Eddie Lakin

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Location
Chicagoland
School
Cooking & Hospitality Institute of Chicago, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Expertise
Professional cooking, Restaurants and dining trends, Cultural foodways and regional cuisines
  • Eddie has more than thirty years of experience running professional kitchens.
  • Eddie's restaurant, Edzo's Burger Shop, has been nationally recognized by the New York Times, Bon Appétit Magazine, and the Chicago Tribune.
  • Eddie's favorite accomplishment was being able to combine his love for food and cooking with his passion for live music by vending at Lollapalooza in Chicago for 10 summers, including for bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, and Black Sabbath.

Experience

After graduating from culinary school in Chicago, Eddie worked at neighborhood favorites Uncommon Ground and Lula Cafe before heading to Europe, where he further honed his skills in the kitchens of Roy's Hawaiian, Nacionál 27, Carlucci, Las Carabellas, and Tru, reporting to chefs Rick Tramonto and Gale Gand, and cooking with/for notables such as Nobu Matsuhisa, David Bouley, Gray Kunz, Bobby Flay, Emeril Lagasse, and Julia Child. He pored over shelves at Asian grocery stores and pestered vendors at farmers' markets to chase down secrets of elusive regional ingredients or learn how to make a true soffritto. Eddie shares his experiences and opinions about food and cooking on his Substack blog, "Chicagomatic—Documenting Edzo's Burger Shop," which has amassed thousands of followers.

Education

Eddie earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a certificate in professional cooking from the Cooking & Hospitality Institute of Chicago.

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Stories By Eddie Lakin

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