Power Conversion
A live wire of a new club plugs into a familiar River North address
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Street Food
Bayless takes his Mexican manifesto—tortas, caldos, and churros with hot chocolate for all—to the people
Kelly, Meet Kleiner
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…
Dish Flash
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.
Weekend Photos: Dream Grand Opening
On Friday night, the bar formerly known as Krem celebrated its reintroduction as Dream with Cirque du Dream, a grand-opening party stocked with acrobats, contortionists, and plenty of good, old-fashioned drinking. Although the spot got a makeover courtesy of its new owners, the folks behind…
Summer, Part 2: A To-Drink List
The bad news: Summer’s unofficial halfway point, the Fourth of July, has come and gone. The good news: Counting Labor Day, we’ve still got nine weekends of summer drinking to go. The Chaser, for one, plans to make every sip count. Here, the top five bars on my to-drink list—from a few old standbys I’ve yet to see this season to a couple of newbies that deserve another visit:
Weekend Photos: Fireworks at The Terrace at Trump
Talk about a view: On Saturday, our photographer headed up to the new 16th-floor Terrace at Trump to snap folks sipping drinks in the shadow of the Navy Pier fireworks. Suddenly our back porch doesn’t look so chic.
It's Greek to Me
It takes guts to start a business anytime—not to mention in this economy, in a location with a less-than-hopeful track record. So, I had my fingers crossed for 6 Degrees, housed in the Bucktown address that’s greeted and bid farewell to Darwin’s, Chinaski’s, and Whiskey Road. I swung by a little before…
Turning Over a New Leaf
Like Hopleaf, But With More Wine
After a long negotiation, Michael Roper of Hopleaf (5148 N. Clark St.; 773-334-9851) has purchased the La Donna (5146 N. Clark St.; 773-561-9400) property next door to his Andersonville beer haven, which he will turn into a charcuterie/wine-oriented spot with a wood-burning grill. “It’s going to be more straightforward grilled fish and meat and…
Odyssey: Forget The Players—The Food Is on Steroids
Super-sized food has invaded our stadiums. Will monster pretzels and two-foot meatball sandwiches win over the baseball junkies?