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Year: 2009

The Insider

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Five recommendations from the Chicago-based classical composer Seth Boustead, whose group, Accessible Contemporary Music, puts on a free concert at Sherwood Conservatory on February 20th. For info, acmusic.org.

Killer Wales

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Golden Boy

Larry Yando—a.k.a. Scrooge in the Goodman’s A Christmas Carol—as Everyman? We are so there. And to those who claim he never met a scene he didn’t chew to toothpicks: Bah, humbug! Yando stars in the toe-tapping immigration tale Goldbrick, inspired by the story of the Chicago-by-way-of-Wales musician Jon…

Built-In Barista

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I’ve seen dozens of wall-mounted coffeemakers in magazines and showrooms, but never actually had hands-on experience with one until visiting friends in Park City for the Sundance Film Festival a couple weeks ago (Zooey Deschanel says “hey,” by the way—she’s as cute as you’d think, and I wanted to put her in my pocket). I knew that Nassir was planning to redo the kitchen, but not much else, so I was curious to check it out. Wow. Deep chocolatey-gray Poliform cabinets line facing walls, and on one there’s this built-in stainless steel Miele coffeemaker that is just a dream. Punch a few buttons, and in about a yawn-and-a-half you’ll have a freshly ground espresso, cappuccino, or plain old cuppa. Sure helped kept us bright-eyed at 8:30 a.m. film screenings. It is practically silent, everything is stored behind the façade, and the grounds are tamped into neat pellets and plopped in a container until you’re ready to dispose of them. I investigated prices at Abt and found one I like for about $3,000, which translates into about 750 venti caramel macchiatos at Starbucks. Maybe I could switch to Folger’s for a few years….

—BRADLEY LINCOLN

On the Market: Majestic River View in River North

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List Price: $990,000
The Property: The spectacular view is the primary attraction of this two-bedroom condo on the 13th floor of the 38-story Riverbend; it looks eastward along the main branch of the Chicago River, taking in all the soaring skyscrapers that flank its sides and the muscular bridges that cross it. From the condo balcony, the el trains on the Wells Street bridge “look like Mr. Rogers’…

Party Time

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Turns out Bladon Conner, one of our favorite local designers (see our story about him here and his awesome Graffiti cabinet featured here) has some pretty cool neighbors in the Rockwell Industrial Corner, where his studio space is located. The folks behind Green Sawn sustainable furniture (see photo, right) and Kindling , a cool wood accessories line (see photo, above left), create their own masterpieces smack across the hall from Conner (read more about all of them in our upcoming May/June issue). I stopped by the Green Sawn space last week and was utterly taken with owner Aaron Pahmier’s furniture designs, some of which are collaborations with Conner; Aaron’s sister, Megan, designs the Kindling line, which her bro produces.  On February 7 at 3 p.m., at 2612 W. Nelson St., 773-516-8686, the three are gathering their wares for an open house. This is a budding group to watch—and here’s a chance to buy their one-of-a-kind pieces straight from the sources.

—Gina Bazer

Designer Plates

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Turning the Other Chic
Fred’s at Barneys, an American brasserie on the ninth floor of New York’s famed retailer, plans to open a Chicago version at 15 East Oak Street, inside the new Gold Coast outpost of Barneys in April. To put a local stamp on the restaurant, every employee will be from Chicago, save one: managing director Mark Strausman, the longtime chef of NYC’s Fred’s at Barneys. Strausman’s new passion is pizza and breadmaking—”I’m really into yeast right now…

Audrey, Art, Valentine’s Day, and more

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Don’t wait for a proposal to venture through Tiffany’s doors—they have terrific, modern, not-as-pricey-as-you’d-think home items as well as the jaw-dropping gems on which the store built its reputation. I popped in the Michigan Avenue store to shop for a gift the other day, strolled right past all the quintuple-digit diamonds settled on their first-floor, and took the stairs at the back, up to the gifts floor. Elsa Peretti has a sexy new collection of sterling-silver picture frames that look like liquid mercury, and the store is offering free engraving on them until Feb. 9. Her crystal vases, candlesticks, and vessels are pretty spectacular too, and you’ll also find crenulated Frank Gehry bone china bowls…

Neat IDE-a

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Studio IDE , a new architecture and design firm, sent me a photo of a recent commission. The base of this table, which was built using a series of thick notched maple planks, is fully collapsible, using no mechanical fasteners or glue. Cool! You can have one made with a top of transparent or opaque glass, concrete, or stone. And in case you were wondering, IDE stands for Imagination, Design, and Execution. 

—JAN PARR