Monica Eng
Monica reports and produces segments on food, health and ethnic culture in Chicago and beyond.
Before coming to WBEZ, Monica Eng was a food, culture and watchdog-investigative reporter at the Chicago Tribune for 16 years. Before that she wrote and edited for the Daily Southtown and Chicago Sun Times. Monica has won multiple writing awards and been nominated for the James Beard Award five times.
Monica is a fourth generation Chicagoan whose children are fourth generation Chicago Public Schools graduates.
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The pandemic and protests have altered life for many in Chicago's downtown. Some are leaving protest-targeted areas, while others are embracing the change and even finding ways to address inequality.
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While most restaurants were hurt by the pandemic, certain types are going strong. It's not just drive-through fast food joints, but longtime stalwarts serving comfort foods people are craving.
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COVID-19 cases are on the rise across the country, and that's prompting city leaders in some of the hardest hit places — Seattle, Chicago and Atlanta — to consider closing down again.
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With limits on social gatherings, Americans have to mourn their dead through online memorials and virtual funerals.
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The nation's trivia geeks will descend on Chicago this weekend to compete in the "Oscars of trivia." Teams are now gearing up for the big game called The Geek Bowl.
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Chicago's fire department gets 20 times more medical calls than fire calls, but it has twice as many firetrucks as ambulances. Other cities also face this disparity and there are calls for change.
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Aspiring doctors at the University of Chicago are learning how to teach patients about healthy eating. Nutrition advocates say this kind of training is critical to fighting obesity and diabetes.
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Frito-Lay has reformulated Flamin' Hot Cheetos to meet new federal nutrition standards for school snacks. That's been a big hit with school kids, but the rules' creators say the snack is still junk.