Features

Best of Chicago
For this year’s Best of Chicago feature, we ate, shopped, visited, interviewed, imbibed, and otherwise sampled our way through the city and suburbs looking for treasures and treats. Somebody had to do it!
Plus: The best of Albany Park, Evanston, Highwood, Hyde Park, and Ukrainian Village

Friendly Persuasion
by Jonathan Black
Elegant, upbeat, and discreet, Janet Owen sells real estate in the city’s elite Near North Side neighborhoods. She knows the market, she understands the ins and outs of construction, and she is a master of the delicate art of closing a deal.

Smarter Than the Smartest Guys in the Room?
by David Bernstein
Just off his biggest case, Enron prosecutor (and Chicagoan) Sean Berkowitz talks about the trial of Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling.

Heartbreak Hotel
by Charles Lane
Behind the façade of Chicago Hilton and Towers lurks a Depression-era tale of lost fortunes, legal wranglings, solitary suicide-and a boy, tested by tragedy, who became a U.S. Supreme Court justice.

At Home: Open House
by Christine Newman
They had a house in Roscoe Village that they loved, but when an opportunity arose to re-invent a loft in Ravenswood, they packed up their art and began again.

Departments

Letters

Contributors

Arena
Meet Arlington Park’s boogie-woogie bugle girl, Bonny Brown; actress Lili Taylor dishes on her next project-in Chicago; local architects put their stamp on Shanghai’s skyline; real-life CSI; red carpet–worthy jewelry from local designers; beat box, better BYOB, more
Plus: The Shopper, Style Sheet, and Sales Check

Reporter | Lessons from Dad
by David Bernstein
A father’s constitutional scholarship comes in handy for the son, as he stands up for reporter’s rights in a battle with the City of Chicago.

Adult Education | Class Action
by Lauren Murrow
With so much bad news lately, it’s time for some class action-such as one of these eight courses on God, the Middle East, and other timely topics. 

four | one | one
Chicago facts, figures & findings
Global warming: how hot will it get in Chicago?
Plus: Northwestern, U. of C., or Lake Forest College? A cost comparison; and Chicago’s historic diagonal streets

Law | The Shootout
by James L. Merriner
Freakonomics coauthor Steven D. Levitt faces a defamation suit from another economist, a former colleague at the University of Chicago.

Books | Hell in Paradise Flat
by Dan Carlinsky
More than a century ago, the Chicago author Myrtle Reed won readers’ hearts-but sadly, her marriage was no storybook romance.

Deal Estate | Your Best Offer
by Dennis Rodkin
Three real-estate agents make their best (hypothetical) offers on a Geneva house.  Plus: The Gold Coast’s Florsheim Mansion, and condo news.

Nightspotting | Take a Dive
by Sarah Preston
Every night owl has a favorite dive bar. However, our intrepid party girl noticed that a slew of Chicago Avenue locales are creating a new sort of high dive.

Classifieds

The Closer | Ban Wagon
by Jeff Ruby
With the city issuing a ban on foie gras, The Closer examines the ups and downs of prohibition.

Events

Chicago Guide®
During August: The dramatic scope of the Latino Theatre Festival is as imaginative as the artists performing-from storytellers to theatre companies like Els Comediants from Spain and Brazil’s Pia Fraus, which incorporates theatre, dance, puppetry, masks, and circus arts. Bichos do Brasil, Pia’s vivid production, pays reverence to Brazil’s animals and pleads the need to preserve them. The festival runs August 4th to 20th at the Goodman Theatre.
Marquee: A preview of coming attractions

Food & Drink

Dining Out | Italicized
by Dennis Ray Wheaton
There’s always room for good old Italian, done well. Here are two new spots that get it right.

Restaurants
The definitive guide to Chicago’s top restaurants
This month: Nine new and updated listings, including Custom House and Carlos’.
Dish: The hottest restaurants right now; gossip; a chef of all trades tells how he plans to rock Chinatown.