Events Newsletters Podcast Subscribe
Events Newsletters
Podcast Subscribe

Ad Categories: Dining & Drinking

Dish Deux: Sky-High Breakfast

by

Breakfast for Two at Sixteen
For the first 15 minutes or so, it was just the two of us, which meant that we were the most fascinating people in the room. The staff kind of hovered. Even though construction of the 92-floor building won’t be finished until summer of 2009, things looked pretty swanky from where we were sitting. Which just happened to be in the River Room, in cerulean blue chairs next to one of the 30-foot-high windows, with a very nice view of the Wrigley Building’s clock tower. It’s a striking space, full of beautiful swirly-grained African wood.

As soon as we sat down, our waiter asked if we wanted freshly squeezed orange juice. Sure. Skinny shooter glasses filled with yummy berry juice came as…

The Concierge Is In: Weekend Update; Bowl Bars

by

I’ve often fantasized about starting my own concierge business. I know that sort of thing flies in cities like Vegas—maybe not so much in Chicago—so instead it’s a service I offer free to friends, friends of friends, and, of course, friends of Last Girl Standing. Want to know what’s going on today, tomorrow, and this weekend, dear nightlife enthusiasts? Keep reading and post your comments below. This is your forum, too.

Last week a loyal LGS reader and newly single friend who’s been out of the nightlife loop for a while charged me with planning a night out for her and another friend, both in their 30s. She sent me this e-mail…

More Red Meat in River North

by

Age Enlightenment

Fred Ramos, a veteran chef who most recently ran the show at Room 21 (and Gioco, Printer’s Row, and Pili.Pili), has signed on with a large-scale steak house in the heart of River North. “It’s going to be a modern steak house—the new hip scene,” says Ramos, who will be competing with nearby beef palaces Keefer’s, Ruth’s Chris, Sullivan’s, and Harry Caray’s. The still-unnamed restaurant, owned by Chicago investors, will have homemade pastas, an ambitious rooftop deck, and its own dry-aging room. (Ramos has been hanging out in a couple of local restaurants to learn dry aging.) Expect a…

Bada Bing, Bada Burlesque

by

Burlesque is nothing new to Chicago; the peekaboo-performance revival has been working its way through local venues for the last several years. What is new to town, though, is Ivan Kane’s Forty Deuce, a troupe with home bases in Hollywood and Vegas that claims boldface names such as George Clooney among its patrons.

This past weekend marked the troupe’s début Chicago run, Thursday through Saturday at the recently reopened Le Passage—an ideal venue, since the subterranean club boasts its own speakeasy vibe…

Deal of the Week—Carlos Zambrano’s New Home

by


List Price: $2.8 million
Sale Price: $2.66 million
The Property: Come spring’s return of the Cubs to Wrigley Field, pitcher Carlos Zambrano will be calling this 13-room, vaguely Prairie-style house his seasonal home. On January 18th, Zambrano closed on his purchase of the three-year-old house, which has six bedrooms, four full and three partial baths, and two fireplaces. Set in Chicago’s Lake View neighborhood on a block that was, until six years ago, industrial property, the 6,700-square-foot house stands on an extra-wide lot: 37.5 feet (the standard city lot is 25 feet wide). The house was designed by…

Rabbit Stew, Guinness Stew, and Pink Ladies

by

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Unlucky Rabbit

Paul Fehribach, the chef-owner of Andersonville’s upcoming Big Jones (5347 N. Clark St.), has a defined focus for his new restaurant, bowing in early April: “It’s contemporary coastal Southern—cuisine from low-country Carolinas—a little bit of Florida and Caribbean,” he says. “And a lot of Cajun and Creole, more of the urban Louisiana cuisines.” Fehribach, an Indiana native who created the recipes for the Hi Ricky noodle chain during his lengthy stint with the company—and learned to appreciate Southern food during five years in the kitchen at Harmony Grill (3159 N. Southport Ave.; 773-525-2508)—will bake his own bread, brew his own Worcestershire, and make some of his own cheeses. Also, look for a menu of classic prewar cocktails like pink ladies and…

Dish FLASH—New Avenues

by

Graham Elliot Bowles, the supremely talented four-star chef at Avenues (Peninsula Chicago, 108 E. Superior St.; 312-573-6754) for the past four years, is leaving to open Graham Elliot in the former Harvest on Huron space at 217 West Huron Street. “The idea is to do four-star cuisine in a completely different atmosphere,” says Bowles. “I’m doing away with linen and florals and the silver and the crystal and making the space as reflective of the chef as possible. Instead of fine dining I think of it as ‘redefined dining,’ in the bistronomic sense of the word. To just be humble and serve the food we believe in.” Like what? “Dishes such as aged Cheddar risotto with Pabst-braised onions, smoked bacon, green apples, and Cheez-Its,” Bowles says. “And there’s going to be a bar and lounge element focusing on the art of mixology and handcrafted cocktails like a deconstructed Bloody Mary with horseradish sorbet, jellied vodka, Tabasco bubbles, and celery salt.” Bowles will bring…

Face to Facebook

by

I consider myself to be something of an early adopter, but there’s one party I’ve come to late: Facebook. The social networking site launched in 2004, but I only caved to friends’ endless urging and joined about two weeks ago (another latecomer: Chicago senior editor Jeff Ruby; see his hilarious attempt at a Facebook profile). And now, here I am: a true convert, posting messages to The Boyfriend to ask when he’s bringing dinner over. It helped that I read in the February issue of Entrepreneur magazine that more than half of Facebook’s 60 million uses are over the age of 25. That’s my demographic, whether I like it or not.

Some folks use the site mostly to connect with old friends—and I did hear from my long-lost eighth-grade boyfriend, who recently relocated to Israel—but I’m an even bigger fan of the “groups” and “events” functions. Users can alert friends and friends of friends about parties they’re hosting, making Evite a thing of…