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Ad Categories: City Life

Best Men's Hat Store

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Blessedly, some things never change: Optimo’s master hatters still craft fedoras, top hats, derbies, and porkpies by hand and with a vintage sewing machine, attracting loyal customers such as Jay-Z, Johnny Depp, and Jack White. Prices range from $395 for an off-the-shelf Milan straw hat to several thousand for a custom topper.

Best Sailing Class

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Even if your style leans more Popeye than Kennedy, you’ll feel welcome at this unpretentious downtown yacht club. Other sailing schools might possess one of the following key qualities, but Columbia claims all three: first-rate, U.S. Sailing–­certified instructors; a diverse fleet of boats, including easy-to-maneuver J/22s and 420s; and a kick-ass clubhouse (the 7,000-ton icebreaker … Read more

Best Art Class

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It’s not every day that a neighborhood art center offers one-on-one instruction with a rising star. Rodrigo Lara won Mexico’s National Prize of Visual Arts for sculpture in 2010 with a work depicting a tree sprouting ceramic hands in place of leaves. Fittingly, the first assignment in his 10-week class ($305) is to make—what else—a … Read more

Best Dog Groomer

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Owner Jennifer Bishop-Jenkins—one of the first certified master groomers in the nation—combines nearly four decades of experience and a gentle touch to treat your pup to what’s likely to be the best do of his life. A favorite of pet parents and vets on the North Shore and beyond, Bishop-Jenkins knows her way around all … Read more

Best Portrait Painter

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This Chinese-born artist has been doing impressionistic oil portraits in Chicago for a dozen years. Don’t bother emailing a photo—Qian won’t paint from it. She requires at least six hours of live posing in her Bridgeport studio. “She is a master in painting the richness of the colors of the skin,” says Patric McCoy, a … Read more

Best Car Service

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Whether you want a chauffeured stretch to impress your rich uncle or just a ­hassle-free ride from the Loop to O’Hare ($75), this reliable car service offers the best variety of wheels for the buck, says local event planner Anthony Navarro of Liven It Up Events. (Other fans include the Chicago Fire, the Cubs, and … Read more

Best Art Restorer

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When an expensive porcelain vase owned by Gary Metzner broke, the Sotheby’s senior vice president brought it here, to the largest art conservation facility in the nation. He calls the 32-year-old company a “one-stop shop”: It employs specialists in paintings, drawings, furniture, gilded frames, textiles, and much more.

Best Framer

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The biggest difference between this frame shop and others may be its staff. Everyone touching your heirloom photograph, print, or other 2D treasure has been or still is a gallerist or artist and likely has more than a decade of framing experience. The skill of its people, combined with their patient advice regardless of your … Read more

Best Watch Repair

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Kent Mikolite, the proprietor of this Jewelers Row shop, is one of only two people in the city certified as a master watchmaker by the American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute. Rolex chronographs, Vulcain Crickets with mechanical alarms, ultrahigh-­frequency Bulova Precisionists—he knows them all. Mikolite charges $600 or so for the typical Rolex repair—including an inside-out, ultrasonic cleaning—but … Read more