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There’s too much snow, Chicago.

This week, the newsletter is all in the family, with a profile of the legendary Uncle Remus Saucy Fried Chicken and its founding family to conclude a series on Black-owned restaurants in Chicago for Black History Month.

We also checked in with Cocina Paulis, a family operation that is one of the area’s few flour tortilla makers — working entirely from the home of one family member.

Meanwhile, the snow is supposed to continue to fall, so we’ve got some cozy recipes to try while you’re stuck inside, plus the scoop on relaxed indoor dining restrictions once you feel comfortable going back outside. See you Friday.

— Adam Lukach

Uncle Remus weathers the pandemic, all along supporting the community with jobs and free meals

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Founder Gus Rickette, 95 this August, and his daughter, CEO Charmaine Rickette, stand together in their Uncle Remus Saucy Fried Chicken restaurant Monday, Feb. 8, 2021, in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago. In 1969 Gus and his wife Mary opened the first Uncle Remus location in West Garfield Park. Later that year, they opened the restaurant at 5611 West Madison Street to offer customers their fried chicken and special sauce. This location is a staple in the Austin community.
Founder Gus Rickette, 95 this August, and his daughter, CEO Charmaine Rickette, stand together in their Uncle Remus Saucy Fried Chicken restaurant Monday, Feb. 8, 2021, in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago. In 1969 Gus and his wife Mary opened the first Uncle Remus location in West Garfield Park. Later that year, they opened the restaurant at 5611 West Madison Street to offer customers their fried chicken and special sauce. This location is a staple in the Austin community.

At their first restaurants in the 1960s, Uncle Remus founder Gus Rickette and his late wife Mary secretly fed members of the Black Panthers during the riots of 1968 after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

More than 50 years later, after last summer’s first protest triggered by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Charmaine Rickette — current CEO and daughter of Gus and Mary — repeated the act: “Anyone who came up for days after the unrest, we said, ‘Your food is free.'”

Our profile of the West Side’s iconic Uncle Remus Saucy Fried Chicken concludes a series of eight profiles chronicling Black restaurant owners in Chicago and how they have fared during the pandemic.

Parts 1-7 of reporter Louisa Chu’s series.

In a corn tortilla town, the Navarro family keeps the flour tortilla tradition alive

Margie Navarro, left, and her sister Erika Navarro, seen in Berwyn, Ill., on Wednesday, Feb 10, 2021, sell home made flour tortillas and burritos via Instagram. Their mother makes the tortillas by hand each week, often with plenty left over to be divided among family members.
Margie Navarro, left, and her sister Erika Navarro, seen in Berwyn, Ill., on Wednesday, Feb 10, 2021, sell home made flour tortillas and burritos via Instagram. Their mother makes the tortillas by hand each week, often with plenty left over to be divided among family members.

Although flour tortillas are more the exception than the rule in Chicago, Cocina Paulis makes some delicious exceptions.

Paulis is firstly a family business. It literally runs out of one of the Navarro family member’s home. Named for family matriarch Paula, the micro-operation consists of her, father Rafael and two daughters Erika and Paula:

“We had talked about doing this around mom and dad’s table for years. Finally, mom said yes. If she said no, that would have been it.”

Chicago allows indoor dining to expand to 40% as coronavirus numbers continue to improve

Evelyn Delgado pours a beer while patrons eat and drink at Hawkeye's Bar & Grill on Taylor Street's Little Italy on Tuesday, Feb., 2 2021.
Evelyn Delgado pours a beer while patrons eat and drink at Hawkeye’s Bar & Grill on Taylor Street’s Little Italy on Tuesday, Feb., 2 2021.

For the second week in a row, the city of Chicago has relaxed capacity restrictions on bars and restaurants. As of Tuesday, patron numbers will now be capped at 40% capacity or 50 people, whichever is fewer.

Take the pandemic, add Mardi Gras with a side of paczki, then dump nearly 18 inches of snow on top — that was Tuesday in Chicago.

Schitt’s Creek’-themed pop-up is not sanctioned by the show, tweets Dan Levy

Actor Daniel Levy arrives for the 71st Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles on September 22, 2019. (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP) (Photo credit should read VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images)
Actor Daniel Levy arrives for the 71st Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles on September 22, 2019. (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP) (Photo credit should read VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images)

The new pop-up bar inspired by “Schitt’s Creek” caught the eye of one of the show’s stars on Twitter, but in a way that was not exactly ideal, as Dan Levy’s tweet about the unofficial pop-up inspired some criticism of the event on social media.

“Schitt’s Creek”-inspired pop-up comes to Replay bar in Chicago’s Lincoln Park

An ode to the glories of cabbage, with recipes for a Polish stew and a spicy stir-fry

Pork stew with melted cabbage and sauerkraut, prepare and style by Shannon Kinsella, in her home kitchen, Tuesday Jan. 19, 2021.
Pork stew with melted cabbage and sauerkraut, prepare and style by Shannon Kinsella, in her home kitchen, Tuesday Jan. 19, 2021.

“This winter, I’m looking for big, bold flavors to perk up spirits,” writes JeanMarie Brownson.

Right now, that means a cabbage and red chile stir-fry —with Szechwan peppercorns and lots of hot chile oil flowing over crunchy cabbage leaves — and a hearty, tangy, satisfying stew with pork and cabbage.

Metropolitan Brewing relying on ‘hope’ and negotiations as eviction case ramps up

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The Metropolitan Brewing's new tap room, is still under construction, but is already open to the public, Thursday Oct. 5, 2017. All tables and benches are made from reclaimed wood. Abel Uribe/baiduhai
The Metropolitan Brewing’s new tap room, is still under construction, but is already open to the public, Thursday Oct. 5, 2017. All tables and benches are made from reclaimed wood. Abel Uribe/baiduhai

Last month, Metropolitan filed a countersuit against its landlord, Rockwell Properties, accusing it of fraud by quietly inflating the number of square feet on which the brewery has paid rent.

The attorney for Rockwell Properties, Jason Metnick, fired back in an interview last week, calling the fraud allegation “outrageous, untrue and defamatory.”

Metropolitan Brewing vows to fight eviction threat in lease dispute with landlord, claims landlord has overcharged

How to use food scraps to make delicious meals

Save your chicken bones for stock. Supplement your carcasses with any vegetable scraps (all of which can be frozen until you're ready). When in doubt, simmer in water for four to eight hours and call it a broth. Bones, onion tops, mushroom stems, peels from root vegetables, carrot tops, herb stems, ginger peels, garlic skins and plenty of other scraps make flavorful stocks.
Save your chicken bones for stock. Supplement your carcasses with any vegetable scraps (all of which can be frozen until you’re ready). When in doubt, simmer in water for four to eight hours and call it a broth. Bones, onion tops, mushroom stems, peels from root vegetables, carrot tops, herb stems, ginger peels, garlic skins and plenty of other scraps make flavorful stocks.

It’s frustrating to throw away odd quantities of food after not being able to find another use for them. Our friends at The Daily Meal put together a list of easy ways to put extras to good use and parlay them into a recipe.

What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life … now. Sign up for our Eat. Watch. Do. newsletter here.