UPDATES on Chicago menu items named after Pope Leo XIV
Pope-erroni
Continuing our ongoing series on menu items you can find here in Chicago, all named after the first supreme pontiff to have ever seen the Jesse White Tumblers perform at his grade school assembly:
Aurelio’s Pizza
From Tasting Table: “Just a few short months before becoming Pope, the man who has previously gone by Cardinal Robert Prevost was back home visiting family and stopped into the Aurelio's location in Homewood, Illinois – a South Chicago suburb not far from his hometown of Dolton. According to the restaurant's president, Joe Aurelio, in an interview with 9News Australia (via TikTok), Prevost ordered a pepperoni pizza while dining there, and in honor of the new Pope's order, the chain will be selling a "pope-erroni" pizza, although it's not clear if there will be anything unique about it other than the name. Aurelio's in Homewood has also designated a special "Pope's Table" where he ate during his visit, complete with a new chair from a local church.”
As funny as it is to imagine Joe Aurelio Jr. dragging a wooden pew into his restaurant and causing permanent floor damage because he thinks the Pope might like it, I am concerned about the repeated use of “tradition” on Aurelio’s website, and what the holy father’s preference for tavern style over deep dish (tavern style pizza, of course, predates deep dish in Chicago) says about a potential future abrogation of Traditionis Custodes.
Portillo’s
Following up on last week’s launch of “The Leo”, an Italian beef sandwich with peppers and gravy, Portillo’s has confirmed what I originally suspected: this is just the regular sandwich that Portillo’s has been selling since the reign of Paul VI. From TimeOut Chicago: “if you're having a bit of sandwich déjà vu, yes, The Leo is basically just the brand's classic Italian, but with some extra-holy marketing. "It’s our original sacred sandwich, bold, unapologetically flavorful, and made in honor of a moment that’s historic for Portillo’s hometown," the release continues.” Interestingly enough, this is a point strongly in favor of what the church calls the “hermeneutic of sandwich continuity”.
Bennison’s Bakery
From Evanston Now, in a story titled “New treats prove pope-ular”: “White smoke did not emanate from Bennison’s Bakery in downtown Evanston, but once that smoke did come from the Vatican, the pastry shop sprang into action. Not long after Robert Francis Prevost was named as the first American Pope on Thursday, Hector Martinez, a baker at Bennison’s, began cranking out cookies adorned with the picture of the Chicago native (south suburban Dolton) who is now Pope Leo XIV.” Clearly, the red, yellow, and gold sprinkles reflect the color of the papal mozzetta, the red garment worn by Leo during his first address, which appears to have convinced everyone from Taylor Marshall to LifeSiteNews that Leo is a secret stealthy arch-conservative who will undo the reforms of the Francis papacy, despite Leo’s early public statements, track record as head of the dicastery for bishops, close relationship with Pope Francis, work as a bishop in Peru, previous homilies, and early personnel decisions. I’m saying that the cookie sends a mixed signal about the priorities of this papacy.
Burning Bush Brewery
From Block Club: “The low ABV ale appears dark but has a light body with a mix of malty flavors along with notes of caramel, toasted nuts and a light fruit flavor. The beer is similar to a low-ABV English mild ale, which is also malty and would be typically served in a pub, he said…Through 11 p.m. Friday, customers will be able to order an $8 Chicago Pope handshake, comprised of the new ale and a shot of Malort.” I cannot think of anything more effective than Malort at driving devout Catholics away from the church.
Taste of Peru
Not only is Leo the first Chicago Pope, he is the first Peruvian Pope (he has dual citizenship and has spent decades working in Peru), so we can’t just make hot dog references, we need to make ceviche references as well, to provide as full a picture of this papacy as possible. Taste of Peru in Rogers Park is renaming their goat-based seco stew the “Leo the 14th stew” according to NBC 5 Chicago’s “The Food Guy”, and the name of the dish makes it sound like we got too excited about having a Pope from Chicago so we killed and ate him.
Section 140 of Rate Field (fka Comiskey Park)
From ABC 7 Chicago: the White Sox stadium has unveiled a mural of Pope Leo in the concourse of section 140, where Leo sat during the 2005 World Series. “Rate Field” is the current name of the stadium; it was Comiskey Park for a very long time, then it was US Cellular Field after a cel phone company got the naming rights, then it was Guaranteed Rate Field after a mortgage company got the naming rights, and then that mortgage company recently changed their name from “Guaranteed Rate” to just “Rate”, which gives me tremendous confidence in the stability of their product.
Can you buy a novelty menu item named after the holy father in section 140? Not yet, and it doesn’t really look like you can get anything impressive in that section at all. According to Eater, the options in that section include “garden burger” and “chicken tenders”. Someone needs to get it together a get a novelty menu item in that section immediately, put a tiny miter on a churro or something. And while we’re at it, someone needs to get it together and get a better name for the stadium. And while we’re at it, someone needs to get it together and see if the Sox have a path to losing fewer than 121 games this season.