05/13/09
Ten Reasons We’re Excited About the New Whole Foods, Opening on May 20th
- The new 75,000-square-foot space at 1550 North Kingsbury Street (312-587-0648) is the third-largest WF in the world. (London and Austin, that’s where.)
- More than 400 free parking spaces for customers.
- Fresh food venues—which Lettuce Entertain You consulted on—line the store, including The Pilsen Taquería, Wicker Park Subs, Chicago Smokehouse, and Taylor Street Italian...
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05/06/09
Of Dust and Dough
The partners at Mod Pizza (1222 W. Madison St.; 312-666-1222), an upcoming pizzeria/smoothie bar in the West Loop, are obviously optimists. The 68-seat spot with an outdoor café is still under construction, but they plan to open on May 20th. “The plumbing is in, and we are hanging ductwork as I speak,” says Madison Drake, former partner at Phil & Lou’s. “The kitchen flooring will be in by end of next week.” Mod’s executive chef, Marco Aguirre (recently of Maggiano’s), has been working with Old California Pizza Dough, a San Francisco–based company, to develop the mix that will go into the sourdough-based flour for his predominantly thin pizzas. But the food is the least of Drake’s worries...
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04/29/09
Bahena Goes to the Well
Geno Bahena, who launched Real Tenochtitlán (2451 N. Milwaukee Ave.; 773-227-1050), plans to open Los Moles (3140 N. Lincoln Ave.; 773-935-9620), an 80-seat Mexican restaurant, on May 4th. The specialty will be—surprise!—mole. “Three moles every day: Red, green, and black,” says Bahena, who will split his time between Real Tenochtitlán and Los Moles, and has been at so many restaurants we won’t bother to...
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04/22/09
Beef, Actually
Laura Piper, a veteran of Gibsons and Hugo’s Frog Bar, is partnering with Scott Harris (Mia Francesca) and Jimmy Bannos (Heaven on Seven) to open T-Bone’s Steakhouse (1890 W. Main St., St. Charles), a casual 130-seat spot in the ill-fated former Fahrenheit space. “We want solid, good quality food, but prime beef is not always affordable,” says Piper. “We will hunt the market to bring in the best quality and the best value.” T-Bone’s, when it opens in...
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04/15/09
Into Africa
“Iyanzé is my mother’s nickname,” says Emmanuel Abidemi, partner of Iyanzé (4623 N. Broadway; 773-944-1417), a West African spinoff of Bolat (3346 N. Clark St.) that opened on April 13th. “Iyanzé is very hard to translate because it is a rich word, but it’s like, ‘Man, that lady can cook.’” And cook she does. The restaurant’s chef/mom, Remi Abidemi, attempts to cover four West African countries, with dishes such as...
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04/08/09
Pollack and Ruby are taking a much-needed week off from Dish. We’ll be back next week to bring all the juicy scoops you’ve come to expect.
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04/01/09
She Hearts Art
Ashley Galliart, co-owner of the brand-new Luscious Layers Bakery (2315 N. Damen Ave.; 773-661-1335), has custom-made everything from a Fender Stratocaster–inspired cake for the actor Steven Seagal to a Champagne wedding cake that included one gluten-free tier for the bride. “I went to school for a fine arts degree in textile design,” says Galliart, who rented space for personal orders before...
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03/25/09
Restaurant Character of the Week
That would be André Christopher, who just opened The Grocery Bistro (804 W. Washington St.; 312-850-9291), a 68-seat West Loop BYO that lives up to its name. “You can find anything on my menu at the grocery store,” says Christopher, the former executive chef of Pops for Champagne and chef de cuisine of Japonais. “It’s amazing what you can find at Dominick’s, Jewel, and Stanley’s. A lot of the restaurants I worked at were foofy and bourgeoisie...
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03/18/09
He Said It
“The name is something that I came up with. All the names that were on the table were missing the mark. Think about it. Restaurant MW. That’s just not exciting, is it?” –Tony Mantuano on Terzo Piano (159 E. Monroe Dr.), his upcoming restaurant on the third (terzo) floor of the new Modern Wing of the Art Institute designed by Renzo Piano (scheduled to open May 16th)...
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03/11/09
An Instant Classic
Sunda (110 W. Illinois St.; 312-644-0500) is exhausting. Where to look first? The gleaming bar, three deep with gorgeous people sipping stunning martinis like a wasabi H2O with a crushed wasabi pea rim? The long sushi bar under bamboo hangings meant to suggest floating fish? The eye candy packed at the communal table? No matter where you look, it’s good. This contemporary Asian place has been open about a minute and a half, and service is already...
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