Elbow to Elbow
Macaroni and cheese smackdown!
Ad Categories: Dining & Drinking
5 Fresh Bars for Fall
The Bamboo Room Schaumburg, The Boundary, Climax, Rockwell Lounge, Paramount Room
All Shook Up
At Martini Park, Planet Hollywood meets Las Vegas meets lounge chic.
15 Minutes with … Kelli Zink
Who: Kelli Zink, 27, Chicago by way of Detroit
Job: Host and reporter, CelebTV.com
Status: Super single—”typical young professional girl who doesn’t have time for a guy, blah, blah, blah.”
Neighborhood: Gold Coast
After attending Michigan State University, where she was a Spartan cheerleader for two years, Kelli Zink started anchoring in South Bend, Indiana, covering local and national sports. In 2003 she moved to L.A. to help launch the NFL Network as a producer. “It was the kind of job that people automatically assume you’re cool and you’re into sports…
Have Smoker, Will Travel
7 Questions for Willie Wagner, the self-taught pitmaster/owner at Pilsen’s new 60-seat BYO, Honky Tonk Barbeque (1213 W. 18th St.; 312-226-7427)
D: How did you get into barbecue?
WW: I was a salesman for 18 years and got tired of it. Always had fun throwing parties and cooking for my friends, so I started a mobile barbecue business, and did some catering, too. Got a really good response, and it just grew into this spot…
Celebrity Beat: Keeping up with Kim Kardashian
L.A. socialite and one-time Paris Hilton sidekick Kim Kardashian came to town this past weekend to host Poparazzi Friday at Crobar. The event meant Kim got a night off from filming her reality-TV show, Keeping up with the Kardashians, which premieres October 14th on E! The show follows the lives of Kim and her nine siblings: Kim’s dad was the late O. J. defense attorney Robert Kardashian; her mom, Kris, is now married to Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner; between them, Kris and Bruce ride herd over a Brady Bunch-style brood (including MTV’s The Hills heartthrob Brody Jenner)…
Second Chance
Il Covo, a Bucktown Italian spot left for dead six months ago, gets a new shot of energy, Sardinian-style; Anteprima, a smooth new trattoria with a casual vibe, causes traffic jams in Andersonville.
Dining Tidbits
Upscale & BYO, Southern Charm, Hangout, Budget Beat
Celebrity Beat: The Rich Get Richer
Check out The Underground’s Web site, and you’ll find nearly endless photos of musicians who’ve dropped by and hopped on the club’s mike; both Kanye and John Mayer visited over the summer. Add to that growing roster Chicago’s own Common, who popped in last Thursday after his concert with Joss Stone at Charter One Pavilion…
Lettuce Serve You Pizza
Cool Mo.Di
The bar at Osteria Via Stato (620 N. State St.; 312-642-8450) is going bye-bye this fall, and in its place will be the Roman-style Pizzeria Mo.Di, outfitted with a gas oven. “I didn’t want to do what everybody else was doing,” says Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises chairman Richard Melman. “We don’t have to use wood to make great pizza. You need temperature.” Mo.Di’s recipe is based on a pizza in Rome that his team fell in love with a few years back, which he describes as “traditional, crustier than Neapolitan, yet light. Some of the pizzas will sport tomato sauce, others even more traditional San Marzano tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella. It’s what I love in pizza…