Mason Galecki — The Goods

The Goods

The Goods is an idea that was born during the pandemic. My co-creator and I are both transplants living in Chicago with a massive love for food. We really just wanted an excuse to get to know the humans that were creating the 312’s culinary spaces and experiences. It gives us a platform to spotlight those independent tastemakers that we are most excited about. These locals we highlight are using their talents to give us small-batched goods that are packed with passion and flavor.

Lately this page has evolved into somewhat of a love letter to pandemic-born passion projects (and this post shall be no different). Our next feature is on @drinkmisoo (pronounced my-sue) – an all-natural family of aperitivos coming from a grou

Roshelley Mayen’s @juanitasbebidas began as a bottled milk punch setup for @alteconomy’s first open market. Crafting milk punch cocktails didn’t just lend itself well to sustainably bottling and preserving ingredients, it also creat

The kolache, a traditionally sweet Czech pastry, became a Texas staple after Czech immigrants founded communities and settled in rural TX back in the 1880s. Now, Eric Liu and Tom Bovio, the duo behind @howdykolache, are officially opening up a new ho

Lan Ho, owner of @fatmiilk, believes the coffee scene in the US is missing Vietnamese coffee – She’s hoping to tell its story here in Chicago. While furloughed as a pharmacist during the pandemic, she began working on bringing Fat Miilk t

@txatxaclub has been a sort of a love story for Liz Bendure and Daniel Parker — The two met while working at @lulacafe and fell in love cooking together. They shared a passion for curating community and social gatherings, and were quick to beco

Eve Studnicka and Alexis Thomas-Rice are the duo behind @funeral.potatoes – a virtual restaurant with Midwestern comfort food at the heart of its chef-driven, locally sourced menus. The name Funeral Potatoes refers to the comfy, cheesy, hashbro

Longtime cooks Sebastian Vargo and Taylor Hanna are the duo behind @vargobrotherferments – a pandemic project turned full-time pickle operation born out of love for old school fermentation and preservation.
When Sebastian began selling kraut an

It’s finally heatin’ up in Chicago. Between street fests and park hangs, these are some of our favorite treats for cooling off. If you have some picks we missed, we’d love to see them in the comments. 🍦
Also, mini PSA: we’ll

Erika Kubick loves cheese — Enough so that she decided to write a book about it, fashioned after the Holy Bible. The Old Testament covers age-old techniques and information about funky fromages, while the New Testament covers everything you nee

First up in our local cookbook series is The City Dweller’s Guide to Sustainable Cooking by Amanda McLemore, founder of @baguette_and_butter . What originally began as a space to document her journey into culinary school eventually turned into

It’s cold. But it’s also a new year, and we’ve been spending these first few weeks of 2022 cozied up with new cookbooks and trying out new recipes. And so for our next series, we’ll be exploring some local Chicago cookbooks &a

Something the folks we feature typically have in common is this not-so-subtle, unavoidable pull towards food. A similar thread has weaved its way through Margaret Pak’s own journey, leading her away from a 12-year corporate career to her role t

Kevin Cowens had been working private catering gigs for almost 5 years, before his partner Brittany Gilpin and he decided to create cafe Bertrand – a new-ish pop-up specializing in intimate, Creole, and Southern Italian-inspired dinners.
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The

Our next pop-up feature @getsuperhai is where konbini quality meets NYC bodega-level convenience. The pop-up serves a rotating menu of high quality, Japanese convenience store-inspired savory snacks like onigiri, sandwiches, bento boxes, and bowls.

A tale as old as time for many a first gen child, Palita Sriratana was one just of few Asian kids in the central Illinois town she grew up in. Cooking Thai cuisine and filling her kitchen with the tastes and smells from her family’s home back i

@candidfare is a two-women team, composed of Delaney Workman, a food-justice / human rights professional turned chef & Cebe Loomis, a visual artist and social documentarian -- Together, the friend duo have combined their crafts to foster communit

As the temps drop and we move back indoors, we’re keeping tabs on the folks putting together special menus and intimate, in-person gatherings to help inject some magic and much-needed connection during these upcoming winter months. For our next

A theme we’ve seen woven throughout our last few conversations is wine without pretense — @slikwines , cofounded by somms Kyla Peal & Marie Cheslik, is no different and is drawing from their backgrounds in fine dining to help demystif

It’s no secret that the natural wine scene has been boomin’ over the past few years, with Chicago seeing its own natty wine renaissance with bottle shops and wine clubs popping up across the city, but seemingly in only particular pockets.

@petnatposse ’s online shop reads the following phrase in italicized font: “We don’t really know how we got to this point, but we’re glad you’re here with us!” -- which feels apt for a natural wine appreciation pla

Design & Art Direction: Mason Galecki | Copy: Sarah Hernandez | The Goods Instagram