Umbrella Vintage Come for the music, stay for the … shopping? As it turns out, the Salt Shed isn’t just for concerts. In the spring, three resellers teamed up to launch Umbrella Vintage on the grounds of the performance venue that opened last year in the former Morton Salt factory. Offering vintage clothing (1930s to … Read more
Bobcat Goldthwait Here’s one of the first things comedian and filmmaker Bobcat Goldthwait learned when he moved to the western suburbs in 2020 after living in Los Angeles for 35 years: “I’m thin in the Midwest.” Or so he jokes at the beginning of his very funny new comedy album, Soldier for Christ, which he … Read more
Go Brewing This Naperville brewery has already shown it knows how to make a great-tasting nonalcoholic beer — it took gold and silver medals at the Best of Craft Beer Awards. (If you need more proof, just try the mango-peach deliciousness of the Sunshine State Tropical IPA.) Now it’s out to establish another truth: You can have … Read more
Perceptions Theatre While taking a theater business course as an undergrad at Northwestern State University in Louisiana, Myesha-Tiara had an epiphany: “I realized there was a deficit for the students of color in the classroom in getting needed training.” The Baton Rouge native, who moved to Chicago six years ago, founded Perceptions in 2020 with … Read more
Cook County Hospital Museum It was known as Chicago’s palace of medicine, as well as its Ellis Island, for the way it accepted immigrants and others with no alternate means for care. The building that once housed Cook County Hospital was reopened as a Hyatt hotel in 2020, but inside the stunning Beaux-Arts structure, which … Read more
Tri Nohbi “I might heal in due time,” sniffles Tri Nohbi on the breakup dirge “Bad Apples.” That’s very much an open question. Though he sounds slightly inhuman on many of his tracks — supercooled Auto-Tune blankets his vocals like hoarfrost — the 30-year-old South Shore rapper is all flesh and blood and incorrigible heartbreak on his second LP, … Read more
Katlin Michael Bourgeois Having done stints at San Francisco’s Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and DanceWorks Chicago, Katlin Michael Bourgeois comes with an enviable pedigree. Add to that the founding of a dance company in 2018 and a gig as resident choreographer for Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre, and Bourgeois was the perfect … Read more
This Is Chicago It’s fitting that this new weekly podcast begins each episode with the rumble of the L and the ding-dong of its arrival. After all, the show, produced by Stephen Pate and Ashlie Stevens of Supraphonic Studios, feels a bit like eavesdropping on a train. Each seven-minute episode drops you without introduction into … Read more
H2O House’s Scalp Massage The best part of a haircut is the shampoo, right? Now imagine a one-hour luxe version of that. At H2O House, a new spa offering head and foot care, you can have that magical experience — if you can get in, that is. There was a 10-week wait this spring, and with good … Read more
Best new niche bookstores Can’t decide what to read next? Skip the behemoth that sells everything and visit one of these genre-specific bookstores. For comics lovers Howling Pages Most comic book shops offer 80 percent Marvel and DC, with a smattering of indie comics and graphic novels. Alain Park’s store, which opened last year, flips … Read more
