15 Minutes with Stephen Westman

You may not know Stephen Westman by name, but you should. Westman is the owner of Lakeview Broadcasting Company, a partner in Pete Wentz's Angels & Kings, and he helped launch the flagship location of Clandestine Industries, the boutique and salon that houses Wentz’s clothing label of the same name.

Now 31, Westman has decided to take on a more behind-the-scenes role...

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I Wanna Be Sedated

"All the sidewalks in Bangkok are cracked," I recall thinking just before I stepped in a hole near the National Museum and heard my right ankle snap like a Village beatnik circa 1954. As I hopped around in agony on my one good foot, my daughter began clapping, assuming this was some funny impromptu dance for her entertainment. It may as well have been. Once the pain subsided enough for my wife to examine my ankle, we realized I hadn't broken it, just twisted it unnaturally, and everyone but me lost interest...

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The Funny Bowl

Details Are Sketchy

The Super Bowl is still a good three weeks away, but those hankering for a taste of hard-fought competition fraught with blood, sweat, tears—and, bonus: laughs—can get their fill this weekend at Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival, a 131-show collection of the best of short-form comedy running through January 18th at Theatre Building Chicago (1225 W. Belmont Ave.; chicagosketchfest.com). Highlights include Unintentionally Hilarious, written and performed by junior-high students (because what’s more painfully funny than those awkward tween years?), 1 p.m. Saturday the 10th, or, for the truly bloodthirsty, Fordham University Comedy Troupe (whose acronym we’ll avoid spelling out here), a group that pulls no punches—seriously: check out their skit Nun Ruler—8 p.m. Friday the 9th and Saturday...

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On the Market: Old World Elegance, Gold Coast Views

List Price: $3.6 million
The Property: The immense living room of this fifth-floor condo at the northern tip of the Gold Coast offers a majestic view over the lawns, soccer fields, and statuary in the southern stretches of Lincoln Park. “We thought of all that as our own front yard,” says John Benjamin, who, with his wife, Esther, has lived in this condo in the 13-story confection at 1550 North State Parkway for about 17 years (the building itself dates back...

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Alinea Jr.

John Peters (the former chef at Powerhouse) is in talks with Grant Achatz, his boss at Alinea (1723 N. Halsted St.; 312-867-0110), to do a restaurant project together. “Our intention is to open something else in the style of Alinea,” says Peters, who goes with Achatz back to the Trio days. “Not another heavy-hitter restaurant but something in the style of Alinea. We are kind of in limbo with the economy, obviously, but hopefully...

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Housing Bulletin: The Upside of 13 Canceled Condo Projects

In 2008, according to Appraisal Research Counselors, developers called off 13 downtown condo projects, pulling a total of 2,078 housing units out of an already log-jammed condo market. (Only one of those buildings—Burnham Pointe, at 720 South Clark Street—was already under construction; it was sold to an apartment developer.) While the cancellations aren’t necessarily happy news...

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Chic Gems Donates

Shop for a Cause

The jewelry designer Sarah Radford of Chic Gems (312-602-2561; chicgemsetc.com) has long supported various charities, including the cancer support agency Imerman Angels and the charity Aid for AIDS. This month, Radford partners with Angela Rose of PAVE, a national non-profit organization founded in 2001 to raise money for victims of domestic abuse. Shop at Chic Gems virtual trunk show online and enter the discount code “pave” through the end of the month to save 10 percent on any jewelry purchase; 20 percent of proceeds will...

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Sale of the Week: Among the Mega in Lincoln Park

List Price: $4.75 million
Sale Price: $5.05 million
The Property: This 13-room residence, with its ornate carved limestone and brick façade, stands among the new mega-homes along Burling, Orchard, and Howe streets south of Armitage Avenue in Chicago. The house has six bedrooms, six-plus baths, two fireplaces, and..

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Weekend Photos: Windy City Soul Club at Heart of Gold

Who says hipsters don't dance? We caught hordes of folks getting down this past Saturday at Windy City Soul Club, a new monthly night dedicated to 1960s and '70s Motown soul at Heart of Gold (3036 N. Lincoln Ave., fourth floor), a new gallery and performance space. From 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. the first Saturday of every month, DJs/collectors spin the best and rarest on 45s—none of this newfangled iPod nonsense. Check out our photos below; then rustle up $5 and head to the next WCSC on February 7th...

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Housing Bulletin: And now, the rest of the story

Every Thursday except holidays, I post a short tour of a home that is for sale, including the sellers’ asking price. But the asking price is only half of the story, as the past year’s market drop has clarified for all of us; the other half is the final selling price.
So, as Paul Harvey would say, now here’s the rest of the story on several properties I posted on Thursdays in 2008...

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Sale of the Week: Swingin' with the Rat Pack in Park Ridge

List Price: $1,450,000
Sale Price: $1,011,500
The Property: “It’s a home that was built for the kind of people who loved the Rat Pack,” says Dan Delano, the real estate agent who recently sold this Park Ridge house, built in 1961. “I thought that would be a selling point, but I guess we live in a world of...

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Midnight Spoils

Tough Talk

In the wake of all of the warm fuzzies and holiday cheer, what better way to return to the cynicism of the real world than a night with Neil LaBute? To cap off its season dedicated to the darkly comedic playwright, Profiles Theatre (4147 N. Broadway; profilestheatre.org) hosts an evening with LaBute on Saturday, January 3rd. A preshow reception begins at 6:30 p.m., followed by readings and an audience Q&A. Admission is $50 and includes a ticket to the theatre’s next...

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Hot Dogs and Hamburgers

Getting Mary’d

After 11 years of anchoring Andersonville, the idiosyncratic Tomboy (5402 N. Clark St.; 773-907-0636) is getting out while the getting’s good. Tomboy’s neighbor “Hamburger Mary’s [5400 N. Clark St.; 773-784-6969] is expanding,” says Stacy Malow-Williams, a partner at Tomboy, which closed on December 21st. “I have an eight-month-old baby at home and we got an offer we could not refuse. It’s the perfect opportunity.” Ashley Wright, a partner at Hamburger Mary’s Chicago franchise, says his restaurant will double its seating capacity when the new space opens in the spring. “It will be mostly high-topped tables,” says Wright, who promises the same...

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Housing Bulletin: Ladies and Gentlemen, the Realtors Have Left the Building

’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring—not even a real-estate agent eager to show off the granite countertops in the kitchen or the triangular Jacuzzi for two in the master bath. Instead, with home sales down more than 40 percent from the height of the market in 2006, agents have been departing the industry in large numbers. At the end of November, with roughly 57,100 members, the Illinois Association of Realtors (IAR) had experienced a...

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The It List: Happy Holidaze

1. Bye-bye, Kevin; hello, Theory. An upscale sports bar from Joel Sorinsky, a former manager at Joe’s, and Brian Merel, a partner/exec chef of Stefani Restaurants, has opened in the old Kevin space. Highlights include oversized booths and more than 20 plasmas, some of which you—the barflies—will control. We smell the sports-bar competition getting fierce in River North.

2. Meanwhile, Bull & Bear (431 N. Wells St.), from the Stone Lotus team, is aiming for...

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Eco Art in Bucktown

Green Machine

Ever wonder how the green ethos can blend with urban chic? Then check out the new Bucktown gallery and shop 360SEE (1924 N. Damen Ave.; 773-698-6340, 360seegallery.com), a new minimalist space that features one-of-a-kind sculptures and furniture that uses reclaimed materials, such as a coffee table made from the hood of a 1972 Chevy truck. In all, the store showcases the work of 20 artists...

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