Sweets

Sweets Report: It’s Donut Day at the Trib, Take the (Free) Cannoli, and Candy History Saturday

Fresh from the Vault.
Fresh from the Vault. Photo: Sky Full of Bacon

The Trib does a pretty exhaustive roundup of doughnut news from all over; Phil Vettel looks at our matching set of three artisanal doughnut places, Doughnut Vault, Do-Rite Donuts and Glazed & Infused, here, and offers some other suggestions here (which could have used more bakeries— Fritz Pastry, Dinkel’s, Swedish Bakery— and fewer fine dining places that just happen to have a doughnut somewhere on their dessert menu). With city doughnuts pretty well documented, the more intrepid doughnutologists look to the burbs and outlying communities, and Kevin Pang profiles Palatine’s Spunky Dunkers.

But that’s not the only sweets news we have today. Randolph Street’s excellent old school Italian grocery and sub shop, J.P. Graziano’s, is celebrating its 75th birthday today by handing out cannoli to all visitors. We recommend a sub and a big block of fresh-cut parmesan to go with it.

And did you know that Chicago was once the candy capitol of America? From Tootsie Rolls to Lemonheads, there’s a great history there which hasn’t entirely disappeared yet, and the Elmhurst Historical Museum has an exhibit on it called “Sweet Home Chicago: The History of America’s Candy Capitol.” Chicago Foodways Roundtable has arranged for a tour of the exhibit with curator Lance Tawzer this Saturday at 10 a.m. Reservations are required; find more information here.

Sweets Report: It’s Donut Day at the Trib, Take the (Free) Cannoli, and Candy