Dining Tidbits
Noodles, Budget Beat, Great Tip
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East Meets West
The ultramodern new Japanese meat stronghold Ajasteak gets its Kobe beef straight from Japan.
5 Great Patios for People Watching
Martini Park, Relax Lounge, The Boundary, Fat Cat Bar & Grill, Eno
Suite View
Stunning cityscapes, posh patrons: Hotel bars go from meek to chic
The Three Kingmakers
Wentz, Westman, Eisler: the proud papas behind the new nightspot Angels & Kings
Doing the Bristol Romp
Monkey See, Monkey Eat
The Bristol, an “affordable artisanal neighborhood eatery and bar” from John Ross (former GM of One Sixtyblue) and a couple of other partners, is coming to Bucktown on September 9th. (We are sworn to secrecy on the location. Soon, readers, soon.) One of his partners, Chris Pandel, is a former sous-chef at Tru and right-hand man to Rick Tramonto; he says nothing on his regular menu at The Bristol will…
Now You C It
Tuesday night I had the chance to check out C-View, the 29th-floor lounge in the Affinia Chicago. The bar is the counterpart to C-House, the hotel’s new restaurant from the James Beard–recognized chef Marcus Samuelsson, but don’t expect his full seafood menu in the lounge—at least, not yet. A staffer told me they’re still trying to figure out how to bus the food from the lobby-level restaurant to the 29th-floor bar. At Tuesday’s media party, just about the only things served were…
Brotherly Love
The stars were aligned.
I’d just about given up on a former neighborhood favorite, Kuma’s Corner. There are only so many times you can hear “45-minute wait” before you gather your dignity and look elsewhere for ridiculously oversized burgers and ear-splitting heavy metal. But last night, signs pointed tentatively to yes: A full day of ominous skies meant the patio crowd might have stayed away, and, if we hustled, we could scoot in a hair before 7 p.m., the hour when all bets are off. Plus, I was…
Tree Huggers
Chop Down the Tree, Plant a New One
Oak Tree Restaurant (900 N. Michigan Ave.; 312-751-1988), a Chicago institution that has held court in the Bloomingdale’s building for 18 years, has closed for three months so the space can be gutted and reintroduced on October 1st as Oak Tree Restaurant & Bakery. “It’s a little tired, design-wise,” says Hale DeMar, the owner. “It’s a very, very sophisticated neighborhood, and we are going to provide a new environment: stylish, urban, cosmopolitan…
Southern: Big Jones
Gumbo ya-ya and mud pie add a modern touch to Big Jones’ menu