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Weekend Photos: Cole's

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What’s halfway between The Whistler’s handcrafted cocktails and hipster ’tude, and Two Way Lounge’s dirt-cheap beer and barroom decorum? Cole’s (2338 N. Milwaukee Ave.; 773-276-5802), a new low-key Logan Square dive just down the block from both, where mostly neighborhood types congregate over mostly…

French Bliss

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The Timeless Allure of the Bistro
Joseph Calabrese (owner of Zia’s Trattoria and veteran of Ambria and Spiaggia) has gone French at Café Touché (6731 N. Northwest Hwy.; 773-775-0909), a block from Zia’s. Calabrese describes the 80-seat spot—designed by his wife—as “a cross between a café in Paris and a French Quarter look in New Orleans.” The menu is straight-up…

Weekend Photos: The Cedar Hotel

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We predict two summer hits: The Cedar Hotel (1112-1114 N. State St.) and its 24-ounce sunny-yellow take-home cups, both of which debuted this weekend in the Gold Coast from the combined minds of the guys behind Manor and The Fifty/50 and the combined patios of the long-dormant but…

Dish Flash

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Quince Adopts a New Motto
Quince at the Homestead (1625 Hinman Ave; Evanston; 847-570-8400), which loses chef Pete Balodimas at the end of the month, has named a pretty darn good replacement: Andy Motto. Motto, 33, was a big shot at Old Town Brasserie and Le Lan, and a smaller shot at The French Laundry, Les Nomades, and Le Français. “I think it will be…

Streeterville Boots Up

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Aqua Man and His Wife

Pelago Ristorante (Raffaello Hotel, 201 E. Delaware Pl.; 312-280-0700), a 60-seat spot slated for a Streeterville boutique hotel, sounds like quite an upscale production. Italian porcelain chandeliers, white leather chairs, a mother-of-pearl fireplace, an aqua vestibule, aqua blue damask banquettes, and three meals a day from Mauro Mafrici (Manhattan’s Lo Scalco), a Trieste native plucked from obscurity by…

Weekend Photos: Luxlounge

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Gold Coasters scored a new spot to sip this weekend, when the neighborhood standby Luxbar launched its new second-floor, Saturday-nights-only hangout, Luxlounge, touted for an all-female staff of servers and DJs. Our photographer—also, we note, a woman—was on the scene…

Last Call

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Just as I was getting comfortable on my stool, the bar closed: This is my last post as The Chaser. I’m moving down South this weekend—following Mr. Chaser to graduate school—and will be, with a mixture of sadness and excitement, trading the Matchbox’s Manhattans (ah, bourbon-soaked cherries!) for something likely involving sweet-tea vodka. I leave you with a list of the bars I’ll be pining for and…