The Canary Sings
Remember Rick Spiros, the chef involved in the short-lived Mantou Noodle Bar last winter? He’s back with the ambitious Red Canary (695 N. Milwaukee Ave.; 312-846-1475), a chef-driven “modern Victorian” lounge opening in the old Avenue M space as soon as the city gives a thumbs up. “It is a lounge that serves food,” says Spiros. “But it’s not serving food by some guy who is just kind of back there making…
Triple-threat singer-songwriter-carpenter Joe Pug infuses folk music with new energy
Cover Story Best of Chicago Good: the well spoken of, the longtime favorites, the new and surprising. Better: the perfect extra fillip, the graceful technique, the revelatory debut. Features Numbers Man by Ryan Blitstein After three top city jobs, including a stint as the mayor’s chief of staff, Ron Huberman brings his technocratic skills … Read more
The PrairieMod Design Group’s lease is up on their Wheaton offices, and they’ll be moving to a smaller location in Lisle at the end of this month. The new space doesn’t have room for the product inventory they stocked for the PrairieMod outlet store…
This week: Theatre insurance for the finicky … schmoozing in the Modern Wing … remembering Michael at Ravinia … the other side of Niffenegger
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Toms-Price’s annual furniture warehouse blowout is this weekend. Stickley, Baker, Henkel, Harris, and other manufacturers are sending truckloads of excess inventory to liquidate at 40 to 70 percent off retail. Find lots of rugs, Ephraim Pottery, and more. 279 Madsen Dr., Bloomingdale, 630-924-2070.
-Jan Parr
Christian Chase knows foreclosures. He should—his past seven homes have all been foreclosures that he bought, cleaned up and (except for the one he lives in now) put back on the market.
“To me, it doesn’t make sense to buy something on the retail market when you can buy a [foreclosed home] so far under the market,” Chase says. And these days, deeply discounted distress-sale properties are virtually..
If you’re in the market for stone but aren’t up for a weekend trek to a massive suburban warehouse, check out Studio Stone Design, a 1,500-square-foot outpost of Stone Design (a major Midwest supplier whose Glendale Heights warehouse contains some 14,000 stone slabs). The Lincoln Park location features 120 panels of granite, onyx, and other stones, as well as a virtual warehouse in the form of a 56-by-96-inch HDTV that allows customers to peruse high-resolution photos of the Glendale Heights selection. Studio Stone Design, 1355 W. Concord Pl., 630-858-9658; stone-design.com
Belly Dancing
Bill Kim, Mr. Urbanbelly (3053 N. California Ave.; 773-583-0500), has just signed the lease on a space in Logan Square where he will open Belly Shack (1912 N. Western Ave.), another counter-service Asian BYO. “It’ll be mainly soups, sandwiches, salads, and some sort soft-serve ice cream or yogurt,” says Kim, who promises no overlap with Urbanbelly’s noodles and dumplings. “I want to do Asian- and Latin-inspired. Instead of french fries, yuca fries with a chimichurri dressing or some kind of chimichurri sauce. And maybe a kimchi hot dog.” Prices will top out around $10, and Kim is percolating ideas for the space: “We’re still getting inspiration from Los Angeles and street-inspired graffiti and things like that.” ETA: This fall.
More Posh
Susan Carlson planned for her first business venture, Posh Essentials (658 Central Ave., Highland Park; 847-945-7674, shoppingposh.com), to be a lingerie store. But shortly after opening in mid-April, Carlson, a principal of the company, quickly saw that customers wanted more. “We found that people loved to come in and buy gifts for each other, so we…
