The Chaser - Chicago

11/24/10

Black Wednesday in Chicago: Out with the Old, In with the New

Yesterday I was tip-toeing along a three-foot-wide, ice-covered trail that clings to the south wall of the Grand Canyon—that’s right: It’s Thanksgiving, Southwestern-style, for The Chaser—about to inform The Creative Director that my terror barrier had been breached. To take my mind off the slip-sliding nature of that short-lived adventure (my Enough’s Enough barometer peaked when a pack of mules stalled in front of us on the trail; their refusal to budge seemed like a good time to cut our losses), I reflected on that nightlife invention and blatant marketing scheme known as Black Wednesday...

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11/19/10

America’s Next Top Bartender? Seven Questions for The Drawing Room’s Charles Joly

At midnight this Saturday, November 20th (Sunday morning, technically speaking), River North’s craft-cocktail den The Drawing Room hosts a no-cover viewing party to showcase one of its own: Charles Joly, a finalist on the third season of On the Rocks: The Search for America's Next Top Bartender, which airs its finale that night...

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11/18/10

Cocktails with Chicago’s Closest Thing to Prince William: Still Available, if Slightly Mad

The news of Prince William’s engagement to Kate Middleton has led to a serious decline in productivity this week at the desk of The Chaser, who regretfully admits to Googling search terms such as “Kate Middleton blue dress” and “royal engagement TV interview” (you, too, can watch the complete 18-minute segment). In fact, I hope you’ll pardon the haughty tone of this blog post, as I can’t seem to cease writing in a posh British accent—and I do hope you’ll read it as such...

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11/12/10

Size Matters: Rethinking proportions at the Trump’s Rebar

If buildings were sized like clothing, Chicago’s Trump Tower would fly an XXL flag over its front door. It’s not just tall; it’s all-around roomy. The lockers in the spa are so big I can barely reach the hooks...

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11/11/10

Cub Appeal: With Lion’s Pride, Chicago Gets Its “First (Legal) Whiskey Since Prohibition”

Feel like it’s been getting awfully dark, awfully early? Try going for a cocktail at Delilah’s smack on the dot of 5 p.m. Now that’s dark. A friend and I walked into the Lincoln Park bourbon/biker bar at exactly that hour yesterday afternoon and found ourselves doubling the patron tally to four—or maybe five...

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11/05/10

A Bang-up Spot: The Chaser’s First Impressions of Bangers & Lace

Yesterday at work, my eyes were aching. I was interviewing someone on the phone when I realized I couldn’t type because I was actually draped across my keyboard, doing my best to assume the napping position while still holding a coherent conversation...

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11/04/10

The Glory Days: The ’85 Bears Relive Their Moment at Bull & Bear on Sunday

It’s been a quarter-century since the 1985 Chicago Bears enjoyed what’s been called the greatest season in NFL team history. The Super Bowl Shufflers still spark the imaginations of sports fans everywhere, and this Sunday, you can meet some of the players—Steve McMichael, Shaun Gayle, Dennis McKinnon, and Otis Wilson—at the River North bar Bull & Bear, where they’ll be signing autographs starting at 7 p.m....

Posted at 04:36 PM in The Chaser | Permalink | Comments (0)

10/29/10

Kicking Off Halloween Weekend with a Beer and a Knife

There’s pumpkin goo on my purse, my shoe, and who knows where else (oh, wait: definitely on my notebook). That’s because last night, true to my word, I gathered The Creative Director and my friend Jenny (The Berg) and headed over to Sheffield’s for the bar’s 25th Annual Pumpkin Carving...

Posted at 01:27 PM in The Chaser | Permalink | Comments (0)

10/28/10

Pick Your Poison: If the Booze Fits this Halloween, Drink It

So, what are you going as this Halloween? The Situation? Lady Gaga? Antoine Dodson? A BP exec? A Chilean miner? A healthcare bill? Tiger Woods? Wow. It’s been a long year...

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10/22/10

Your TGIF Happy Hour: The Revamped Living Room Bar

I’ve always liked the Living Room Bar in the grand lobby of the W Chicago – City Center. It’s an unexpectedly cool spot in the heart of the Loop for afterwork drinks, pretheatre drinks, postgala drinks—basically, any-occasion drinks on a block that’s otherwise dead come quitting time...

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