, which provides healthy food as well as gardening resources for underserved communities such as Pullman, Englewood and Greater Grand Crossing.

Tomato plants also went to We Grow We Sow, Inc., an urban farm based in West Pullman that offers produce and education to people in Roseland, Morgan Park and Calumet Park.

Seedlings have even gone to the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, for its Karma Garden project.

“This is good,” Zeni said. “We want to get these plants to any neighborhood that lacks access to food.”

And they’re not getting run-of-the-mill tomatoes. They’re getting the good ones, the heirlooms, some that have been passed down seed by seed for generations of gardeners.

Among Zeni’s seedlings are varieties such as Rutgers, developed in 1928 by the Campbell Soup Company and released to farmers in 1934 by Rutgers University.

There’s also Mortgage Lifter, a large beefsteak tomato developed, as the story goes, in the 1940s by a gardener in West Virginia who crossed varieties for six years before arriving at one so popular he was able to pay off his $6,000 mortgage by selling plants for $1 each.

There’s several varieties, such as the Sandburg yellow, attributed to Millard Murdock, a gardener based farther south in the Blue Ridge Mountains, whose retirement efforts to preserve and promote heirloom tomatoes became legendary in the seed saving community prior to his death in 2019.

Closer to home, fellow legendary seed savers Merlyn and Mary Ann Niedens, whose tomato and sunflower patches were sown in downstate Okawville, are represented by varieties such as Illini Star and Illini Gold. According to his 2009 obituary, Merlyn Niedens acquired at least some of his tomato breeding know-how in River Forest with a bachelor of science degree from Concordia Teacher’s College, now Concordia University.

One variety Zeni just started growing this year is steeped in Chicago history. The Inciardi (pronounced in-chi-ardi) paste tomato was brought over from Sicily by immigrant Enrico Inciardi, who sewed the seeds from his family’s signature tomato into the lining of his jacket because he was afraid they would be taken from him at Ellis Island, Zeni said.

Inciardi ended up settling in Downers Grove, got a job at the Western Electric Hawthorne Works in Cicero and later attended a company excursion aboard the S.S. Eastland in 1915, surviving the worst marine disaster in Chicago history after the ship overturned in the Chicago River, killing hundreds.

Through it all, he kept growing his family’s signature Sicilian tomatoes.

“Now his descendants started offering them for sale commercially,” Zeni said. “That’s a great story.”

Zeni is helping preserve another family story thanks to an encounter with an older guy he met at one of his pop-up sales at the Percolator Coffee Shop in Portage Park. He showed Zeni some seeds and said, “My father-in-law brought these over from Calabria and has been growing them ever since. He passed away and we continued to save these seeds, and I want to give them to you.”

Zeni asked the man, who came out from River Grove, what the tomatoes were called.

“I don’t know,” was the response. “It’s always just been my father-in-law’s tomato. My family has been growing them for 100 years. I’ve been growing them in my backyard.”

The man’s name was Art Zaino, “so that’s what we called them,” Zeni said. “These are big tomatoes. They’re like 16-inch softball sized tomatoes.”

While the Inciardi tomato has become somewhat more well-known among heirloom aficionados, the Art Zaino is “something that’s exclusive to us,” Zeni said. “I don’t think he gave the seeds to anyone else.”

For Zeni, heirloom tomatoes offer not only the opportunity to share the stories of fellow nightshade aficionados past and present, but also some of the places where he sells seedlings as well.

He’s already kicked off the gardening season with popup sales around the city and suburbs, including Pollyanna Brewing in Lemont, and has more coming up. There’s one from 10 a.m. to noon on May 31 at Two-Mile Coffee Bar, 9907 S. Walden Parkway, near the Metra stop in Chicago’s Beverly community; and another from 1 to 3 p.m. on May 31 at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club, 5480 S. Kenwood Ave. in Chicago.

He’ll be at Skokie’s Sketchbook Brewing, 4901 Main St., on May 25. Other Pollyanna locations will be on June 7 in Roselle and later that day in St. Charles.

Also on the schedule is the last of four pop-ups on May 24 at First Presbyterian Church of La Grange, 150 S. Ashland Ave. A full list as well as ordering information is on his website at chicagotomatoman.com.

“These are locally owned places that let us set up, and in exchange we try to recognize and promote them, encourage people to buy a croissant and a coffee, or a four-pack or growler of beer,” Zeni said. “It’s about creating community and helping community, so we all prosper and thrive.”

But his primary goal remains to spread his love of tomatoes.

“I understand why the food industry has done what they’ve done to tomatoes,” he said. “Everyone wants to buy tomatoes in January at the grocery store, so they’ve bred them so they’re durable, they look great and they’re all the same size. But the flavor is gone and I think it’s criminal.

“A real tomato is something everyone should experience. The flavor is so wonderful. It’s so gratifying when someone picks those first few off the vine and realize the experience was worth all the time and effort put in to grow them.”

Landmarks is a column by Paul Eisenberg exploring the people, places and things that have left an indelible mark on the region. He can be reached at peisenberg@tribpub.com.

“Our son has been reading this children’s series of books called ‘The Bad Guys’ and there was a copy of one of the books sitting on the table,” Sara Parisi said. “My husband Joe saw it and said ‘What about Bad Guys Bagels?’ We asked a number of other family members and friends, and that’s what we went with.”

Joe Parisi said that “I’m normally pretty good at marketing and branding things like that and I just saw – when I said it for the first time, it just stuck.”

“A lot of people when they start companies they get stuck on a name,” he said. “All these little pieces that they teach you in college are important, but the reality is the business is all that really matters. Can you make something that people want – can you sell it, will they buy it, will they buy it again?”

Already entrepreneurs, the Parisis have been operating an online wedding favor company called Reception Flip Flops for 10 years that Sara Parisi said “was now on auto-pilot and we were looking for something else to do.”

The idea to open a bagel business fell to her husband, who said his passion for bagels was so great he and some buddies would drive all the way to Skokie in the middle of the night to get them.

“Bagels – we used to drive to Skokie at 2 a.m. and I’d do that after I met my wife. She didn’t think it was worth the trip. We had a few buddies and we’d go,” Joe Parisi said. “Here in the area, I’d drive to Jake’s in Aurora and other places. I wanted bagels and I couldn’t find them, and I figured maybe other people had this problem too. I saw this as an opportunity.”

Those late-night pilgrimages were to New York Bagel and Bialy in Skokie, where Parisi approached the owner about a deal involving the recipe it uses to make its bagels.

“I mean it was a once in a lifetime opportunity,” he said. “Not long after, he found out he was terminally ill. He said he didn’t have a lot of time and wanted to do a deal and leave his wife as much money as he could.

“We went down and did the deal and he taught us how to make bagels,” he said. “People love these bagels and we thought if it’s not broke, why fix it? We have a profit-sharing agreement with them, and we’re far enough away, there’s no competition.”

Sara Parisi said there are currently 13 varieties of bagels at the Geneva shop, “flavors based on pretty much what everybody has and expects to find.”

She said they are looking to try other flavors like asiago which some have asked for or perhaps consider producing a bagel of the month.

The local business community has welcomed the shop with open arms.

Paula Schmidt, president of the Geneva Chamber of Commerce, feels Bad Guys Bagels is a welcome addition to the local business scene, “with a name that’s kind of provocative.”

“They have been wonderful Chamber members and have been involved in a number of things and this was definitely a needed business here in Geneva,” she said. “You hear the name and I think it’s a fun name and makes you want to take a peek at it. It’s a unique name and makes them stand out completely.”

Emily Wrenn of St. Charles said she likes the breakfast and lunch options offered at the shop.

“I don’t know too many other places that are just specializing in bagels, which makes it super-fun and I love supporting local businesses,” she said during a recent trip to the shop. “My go-to is an everything bagel but I like the onion or the cinnamon raisin. I grew up on the East Coast, and I like that bagel sandwich in the morning.”

Sara Parisi said that East Coast transplants who have eaten New York style bagels “are the pillars of the business.”

“They knew the difference between ‘a roll with a hole’ and other names used to describe something that’s not a true bagel,” she said. “It has to be boiled and baked. Some today are using steam, but a true bagel is boiled and then baked. The true bagel is dense, but still soft on the inside and crisp outside.”

She said the shop currently produces 20 dozen bagels a day on weekdays and anywhere from 50 to 70 dozen on the weekend.

“We’ve never had lines out the door but things do get busy on the weekends,” she said.

With a little over a year in the business, she said the people she works with and the customers she meets make it all worthwhile.

“The thing I like, what I enjoy the most, is being around people. I like getting out of the house, because the online business was a lot of sitting at the computer,” she said.  “We all love bagels. I make lunches for my two boys Luka, who is 6, and Joey, who is 9, and they love the bagels too. But I’m a people person and that’s what make this enjoyable for me.”

David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.

Chef Grant Achatz is far from resting on his laurels in Lincoln Park. He and his team are industrious. They’ve retained three Michelin stars since the guide debuted here in 2011.

Yet after two dinners at nearly $500 each, I was left wondering why so many dishes were so salty or so sweet or left the aftertaste of so much black truffle.

Full disclosure: I staged, or apprenticed, at Alinea under Achatz many years ago. The chef was not at the restaurant when I went recently.

I spoke with Achatz later at length by phone. The real-life chef is not always the enigma he portrayed in the comedy-drama series “The Bear.”

So what is Alinea?

“That’s a question that we haven’t really been able to answer for 20 years,” said Achatz, laughing.

He opened the restaurant on May 4, 2005, with co-founder Nick Kokonas. Achatz now owns Alinea with Jason Weingarten.

“What the name represents is not in the moment,” said Achatz. “It is the ethos of constant evolution and prioritizing creativity.”

While some dishes have been on the menu for a while, like the Explosion, Hot Potato Cold Potato and the Balloon, for the most part, “it’s a constant churn of new concepts and ideas and techniques,” he said.

So I wanted to learn more about the lore, too, after two dinners upstairs, the 12-course Salon menu, including the vegetarian variation.

Osetra

Your server will hand you a small black bowl. The caviar comes from Regiis Ova, they’ll say, a company co-founded by Thomas Keller, chef and owner of The French Laundry. Achatz worked at the legendary restaurant in Napa Valley, after famously leaving Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago.

Below the caviar, you’ll find Arbequina olive oil two ways, your server will say, as a mousse and gelée, and a garnish of lemon zest. They’ll instruct you to spoon through the layers while holding the bowl, custom-made by Ignite Glass Studios in West Town.

When you do, every tiny pearl of osetra will burst into a minuscule seaside star, falling into the beautiful buttery horizon below.

But there’s something else: a touch of BLiS Elixer, an XO sherry vinegar made by chef Steve Stallard in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

It speaks to a continuous connection to Stallard, the first chef Achatz worked for out of culinary school.

“There is a subconscious narrative that runs through the whole menu, and it’s not exclusively mine,” Achatz said. “That one in particular is, because Steve was such an important figure in my professional life, and his products are so amazing.”

That all synergizes, said Achatz, with their own innovation, creative thinking and storytelling.

Charred

Arctic char has indeed been charred black. But the petite fish fillet was first marinated for five days, your server says, in a barrel-aged maple syrup.

The blackened, crackling, smoky skin gives in to tender orange flesh, delicately sweet, hinting at hidden Asian flavors.

So what was the origin story of the charred course?

That was really about BLiS, Achatz said, and trying to find a dish where they could incorporate a lot of Stallard’s products.

“We use the maple syrup, we use the barrel-aged fish sauce, we use his barrel-aged soy sauce,” the chef said. They also use the char roe with carrot on the flip side of the dish.

They essentially burn the skin until it’s reminiscent of burnt marshmallow.

The vegetarian variation substituted carrot for the Arctic char. I expected a similar exploration of complex culinary nostalgia. But it was just a carrot, cooked with the same process, but not crispy at all, and sticky instead.

Fire

In a teacup, your server will say, you’ll find a warm compote made from roasted hen-of-the-woods mushroom mixed with dried fig and toasted walnuts. They’ll pour broth that’s been boiling in a live fire bowl on your table. You’re advised to first take a bite of the salsify stick, dipped in fig jam and a crumble of brioche and toasted walnuts, then nibble on a teeny chicken liver tart. A tiny and sweet caramelized onion tart is on the vegetarian menu.

The woodland fairy flavors were overpowered by a mushroom soup clearly reduced by the fire.

Was this like a palate cleanser? Was the soup intentionally salty?

“It could have been just oversalted,” Achatz said. When you’re cooking for 100 people a night for seven days a week, he added, all who have “very, very, very different preferences” and you’re trying to make it delicious for everyone, sometimes it’s hard.

Fossilized Humita Bone

The next course comes with a nearly four-minute explanation by your server. Inspired by Argentina, its region of Patagonia — and Achatz’s shared interest in archaeology with executive chef Douglas Alley — you’re given a toolkit and instructed to dig. Brush away an edible powder to uncover a compressed prawn head attached to a rock with chile honey. Use the palette knife to pry it off. Pick it up with your fingers like a chip, and dip it into chimichurri sauce with the cassava root puree, parsley and garlic.

What looks like a boulder is actually an empanada filled with red bell pepper and provoleta, an Argentinian provolone-style cheese. Cut through that with your fork and your knife. The bone marrow, though, with rice and sweet potato, garnished with cashews and edible flowers, requires a narrow marrow spoon. And the fire bowl is back, but extinguished, after secretly cooking an Argentinian-inspired humita, similar to a tamale, wrapped in grilled plantain leaves and corn husk and tied with twine. Use shears to open the humita, then dip it into your red sauce, a blended chimichurri with Fresno chile and Australian prawn.

The paper-thin prawn head is the most interactive element in the course. But I was curious if it was supposed to be a bit chewy rather than crispy.

“That is a big debate,” Achatz said. They’ve served it both ways to see how diners react, but it’s not decisive. “We kind of flip-flop back and forth on that one, and now we’re doing it crispy. And I think we’ll probably just stay there, but in the kitchen, that’s been a hot debate.”

I had hoped for a crispy Japanese-style fried shrimp head, possibly with the intense umami of chewy Chinese dried shrimp. It was neither, but sharp and catching in my throat instead. The edible dust, however, a powdered white bean puree and breadcrumbs, was just delightful.

The vegetarian cauliflower fared far better, golden brown and crisp with deep brassica flavor.

Socarrat

To the kitchen, the heart of the restaurant, for your next course. A chef scrapes socarrat, the coveted scorched rice in paella, into a small bowl with softly shredded rabbit leg and aromatic sofrito aioli, plus a fantastically crunchy bomba rice cracker. A lovely surprise beverage pairing spikes Michigan cider from Seedling Farms with brandy, manzanilla, orange and saffron.

Traditional yet reimagined, this is an exquisitely delicious course, especially the cider, served hot one visit, then iced as the weather changed.

Service was overall excellent, so evident during the kitchen visit, which involved wrangling multiple parties at different stages in our progressions. You’ll see about 20 chefs in the kitchen. They’re among 70 people — including porters, plus the service and host teams — working to serve up to 68 diners. And there’s two turns of tables.

They did try to rush me out of the kitchen, though, while I was still eating with spoon in hand.

Explosion

An iconic dish at Alinea, the black truffle explosion holds a truffled broth in pasta, topped with Parmesan cheese and a rounded slice of truffle. It’s a simply perfect, earthy yet ethereal, single bite soup dumpling.

Hot Potato Cold Potato

Another iconic dish, presented now in a small glass bowl, rather than the original wax. Your server will ask you to gently lift that bowl off the table, then pull the pin to drop more black truffle and Parmesan, plus a hot potato ball into cold potato soup. It’s a little messy, but tasty, though I’m not sure we need this dish and its similar flavors on this menu.

Wagyu

Australian wagyu beef short rib, braised for 24 hours with mirin, soy sauce, ginger and scallion, gets coated in panko to add a crisp. A pool of plum barbecue sauce with yuzu brightens the intense meat. Roasted Japanese eggplant glazed in a puree of Okinawan sweet potato and red miso finds contrast in a crumble of masago arare, or rice cracker pearls, nori seaweed, toasted pine nuts and fried onions. Your server will grate more Okinawan sweet potato, dehydrated and seasoned, for aroma. A separate small bowl holds Tokyo turnip, more Japanese eggplant and more plum with a Tosaka seaweed garnish.

It’s a stunning and sophisticated play on meat and potatoes, but again a bit sweet, and the separate bowl was awkward and unnecessary.

The vegetarian variation with morel may have been my most anticipated dish, and a black crunchy crust elevated the elusive wild mushroom to new heights.

Squashed

A mysterious object has been hanging over your table from the beginning. It’s butternut squash, your server explains, dipped in jamón ibérico fat with rosemary layer by layer. They’ll smash it in a searing hot cast iron bowl at the table, adding black pepper and a cheese sauce of Italian robiola and its French cousin, Camembert. A brown spice cracker topped with white cheddar powder hides a slice of robiola and Medjool date puree. A spoonful of the squash and cheese mixture is finished with roasted fairytale pumpkin seeds and black truffle elixir. It’s clearly a thoughtful and labor-intensive dish, but dulled with its repetitive flavors in the progression.

Italian Ice

Now we’re transitioning to the actual sweeter side of the menu. A distillation of pear juice, pear brandy and vinegar fills a bottle with a pear inside, a classic poire prisonnière, or imprisoned pear, painstakingly grown by Seedling Farms for Alinea. You might be tempted to sip the Italian Ice, but your server just made it at the table with liquid nitrogen, so they’ll warn you to use the spoon. I was tempted after my first bracing taste.

From bloom to bottle to a house-made “super pear brandy” aged six to seven months, it’s quite a process, said Achatz, laughing. And it’s coming off the seasonal menu soon.

Paint

The signature dessert, when served upstairs in the Salon, starts with a silicone mat. A chef then spoons, paints and shatters elements directly on the table. Aerated white chocolate ice cream. Orange and lemon and chocolate syrup infused with Buddha’s hand fruit and black licorice. A bite-size liqueur bonbon, lime tart and round calisson are carefully placed before the chef drops a crispy meringue ball, spilling licorice candies, with a final dusting of lime glitter.

It looks like so much fun. Alinea offered a takeout version for its 15th anniversary during the early days of the pandemic in 2020 with an Instagram demonstration by Achatz.

“The components are constantly changing,” he told me. They’re based on seasonality, and they try to change them about six times a year.

The current components, though, were relentlessly sweet, with enrobed licorice that was so hard I feared for my teeth.

“Yeah, we want crunch,” said Achatz. “But we don’t want people to chip a tooth.”

Balloon

The famous balloon is filled with real helium, your server will say, so if you let it go, it will fly away. And it’s very sticky, so tuck your hair away.

The green apple sugar balloon and apple fruit leather string appear so wondrous, but the single-note flavor left me deflated.

They also make a banana and a strawberry balloon in the rotation, but lime was a polarizing flavor.

“I don’t consider lemon tart or Key lime pie dessert,” Achatz said. “I think they’re far too acidic. And to me, that acid pushes it away from dessert. I want my dessert sweet and satisfying at the end. I want it to be a massive stretch out of savory.”

He thinks what people want with the balloon is “cotton candy” and “Jolly Rancher.”

I’m shocked, and the sweetness makes sense then, but I thoroughly disagree. Even sugar itself can be more than sweet, with the complexities of caramel.

“They don’t want stuff that is kind of dessert, they want dessert,” he added. “They want birthday cake, you know?”

So why did Achatz decide to take Alinea on tour for its 20th birthday, rather than having guest chefs come in?

“I think a lot of people over the last 20 years have never experienced Alinea,” he said, then explained the three main reasons behind the decision to go on tour.

Most people think that the style of food they do, the chef said, is not delicious. And Chicago is not the East or West Coast, so there’s not enough direct tourism coming in. Plus, he just felt there was no better way to celebrate than to do what they do best and bring Alinea to the people.

What they do best is constant culinary world-building, but that’s not what they’re doing. Alinea needs to let go of the Balloon — and Paint and Hot Potato Cold Potato and even the Explosion — and we need to let them. Also, when I say dishes are so salty or so sweet, that’s not my preference, but according to their own sensory language and culture.

So is Alinea worth the splurge?

If you have the money to spend freely, then of course. But if you’re watching your budget, like most of us, for a bucket list experience, you might want to wait.

In Chicago, we live by the mantra, there’s always next year.

At Alinea, I’m still looking forward to the next 20 years.

Alinea

1723 N. Halsted St.

alinearestaurant.com

Open: Daily 5 to 10 p.m.

Prices: Per person, $325 to $395 (The Salon, parties of one to six), $435 to $495 (The Gallery, parties of two to four, waitlist for one available by email), $495 (The Alinea Kitchen Table, parties of three to six, occasionally, but rarely, available for smaller parties), $155 (standard wine pairing), $245 (reserve wine pairing), $395 (The Alinea wine pairing)

Sound: OK (55 to 75 dB)

Accessibility: The Salon is not wheelchair accessible on the second floor with stairs only; The Gallery and Kitchen Table are wheelchair accessible on the first floor with a restroom on same floor

Tribune rating: Very good, two of four stars

Ratings key: Four stars, outstanding; three stars, excellent; two stars, very good; one star, good; no stars, unsatisfactory. Meals are paid for by the Tribune.

lchu@chicagotribune.com

Big screen or home stream, takeout or dine-in, Tribune writers are here to steer you toward your next great experience. Sign up for your free weekly Eat. Watch. Do. newsletter here.

May 24 is National Italian Beef Day and Portillo’s has decided to celebrate all month. Portillo’s Perks members can claim their free sandwich when they buy one. And yes, sweet and hot peppers are included. Customers can mix and match a regular Italian beef sandwich, a combo beef and char-grilled Italian sausage sandwich or a beef and cheddar croissant.

In addition, the eatery is featuring a Gravy Train: a CTA Blue Line train transformed into a supersized Italian Beef, hopefully without the drippings.

There also will be surprise Italian beef merchandise drops in cities across the U.S. You can follow Portillo’s on social media to find out where to get the goods.

Existing Perks members will automatically receive the BOGO reward in their account, Portillo’s says. New Perks members will receive the reward after signing up during the offer window, which ends June 1.

The offer is only valid through restaurants, online or on the app. Third-party platforms, such as Uber Eats and DoorDash, are excluded.

Still months from opening its redeveloped suburban casinos, Hollywood parent company Penn Entertainment announced the latest restaurant additions Thursday: twin food halls featuring a trendy taste of Chicago, a slice of New York and another helping of culinary star power.

Boulevard Food & Drink Hall will include Lucky Goat, a new burger restaurant by celebrity chef Stephanie Izard, the first suburban locations for Antique Taco and Pretty Cool Ice Cream, and the debut of Five50 Pizza in the Chicago market.

“It’s kind of the best of both worlds,” said Shawn McClain, whose hospitality group is developing the food halls in partnership with Penn. “We get to expose great brands to the suburbs of Chicago, who obviously know these brands but can’t always get downtown.”

Penn previously announced that celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis will bring Italian restaurants to both locations, with the Joliet casino slated to open in the fourth quarter this year and the Aurora one next year.

The planned food halls have a more distinctively Chicago flavor.

A James Beard Award-winning chef and restaurateur, McClain cut his teeth as head chef at Trio in Evanston, later creating Chicago’s Spring and Green Zebra restaurants before moving on to Las Vegas, where he opened Sage and Five50 Pizza at the Aria Resort & Casino in 2012.

Now based in Detroit, his restaurant group — McClain Camarota Hospitality — has a steakhouse atop that city’s iconic RenCen tower, as well as several venues in Las Vegas. His last Chicago restaurant, the vegetarian Green Zebra, closed in 2018, but McClain said he “jumped at the chance” to reenter the market where he launched his career.

His ongoing relationships with Chicago restaurateurs helped put together the new all-star lineup at the Hollywood Casino food halls.

McClain worked with Izard at Spring more than 20 years ago at the start of her culinary career — before she became the first woman to win Bravo’s “Top Chef,” in 2008.

Izard went on to open the acclaimed West Loop restaurant Girl & the Goat in 2010, and has since added Little Goat, Duck Duck Goat and Cabra in Chicago. She has also expanded the Goat brand to California, most recently opening Valley Goat in Silicon Valley.

Lucky Goat will be her first fast casual restaurant, featuring specialty burgers, fries and milkshakes.

“It’s a concept that I’ve not done before,” Izard said. “Folks love burgers and chicken sandwiches. It’s just a fun thing, easy to eat, but bringing great flavors and just putting my own twist on things.”

An Evanston native who now lives in California, Izard, whose name means mountain goat in French, said the new concept may be ripe for broader expansion of the Goat brand, depending on how the first two suburban Chicago locations fare.

Other acclaimed Chicago restaurants are breaking new ground with the food halls as well.

Antique Taco, a hip taco joint with locations in Wicker Park and Bridgeport, which has been ranked among the best in the city by the Chicago Tribune, will venture for the first time into the suburbs. Pretty Cool Ice Cream, another city staple with locations in Logan Square and Lincoln Park, will also set up shop in Joliet and Aurora.

To celebrate the announcement, Antique Taco and Pretty Cool Ice Cream will be giving away free food and Hollywood Casino merchandise at their Chicago locations Friday from noon to 2 p.m.

McClain launched the Five50 Pizza concept at the Aria in Las Vegas in 2012, along with the upscale Sage restaurant, both of which closed at the onset of the pandemic in 2020. A mix of New York- and Neapolitan-style, McClain described the pizza as “combining the best of both worlds,” with old school flavors and a more developed crust.

He believes Five50 will play well in the land of deep dish and tavern style.

“It was something near and dear to our heart, and we really were looking for a new home,” McClain said. “It’s taken us a few years, but we thought with this food hall and social dining hall, that would be a perfect opportunity to bring it back.”

In addition to the established brands, McClain will also bring a bespoke cafe called Dailies to both food halls, which will feature Chicago-based Big Shoulders Coffee.

The food halls will join previously announced Giada-branded Italian restaurants, adding more culinary pizzazz to the Joliet and Aurora casinos, two of oldest in the state, which are in the process of being reborn.

Launched in the 1990s when the state legalized riverboat casinos, both Joliet and Aurora are still operating as permanently moored barges.

The state’s sweeping 2019 gambling expansion bill, which added everything from six new casinos to sports betting, allowed all casinos to be built on or moved to dry land.

Rivers Des Plaines became the first to convert to a land-based casino, paying a $250,000 Gaming Board fee to expand over dry land in 2020. The state’s newer casinos, including Bally’s Chicago, Wind Creek Chicago Southland and Hard Rock Rockford, are all land-based.

Penn is building the new $185 million Hollywood Casino Joliet in the Rock Run Collection, a sprawling 310-acre mixed-use development adjacent to the Interstate 80 and Interstate 55 interchange. The facility will feature expanded gaming, with 1,000 slots, 43 table games, a retail sportsbook, a 10,000-square-foot event center and restaurants.

The $360 million Aurora casino complex being developed near I-88 and Chicago Premium Outlets mall will include 1,200 gaming positions, a 220-room hotel, a retail sportsbook, a spa, an outdoor entertainment area, a 12,000-square-foot event center and restaurants.

While the new facilities may provide a boost to gaming revenues, Penn executives are hoping the food offerings will differentiate the Joliet and Aurora casinos in an increasingly competitive market, attracting visitors who might have no interest in splitting aces or rolling the dice.

“We fully anticipate that we’re going to see a lot of customers who just come in and they want to experience the amazing food that we’re going to offer at the social hall, grab a drink and maybe never hit the casino floor,” said Jaime Williams, regional vice president of marketing for Penn Entertainment.

rchannick@chicagotribune.com

This year’s theme, “Step up to the Plate,” is a marriage of food and sports, showcasing “all-star chefs, big-time bites and championship-level sips,” said Sam Toia, president and CEO of the Illinois Restaurant Association.

“Like pro sports, great food requires skill, strategy and passion,” Toia said. “No doubt Chicago is a top sports town, but our restaurant teams are the real MVPs of the city.”

Like in previous years, host chefs will collaborate with local businesses, restaurants and drink vendors over four days. Organizers said they will soon announce additional pre-game events.

In the 18th iteration of the event since it began in 2008, the festival typically generates buzz around Hamburger Hop, a fan-favorite burger competition in which chefs compete to win the celebrity-judged award and the audience-judged People’s Choice.

This year’s “cross-town classic” Hamburger Hop will be co-hosted by Joe Flamm, chef and owner of il Carciofo and Rose Mary, who will represent the South Side, and Sarah Grueneberg, chef and co-owner of Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio, representing the North Side.

“This event has always been a Chicago Gourmet highlight and I’ll be decked out in my beloved Cubbies jersey,” Grueneberg said.

Flamm said he’s excited about the added element of a crosstown rivalry to an already thrilling event.

“I love that Hamburger Hop is a chance for chefs from all around the city to show off their grilling skills while getting creative and having fun,” Flamm said. “I’ve been a part of Chicago Gourmet for as long as I can remember, so being back to host an event like this again is a full-circle moment for me.”

Hamburger Hop, hosted on the Harris Theater rooftop, will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. Sept. 26.

Over 100 chefs and restaurateurs are slated to participate, including Rick Bayless (Frontera Grill, Topolobampo), Marcos Carbajal (Carnitas Uruapan), Diana Dávila (Mi Tocaya Antojería), Jenner Tomaska (The Alston, Esmé), Norman Fenton (Cariňo), Israel Idonije (Signature, The Staley) and Jeff Mauro (Mauro Provisions).

Other host chefs and ticket prices will be announced later, but many of the main events from previous years are scheduled to return.

The crowd favorite Tacos & Tequilas will be hosted by Bayless and Carbajal on Sept. 25.

Rise and Shine Gourmet, hosted by Art Smith, Lorena Garcia and Jernard Wells, will serve up sweet and savory brunch bites from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 28.

Asian Late Night Market — a new after-party addition hosted by chef Thai Dang of HaiSous Vietnamese Kitchen — will be from 9 p.m. to midnight Sept. 26.

Grand Cru on Sept. 27 takes inspiration from “the greatest of all times,” such as Michael Jordan and Jordan Biles, and will be hosted by Stephanie Izard, executive chef and partner of four Chicago restaurants: Girl & the Goat, Little Goat, Duck Duck Goat and Cabra.

“I always say Chicago is the culinary capital of the world and Chicago Gourmet just highlights that each year,” Toia said. “It’s where talent, creativity and our city’s enduring competitive spirit gets to shine.”

Programming at Chicago Gourmet will benefit the Illinois Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, which works with high school students to build the hospitality workforce through career exploration.

Ticket prices have not yet been announced but will be available this summer at chicagogourmet.org.

But non-golfers can benefit from staying at a golf resort as well, with benefits they may not even realize existed. What kinds of things can such guests enjoy at a golf resort?

Among the main advantages of these kinds of lodging options is that the resorts are picturesque.

Think manicured courses, expansive views and an abundance of natural beauty that comes with a property containing a course or two. Resorts with golf courses are often quite pretty, and many are designed to take advantage of the beautiful natural landscapes they’re a part of.

In Colorado Springs, the Broadmoor, nestled in the Cheyenne Mountain foothills, offers a whopping 5,000 acres of lush grounds to explore, complete with stunning mountain views, beautiful gardens, tranquil lakes, vibrant flowers, sprawling lawns, shaded groves and charming courtyards.

Beautiful, full-service spas

Not every getaway is filled with places to see and people to meet. Some can act as wellness getaways where you’re free to pamper yourself, reconnect with your body and mind, and slow down and get to know yourself or your travel companions.

Golf resorts that understand the need for this — and offer spa services and wellness options designed to help you obtain it — are a fantastic opportunity for recharging and regrouping. Check out the variety of indulgences at The Sanctuary Spa at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina and leave feeling truly relaxed and reset.

No need to leave

When your resort is your entire destination, you want it to be good. Selecting a place with additional offerings that pamper, delight the senses, tantalize the tastebuds or allow you to indulge in some retail therapy can center everything right at your resort area so you can take full advantage of the place.

While the golf is championship-level, venues like Kohler Wisconsin, featuring The American Club, have much more going on. Anyone can find ways to enjoy spending time there, from splashing in the pools to a visit to the five-star spa, taking a yoga class with soothing views of the lake, or wandering the specialty shops and boutiques complete with a market for refueling when your breakfast wears off.

Food and wine choices

No need to settle for mediocre dining options or limit yourself to burgers and fries; golf resorts can deliver when it comes to mealtime. Some, like Keswick Hall in Charlottesville, Virginia, have on-site restaurants with chefs who have a commitment to their menus, the sourcing of their ingredients and the preferences of their guests to make mealtime a pleasure. The cuisine at Keswick Hall’s Marigold by Jean-Georges changes often and aims to exceed expectations.

Some resort locations also host food and wine-related festivals so celebrating all there is to eat and drink becomes part of the stay and part of the fun.

Activities unrelated to golf

Not every visitor plays the game. Some guests are along for the ride, and when activities or options exist for them to enjoy their stay, all the better.

French Lick Resort in Indiana offers tons of additional amenities and activities at the historic property that are sure to keep a crowd entertained. Options include a casino and arcade, the French Lick scenic railway, horseback riding, an indoor water park, swimming, hiking, biking, birding, bowling, mini golf, pickleball, billiards, sporting ranges, archery, disc golf and yoga. The resort is also near Patoka Lake for activities on or near the water.

Kids programs

Resorts that welcome families know this is a real benefit. Venues that offer camps and activities geared toward children can be appealing to those who are looking to play a game or two but also want to spend some time with their children while they’re traveling.

Boyne Mountain’s Mountain Grand Lodge and Spa in Boyne Falls, Michigan, delivers with an on-site indoor waterpark (great for a rainy day), zipline adventures, tubing, bonfires with s’mores, family movies, complimentary craft activities, pony rides and wagon rides. There are also a variety of seasonal kids’ camps, including Fritz’ Adventure Camp and golf, tennis and wakeboarding camps for older kiddos.

Location, location, location

Resorts away from cities or large tourist spots make for a quieter stay and a true escape. When they are also close enough to get to points of interest that may be part of your crowd’s itinerary, that’s even better.

Venues like Grand Geneva Resort & Spa in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, which situates you in beautiful southeastern Wisconsin near popular Geneva Lake, is also within driving distance of Milwaukee (about 50 to 60 minutes) and Chicago (about 90 minutes), allowing nearby residents to get to the resort easily while feeling like they’ve truly gotten away from it all.

Connections

Some golf resorts are quite historic and have hosted celebrities. History buffs or those who love staying where members of the “it” crowd have stayed will appreciate places with some clout in their background. Resorts like the Seaview hotel in Galloway, New Jersey, which has been around since 1910 and hosted guests such as Grace Kelly — who had her sweet 16 there — might add a touch of depth to your stay. Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones also took up residence here during their Steel Wheels Tour, which launched in 1989.

Another resort that delivers historic significance is French Lick, where Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman, the Marx Brothers, Bing Crosby and Abbott and Costello are said to have been guests.

Resorts at the beach

Don’t want to choose between the beach or the golf course? Selecting a resort that also offers beach access can satisfy that need for sun, sand and surf in addition to working on your swing. The Seagate Hotel in Delray Beach, Florida, is a perfect solution. With its own private beach, sun-seekers can have their toes in the sand in mere minutes.

Pets are often welcomed

Bringing along the family pet lets you go on vacation without having to worry about things back home. Selecting a venue that offers pet-friendly accommodations, such as Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Miramar Beach, Florida, can allow even the furriest family members to go on the trip. Long heralded as a wonderful multigenerational destination, this resort takes it a step further by also welcoming the family dog with amenities like the designated Bark Park.

Catering to varying budgets

Not everyone has limitless income to splurge on a golf vacation. Fortunately, lodging options come at a variety of price points. Many offer packages so you can group some of the things your crowd loves into one stay. Some offer special promotions during the year, so your stay may even be discounted or include added options. Getting on the mailing or email lists of specific venues you like might help you stay in the loop on specials and deals (especially off-season) that work for you.

Tee up to learn the basics

Should you decide that golf may be something you’d like to try, most golf resorts offer lessons and the opportunity to hit around. Some even encourage children to participate by offering discounted greens fees and junior golf club rentals.

You’ll find that many of the bigger golf resorts combine quite a few of these key elements. While one specific feature may stand out to you, such as a historic component, the resort may also excel at other offerings. Combined, they could create that vacation hole-in-one you’re looking for.

Sharon Nolan is a freelancer.

The sibling to Sepia, the Michelin-starred restaurant next door, debuted the new menu April 16.

Chef Andrew Zimmerman owns both award-winning restaurants with managing partner Emmanuel Nony. The evolution is a culmination of the journeys of Zimmerman, Nony and chef de cuisine Jennifer Kim. Kim was the chef and owner of the creative Korean American restaurant Passerotto and seafood deli Snaggletooth before joining Proxi in 2023.

“When I started here two years ago, I was just so enthralled by what they were doing here,” said Kim, who uses the pronoun they. “I’ve always looked up to chef Andrew.”

Focusing the restaurant’s menu on the things that interest the trio, they added, gives more clarification to guests on exactly what they’re doing.

What’s the Korean American chef de cuisine’s favorite part of the new menu?

“I’m always just gonna go to the raw section,” said Kim, laughing. “Because I love making raw, like, hwe.” Hwe is a Korean raw seafood dish similar to Japanese sashimi.

Proxi has expanded its raw and chilled section, now featuring the chef’s sliced hiramasa crudo with coconut milk, grapefruit and Vietnamese cilantro, or rau ram.

But the menu kept a couple of fan favorite dishes, Kim said, that already fit within the framework of coastal Asian, including the wagyu beef cheek in panang curry with coconut sticky rice and peanuts.

“If there’s a little bit left in the pot at the end of the night, that’s what everyone wants,” they said. “‘Oh, I just want that last spoonful.’”

Proxi has gradually introduced changes but waited to unveil its most dramatic dish when it launched the new menu: a seafood platter with oysters, a scallop tartare and poached blue prawn. You can also add an uni shooter and king crab legs.

But half the hot line at Proxi is all live fire, said the chef, with a wood fire grill and a Josper charcoal oven.

“If we look at some of the coastal Asian countries, like, how do they utilize live fire? What is their practice with it? And what’s the significance?” Kim said. “Those are things that we want to be able to incorporate into the menu.”

They noted the wood-fired 14-ounce wagyu New York strip steak as a favorite, served with a signature sauce (ssamjang butter, soy-black garlic jus, miso hollandaise, Sichuan “salsa verde”) plus the option to order more, including a Thai jumbo lump crab “Oscar” topping.

The Josper oven also will cook the coal-roasted scallops served with a Thai yellow curry and an herb salad, as well as smoked mushrooms, grown by Four Star Mushrooms in West Town.

“The edges are crispitized nicely,” Kim said of the mushroom dish.

Desserts were created by Erin Kobler, who’s also the executive pastry chef for Sepia. But the popular green curry banana split, which will stay on the menu, was created by Zimmerman.

One new sweet they’re especially excited about is Kobler’s baba au soju, said Kim, a riff on baba au rhum, the classic airy cake traditionally soaked with rum syrup.

Look for barley soju, and a tableside flaming waterfall presentation.

The bar team has expanded non-alcoholic drink options and added new cocktails, including their Oribu No Eda, aka freezer olive martini.

“It does not taste like a martini at all,” Kim said. Their cocktail uses clarified umeboshi liquid from the Japanese salted and fermented plums. The drink is refreshing and well-balanced, said the chef, something they would want to start their meal with.

When Kim closed Passerotto in October 2020, in part because of the pandemic, the chef didn’t think they would ever return to restaurants.

“It would just really have to be a very specific type of environment,” Kim said. “And I feel very fortunate that I’m able to work here with Andrew.”

Zimmerman is a chef and owner, they added, who treats people with respect and kindness.

“And tons and tons of room for collaboration,” said the chef de cuisine. “I think there’s no recipe for success, other than just being a good person, which sounds silly, and just being a really good chef.”

565 W. Randolph St., 312-466-1950, proxichicago.com

More new openings, in alphabetical order:

3LP & Seoul Taco

Asian restaurant entrepreneurs and friends Henry Cai aka Fat Head Henry and David Choi have collaborated on a new location, bringing their creative Chinese American and Korean American food together. 3LP (formerly 3 Little Pigs Chi) & Seoul Taco dropped April 4 in Hyde Park. Get 3LP’s Italian beef-inspired original hot pot beef sandwich, Seoul Taco’s namesake favorite with bulgogi and the collab K.F.C. sandwich with crispy fried chicken dipped in gochujang honey sauce plus kimchi slaw.

1321 E. 57th St.; 773-891-2266; eat3lp.com, seoultaco.com

Deere Park

Chef and partner Todd Stein (Sophia Steak, Pomeroy) has transformed a North Shore restaurant into an American comfort food brasserie with restaurateur and business partner Josh Kaplan. Deere Park kicked off April 8 in suburban Highwood. Look for roasted chicken with a fennel crust; a Samoa sundae with caramel hot fudge and toasted coconut; plus Todd’s martini served with potato chips.

200 Green Bay Road, Highwood; 847-926-7319; deerepark.com

Nadu

Michelin-starred chef Sujan Sarkar (Indienne, Sifr) has opened a regional Indian restaurant. Nadu launched April 3 in Lincoln Park. The menu recommends pre-ordering one dish, “The Special One,” a crab milagu fry from Kerala with a whole Dungeness crab cooked with Tellicherry peppercorns, tomato, shallots, garlic and spices, served with nei choru, or ghee rice. For dessert, you’ll find the apricot delight from Hyderabad with vanilla sponge cake soaked in condensed milk, layered with poached apricot and whipped cream, then topped with apricot jelly and almonds; drinks feature a cocktail with clarified masala chai and whiskey.

2518 N. Lincoln Ave., 872-315-2158, naduchicago.com

Rendang Republic

Chef John Avila (Minahasa) has brought an Indonesian restaurant back to Chicago with co-founder Rizal Hamdallah. Rendang Republic began service April 5 in Wrigleyville. Start with the rendang plate (featuring classic beef, chicken or jackfruit), then their Duck Inn-do hot dog with a duck hot dog by The Duck Inn, topped Indonesian Chicago style with sambal aioli, acar relish, fried shallot, cilantro, green onion and tomato, all in a poppy seed bun.

3355 N. Clark St., rendangrepublic.com

In reopening news:

Doughboy’s Chicago, home of the world-famous Spaghedough, its signature saucy and hearty spaghetti, just celebrated its reopening at a new location in the South Loop Food Company cloud kitchen on April 28.

2537 S. Wabash Ave., 773-970-6666, doughboyschicago.com

In closing news:

Taylor’s Tacos, specializing in fusion Mexican street-style and Black tacos, will close its taco shop in Little Italy on May 6, but the catering and events side of the company will remain in business, so you’ll still be able to treat yourself and friends to chef and owner Taylor Mason’s award-winning Sexy Crispy Shrimp tacos and more.

1512 W. Taylor St., 312-526-3903, taylorstacoschicago.com

Do you have notable restaurant news in the Chicago area? Email food critic Louisa Kung Liu Chu at lchu@chicagotribune.com.

Big screen or home stream, takeout or dine-in, Tribune writers are here to steer you toward your next great experience. Sign up for your free weekly Eat. Watch. Do. newsletter here.

On an April afternoon, the scientist hovered over tiny dishes of red dye, each a slightly different ruby hue. Her task? To match the synthetic shade used for years in a commercial bottled raspberry vinaigrette — but by using only natural ingredients.

“With this red, it needs a little more orange,” Tampow said, mixing a slurry of purplish black carrot juice with a bit of beta-carotene, an orange-red color made from algae.

Tampow is part of the team at Sensient Technologies Corp., one of the world’s largest dyemakers, that is rushing to help the salad dressing manufacturer — along with thousands of other American businesses — meet demands to overhaul colors used to brighten products from cereals to sports drinks.

“Most of our customers have decided that this is finally the time when they’re going to make that switch to a natural color,” said Dave Gebhardt, Sensient’s senior technical director. He joined a recent tour of the Sensient Colors factory in a north St. Louis neighborhood.

Last week, U.S. health officials announced plans to persuade food companies to voluntarily eliminate petroleum-based artificial dyes by the end of 2026.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called them “poisonous compounds” that endanger children’s health and development, citing limited evidence of potential health risks.

The federal push follows a flurry of state laws and a January decision to ban the artificial dye known as Red 3 — found in cakes, candies and some medications — because of cancer risks in lab animals. Social media influencers and ordinary consumers have ramped up calls for artificial colors to be removed from foods.

A change to natural colors may not be fast

The Food and Drug Administration allows about three dozen color additives, including eight remaining synthetic dyes. But making the change from the petroleum-based dyes to colors derived from vegetables, fruits, flowers and even insects won’t be easy, fast or cheap, said Monica Giusti, an Ohio State University food color expert.

“Study after study has shown that if all companies were to remove synthetic colors from their formulations, the supply of the natural alternatives would not be enough,” Giusti said. “We are not really ready.”

It can take six months to a year to convert a single product from a synthetic dye to a natural one. And it could require three to four years to build up the supply of botanical products necessary for an industrywide shift, Sensient officials said.

“It’s not like there’s 150 million pounds of beet juice sitting around waiting on the off chance the whole market may convert,” said Paul Manning, the company’s chief executive. “Tens of millions of pounds of these products need to be grown, pulled out of the ground, extracted.”

To make natural dyes, Sensient works with farmers and producers around the world to harvest the raw materials, which typically arrive at the plant as bulk concentrates. They’re processed and blended into liquids, granules or powders and then sent to food companies to be added to final products.

Natural dyes are harder to make and use than artificial colors. They are less consistent in color, less stable and subject to changes related to acidity, heat and light, Manning said. Blue is especially difficult. There aren’t many natural sources of the color and those that exist can be hard to maintain during processing.

Also, a natural color costs about 10 times more to make than the synthetic version, Manning estimated.

“How do you get that same vividness, that same performance, that same level of safety in that product as you would in a synthetic product?” he said. “There’s a lot of complexity associated with that.”

The insects that could make ‘Barbie pink’ naturally

Companies have long used the Red 3 synthetic dye to create what Sensient officials describe as “the Barbie pink.”

To create that color with a natural source might require the use of cochineal, an insect about the size of a peppercorn.

The female insects release a vibrant red pigment, carminic acid, in their bodies and eggs. The bugs live only on prickly pear cactuses in Peru and elsewhere. About 70,000 cochineal insects are needed to produce 1 kilogram, about 2.2 pounds, of dye.

“It’s interesting how the most exotic colors are found in the most exotic places,” said Norb Nobrega, who travels the world scouting new hues for Sensient.

Artificial dyes are used widely in U.S. foods. About 1 in 5 food products in the U.S. contains added colors, whether natural or synthetic, Manning estimated. Many contain multiple colors.

FDA requires a sample of each batch of synthetic colors to be submitted for testing and certification. Color additives derived from plant, animal or mineral sources are exempt, but have been evaluated by the agency.

Health advocates have long called for the removal of artificial dyes from foods, citing mixed studies indicating they can cause neurobehavioral problems, including hyperactivity and attention issues, in some children.

The FDA says that the approved dyes are safe when used according to regulations and that “most children have no adverse effects when consuming foods containing color additives.”

But critics note that added colors are a key component of ultraprocessed foods, which account for more than 70% of the U.S. diet and have been associated with a host of chronic health problems, including heart disease, diabetes and obesity.

“I am all for getting artificial food dyes out of the food supply,” said Marion Nestle, a food policy expert. “They are strictly cosmetic, have no health or safety purpose, are markers of ultraprocessed foods and may be harmful to some children.”

The cautionary tale of Trix cereal

Color is powerful driver of consumer behavior and changes can backfire, Giusti noted. In 2016, food giant General Mills removed artificial dyes from Trix cereal after requests from consumers, switching to natural sources including turmeric, strawberries and radishes.

But the cereal lost its neon colors, resulting in more muted hues — and a consumer backlash. Trix fans said they missed the bright colors and familiar taste of the cereal. In 2017, the company switched back.

“When it’s a product you already love, that you’re used to consuming, and it changes slightly, then it may not really be the same experience,” Giusti said. “Announcing a regulatory change is one step, but then the implementation is another thing.”

Kennedy, the health secretary, said U.S. officials have an “understanding” with food companies to phase out artificial colors. Industry officials told The Associated Press that there is no formal agreement.

However, several companies have said they plan to accelerate a shift to natural colors in some of their products.

PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta said most of its products are already free of artificial colors, and that its Lays and Tostitos brands will phase them out by the end of this year. He said the company plans to phase out artificial colors — or at least offer consumers a natural alternative — over the next few years.

Representatives for General Mills said they’re “committed to continuing the conversation” with the administration. WK Kellogg officials said they are reformulating cereals used in the nation’s school lunch programs to eliminate the artificial dyes and will halt any new products containing them starting next January.

Sensient officials wouldn’t confirm which companies are seeking help making the switch, but they said they’re ready for the surge.

“Now that there’s a date, there’s the timeline,” Manning said. “It certainly requires action.”