CARELL’S CHICAGO FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Steve Carell recalls ‘ eating my way through’ Taste of Chicago
LOS ANGELES — It’s been more than 20 years since Second City alum Steve Carell left Chicago, but this time of year still takes him back to the sights, sounds and smells of summer in our city.
“I tasted a lot of Chicago food for sure, the entire time I lived there, but Taste of Chicago is something else! It’s the food festival of the world in my opinion. It’s like the best of ribs and Polish and so much more. It’s the best comfort food festival ever.
“I literally remember eating my way through the Taste of Chicago every year. You just couldn’t resist it. Just talking about it now reminds me of those great smells wafting over the park!”
Carell’s affection for the city hasn’t waned. “I was there for 10 years and at Second City like for seven of those years. I met my wife in Chicago. I think the restaurants are second to none — and I’ve eaten in a lot of great restaurants all over the world.
“It’s a great place to get fat in the wintertime. They should put that on the sign as you drive into town: “Chicago! A Great Place to Get Fat in the Wintertime!’ ”
In his new film “Despicable Me 3” ( opening Friday), Carell voices two characters: the animated franchise’s longtime star Gru and now his brother Dru.
“I think of Gru as darker and more cynical. Dru — with those flowing blond locks — is lighter, more ebullient,” said Carell.
“Ebullient? Good word!” said a sarcastic Kristen Wiig, his “Despicable Me 3” co- star sitting in on the interview. “I’m impressed how you used that in a sentence — and I’m sure your English teacher, back in the day, would be impressed as well.”
Kumail Nanjiani takes a nostalgic Chicago drive
For Kumail Nanjiani, a morning drive around Chicago’s North Side “has been a very nostalgic time for me,” the comedian and actor said Wednesday, while in town to promote his autobiographical new film “The Big Sick.”
“My wife worked around here,” said Nanjiani, gesturing to the Loop setting where we chatted on an open- air Michigan Avenue plaza.
The entertainer smiled as he noted, “We just drove by two of my old apartments — in Lake View and Wrigleyville,” and he shared memories of some of his favorite culinary outposts.
The native of Karachi, Pakistan, recalled frequent visits “to Grafton in Lincoln Square, and Devon Avenue to go to the Pakistani res- taurants. I love that place. … But my favorite taco place — right under the Irving Park L — is now shut down. That made me very sad.”
Nanjiani’s Chicago history goes back to the reason he moved here initially: “I wanted to pursue a career in comedy,” noted the entertainer, recalling his early stand- up gigs at clubs like Zanies and the old Lakeshore Theater ( now the Laugh Factory), as well as the former Lincoln Lodge.
In “The Big Sick” ( open- ing Friday), Nanjiani plays a young Pakistani- American in Chicago. His very traditional Muslim parents are adamant about him marrying a girl of Pakistani descent.
The details mirror what happened to Nanjiani and his now- wife, Emily V. Gordon, who co- wrote the screenplay with him.
“As for Emily’s parents, we sent them a link [ to the completed film],” he said, “and they watched it five times in one day — the first day they got it!”