Unless your idea of a good New Year’s Eve involves aimless bar-hopping when cabs are scarce and clubs are overcrowded, stop dragging your feet and make your plans already. The events below still had tickets available as of late last week, and folks continue to post New Year’s Eve updates to the comments section of this blog. Get to it, people. And happy 2008…
For Jewish singles, Christmas Eve is one serious party night. Revelry and romance! No work the next day and no family obligations! (One drawback: It’s also a night of dodging exes you met on JDate and thought you’d never see again. Good luck with that.) Whether: a) you’re looking to meet a nice Jewish boy or girl; b) you aren’t into the whole Christmas thing; or c) you just need a night off before all of the family togetherness the following day, one of these December 24th bashes, aka “matzo balls,” should suit your party needs. ‘Tis the season for schmoozing—and possibly meeting someone new to spend New Year’s with…
Way to Go, Grant
Dish adds its best wishes to the growing chorus of food critics and journalists sounding the happy news that, following numerous rounds of aggressive chemotherapy and radiation protocols, the life-threatening cancer faced by Grant Achatz (Alinea, 1723 N. Halsted St.; 312-867-0110) is in remission.
Eat the Macarena
According to John Borras, chef/owner of the three-month-old Macarena Tapas (618 S. Route 59, Naperville; 630-420-8995), Ferran Adrià, father of the techno-chef revolution, accepts exactly 48 participants from the more than 300,000 applications he receives for his annual culinary seminar in Barcelona. Borras was one of…
Delays, refusals, and artful evasions: it’s pretty much the theme of this past weekend’s celebrity beat. Fortunately, a true LGS takes it all in stride—and still manages to turn up a few celebrity morsels. On Friday night, I chatted up Nick Rhodes and John Taylor of the seminal eighties new-wave band Duran Duran before the group’s concert at the Chicago Theatre… PLUS: Lauren and Brody in town
As if we don’t already spend enough on drinking, here comes a new record-breaking bottle, just in time for New Year’s Eve: a three-liter jeroboam of 1995 Dom Pérignon, dipped in white gold, for a whopping $35,000. Only 17 such bottles will be sold in the United States; Chicago’s single example will be housed at Manor—at least until some poor sucker drops the cash to impress a girl. At Tuesday’s media and VIP party for the bottle’s arrival…
Greece Is the Word
Have a taste for revani? Loukoumades? Psaronefri? “You’ve never had Greek food like this, very individualized items,” says Toni Di Meola about the food at her two-week-old Mythos (2030-32 W. Montrose Ave.; 773-334-2000). She and Vicky Zervas—her sister and partner—were born and raised in Athens and they hand-squeeze every lemon and use herbs carried back from Greece by their mother. But the sisters are most proud of the deep fryer that they have never used. “It came with the property, but we pan fry or sauté everything in extra virgin olive oil,” says Di Meola. “We don’t want the smell of the grease.”
BTW: Revani is a semolina flour cake made with 16 eggs; loukoumades are puff balls sprinkled with cinnamon and drizzled with honey; and psaronefri is charcoal-broiled pork tenderloin served with…
Our Last Girl Standing is taking a seat for a couple of days while she gets over a cold. She anticipates a full recovery by Thursday; check back then for the latest from the nightlife front.
It’s crunch time, people. If you haven’t yet started making your New Year’s Eve plans, get to it. Since I first posted about NYE parties in November, notices have been flooding my inbox and this blog’s comments section. Bookmark that page and check back. Or simply decide on a bar, club, or restaurant, visit its Web site, and make your reservations, stat. Keep in mind: Most packages cover eats and drinks until midnight, so if you show up later on, in most instances, you’ll just have to pay for cover and a cash bar (some neighborhood bars don’t even charge a cover)…
Hot off the Grill
“We just wanted to bring Korean food to Old Town, or downtown, because everything else is located up north,” says Okcha McDonald, a partner at three-week-old Red Top Grill (1507 N. Sedgwick St.; 312-981-1775). RTG is in the old Heat space and the former sushi bar is now decked with built-in gas grills for Korean barbecue. All the classics are on hand—bibim bap, bulgogi, galbi, chap chae—and plenty of kimchi. McDonald admits that parking around there is terrible but they are working on valet service and, for now, the place is BYO with no corkage. Not a bad tradeoff for stowing the car a few blocks away.
One Down, Two to Go
As reported here last week, Meritage (2118 N. Damen Ave.; 773-235-6434) will close on January 1st. But even before the owner, Chris Peckat, turns the key for the last time, he plans to launch his next venture, Risqué Café (3419 N. Clark St.), an American smokehouse. While Drew Neimeyer (Peckat’s Meritage chef) bones up on ribs, duck wings, turkey legs, and pulled pork, Peckat keeps busy with the selection of 200 to 300 American craft beers to go with the ’cue. But that’s not all…
Gold Coasters fight for a handful of tables and a chance at gussied-up Southern fare; the Shikami brothers take their modern Asian aesthetic to the Loop.
