I just read that Chicago Tribune restaurant critic Phil Vettel accepted a buyout and is retiring. I'm amazed he hung on this long in the age of Yelp and I doubt he'll be replaced. I understand why the Tribune is shedding guys like Vettel, Greg Kot, and Howard Reich, but in doing so, it's slowly rendering itself irrelevant. Pretty soon it's just going to be a collection of AP stories and content from other papers.

Other than Kass, do they even have any conservative columnists anymore?

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I don't think so, but I would still characterize their editorial page as center right.

who was the guy on channel 7 back in the day who did restaurant reviews? he was great.

I think you are thinking of James Ward.

https://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2018/03/27/the-secret-lives-of-food-critics-circa-1980

yes that's him! thanks!

Yeah, it's an odd mix. They range from moderately left Zorn and Chapman, to firmly left Page, Schmich and Stevens, to wacko left Glanton and Huppke. And then the editorial page will rip Madigan and fight against unions and the progressive tax.

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Chapman is a libertarian. He just wasn’t a big Trump guy.

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“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

Does anyone really take Huppke seriously? I tend to skip Zorn when he gets too political but, with the exception of that column where he explained that he was switching his allegiance from the Cubs to the White Sox for political reasons, he's not that bad on general topics. I start just about every John Kass column that I come across in the paper but, when it becomes clear it's about cooking or him weighing in on the national hot button political topic of the moment, I bail. He's at his best when he's writing about local corruption, whatever remains of The Outfit, and the White Sox.

It feels like Kass has been phoning it in for years now. His heart just doesn’t seem in it anymore and to your point he’s become a bit of a 1 trick pony.

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“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

I don't know, but I don't think he's phoning it in. There are just so many places to go now for a hot take on a national political story. For instance, there's been nothing that's happened vis a vis the 2020 election where I thought "damn, I wonder what John Kass thinks about this." However, there are some local political stories on which I still seek out his takes.

Page is my favorite columnist anywhere. He's left but culturally moderate, and he'll attempt to engage with others while not simply agreeing with everyone. He'll call people out but attempt to empathize with them.

I thought I heard on John Williams that Blair Kamin is taking a leave, too. I know nothing about architecture, but enjoy reading his work.

I'm a fan of Blair Kamin as well. The Tribune can't continue to shed guys like this and remain a viable publication.

Was Vettel a conservative restaurant critic?

I never noticed.

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