Features

Breakthrough Medicine
by Dennis Rodkin
Because its world-renowned teaching hospitals regularly attract scores of talented doctors and scientists, Chicago stands in the front ranks of medical innovation. Here are some of the latest cutting-edge advances and treatments related to breast cancer, the brain, prostate surgery, bionic limbs, the heart, minimally invasive hip and knee surgery, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, and other significant ailments.

City Lights
Introducing our Chicagoans of the Year for 2006: a miraculous MD, two dancers fighting AIDS, a Pilsen powerhouse, a tuneful trooper, a night minister, a seeker of African American histories, and two men who use food to introduce kids to the common threads in the world’s cultures

Party
by Marcia Froelke Coburn
hearty Former actors turned chefs Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh, a.k.a. the Hearty Boys, have been dishing it out to Chicagoans for nearly ten years. Now they’re making it big on the Food Network with well-loved retro favorites.

Heavy Mettle
by Bob LeGere
If the Chicago Bears are to advance deep into the postseason, they will owe serious credit to their wall of flesh: the underappreciated but impossible-to-miss behemoths of the offensive and defensive lines. Call them the incredible bulk.

Fashion: Her Own Woman
and One-Of-A-Kind Weddings
by Stacey Jones
By design now, celebrations are singular sensations, and more couples are choosing the personal touch of the custom made.

Departments

Letters

Contributors

Arena
Could rising divo Joseph Kaiser croon his way to Cannes?; five extreme sports that don’t require a trip to Aspen; Bridgette McCullough talks race and fine art; the deal with HomeMade Pizza; gin and vodka smackdown!; pucker up-our favorite lip balms; Victoria Lautman interviews bad boy of Brit lit Martin Amis. Plus: Stylish ways to ring in 2007, from little black dresses made by local designers to sparkling accessories that will light up your night

Sports
by David Murray
After graduating from Harvard, Tom Chambers took a job in Chicago as an actuary. Then he chucked it all to make his living playing online poker. Will a new law mean it’s game over for him and other computer players?

Politics
by David Bernstein
Rev. Jesse Jackson’s fight for justice began in 1960, when he was jailed for trying to use the public library in his hometown, Greenville, South Carolina. Soon afterwards, he joined Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s battle for civil rights. Forty years later, he is still soldiering on. Jackson chats with Chicago about his life and career.

Four | One | One
With the business affairs of the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times making headlines of late, we look back at the city’s rough-and-tumble newspaper tradition. Plus: The cost of electricity and gas this winter; and the annotated Baha’i Temple

Deal Estate
by Dennis Rodkin
Three real-estate agents make their best (hypothetical) offers on a Lincoln Park condo with a stylish interior and a terrific view. Plus: House and condo news from Glenview, Old Town, Vernon Hills, and the Near West Side

Nightspotting
by Sarah Preston
Where’s a girl to go in Wicker Park these days? Empire Liquors, now that a local impresario-in-the-making has brought his brand to the ‘hood.

Classifieds

The Closer
by Jeff Ruby
Shove over, Super Bowl Shufflers. Even if the current Bears roster lacks star wattage, the players still deserve a theme song. We write the lyrics.

Events

Chicago Guide®
During January:
The skating theatre of ISH opens 4-ISH, its show at the Harris Theater that’s got all the action but not the violence of a Hollywood movie. A contingent from Amsterdam, Netherlands, ISH skateboards, Rollerblades, break dances, and just never stops moving. The show takes as its starting point a geek with flying dreadlocks who’s trying to learn the art of skating. A hip-hop DJ provides music for the show, which also includes a roller disco spoof and a beautiful opening number. For kids nine and up.
Marquee: A preview of coming attractions

Food & Drink

Dining Out
by Dennis Ray Wheaton
Two new Asian stunners are even more shocking due to one unlikely factor: no one’s ever heard of them.

Restaurants
The definitive guide to Chicago’s top restaurants
This Month: An ambitious new hot dog joint; new and updated listings
Dish: The hottest restaurants right now; gossip; Chefs on the Grill: a chat with Debra Sharpe of The Goddess and Grocer fame about cooking for rock stars and other perils