The Infatuation, somewhat paradoxically, started as a side project. Founded by two former music executives, Andrew Steinthal and Chris Stang, the restaurant review site and app helps match individuals to the perfect restaurant for every occasion, be it a first date, an evening out with your parents or the perfect patio to enjoy the summer.  We talked to the Chicago editor, Sam Faye, about Midwestern food and the best under-the-radar eatery in our city.

Sam Faye, of The Infatuation, knows Chicago food.

Why did you choose Chicago?  Tell us about what it means to be a business in Chicago.  

It wasn’t until 2014 that Andrew and Chris decided to quit their music jobs and take on The Infatuation full time, which also meant expanding beyond New York. Chicago was obviously one of the first cities they wanted to reach. I got involved with The Infatuation from a chance encounter, but I was interested because the voice and style really resonated with me, and I felt confident about bringing it to Chicago. Even though we are in multiple cities, each city is run independently in a way that speaks to the people of that particular place. I was born and raised in the Midwest, went to a Big 10 school and moved to Chicago over five years ago for grad school, so I can relate to people that live here and know what people here want to know about certain restaurants. Relating to and connecting with people is a big part of what we are trying to do.

If you could go back in time before you became involved in running the business and share one piece of advice with yourself, what would you tell yourself?

Have goals, but don’t worry about going down a specific path to reach them. I originally came to Chicago for law school and was set on being a trial attorney. I then studied and practiced transactional law. That’s when the opportunity to join The Infatuation full-time presented itself. It wasn’t a part of the plan, and it seemed a bit crazy on its face, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t the right move.

What are your next steps?  

We want to keep producing practical and hopefully entertaining content that people find useful when they are trying to decide where to eat. The goal is that we can build a level of trust between our writers and readers so it’s more like a friendship. We want it to be a real friendship though, which is why we want to build a community through events and gatherings to take things beyond the Internet. We might write about food and restaurants, but the community we are trying to build expands way beyond that. We like to get involved in a lot of different things, whether it’s fashion, music, art, design, sports or anything else that needs food, which is pretty much everything. Everybody likes a good meal, so it doesn’t matter who you are or what you do. New cities are on the horizon, too.

We want to be in the know!  Name one person, place or thing that you think is one of Chicago’s best-kept secrets—a secret until now, of course.