ON THE STREET
Thank you for highlighting Beverly in your April issue [20 Great Towns and Neighborhoods, by Dennis Rodkin]. While there are fewer dining options in Beverly than some other lovely communities, we have several terrific options, including Franconello, Koda Bistro, and Cafe 103. Beverly is one of the best-kept secrets in the city, but we are willing to share our slice of heaven with anyone looking for a great family-oriented community!
Kathleen M. Shannon
Chicago
MAKING THE CUT
When I saw that no album by the Chicago-born artist Common made it onto your [list of the] top 40 best albums by Chicago artists [“Chicago’s Playlist,” Top 40, by Jeff Ruby, April], I was appalled. Without Common’s Can I Borrow a Dollar? or Resurrection, Chicago hip-hop would not have achieved such national acclaim until much later. Groups like the Beatnuts, who were ’90s hip-hop titans in New York, recognized Common’s talent early; they remixed a song off his first album.
All I’m saying is that before Food & Liquor by Lupe Fiasco or The College Dropout by Kanye West, there was Common. That fact needs to receive appropriate regard.
Marshall Lindsey
Chicago
As a native Chicagoan, I was pleased to read “Chicago’s Playlist” and see the name of Herbie Hancock. You had the good sense to avoid Herbie’s jazz/rock/fusion projects and instead chose his seminal acoustic masterpiece, Maiden Voyage. That recording sounds as fresh today as when it was recorded and released on the Blue Note label 45 years ago.
Bill Benjamin
Biltmore Lake, North Carolina
À LA TABLE
The recent “obituary” for Pizzeria Uno [“The Deep Dish I Knew,” Outer Drive, by Jeff Ruby, April] was delightfully tongue-in-cheek, but it marked a significant change in the famous Chicago institution. Penny Pollack also mused on some other bygone-era items [“Chicago Eats Out,” Top 40, May]. However, missing from the list is a longtime Chicago—indeed U.S.—tradition: Best’s Kosher and Sinai 48 Sausage, which Sara Lee Corporation has quietly jettisoned from its ranks, late and unlamented.
Products were available in supermarkets in the Midwest and in a number of local outlets, notably the Pershing Road store. Now Chicago has no major kosher sausage producer. Shame on Sara Lee.
Isaac Abella
Chicago
I just completed reading “Chicago Eats Out” with the list of 40 restaurants that “epitomize Chicago’s impact on the culinary universe.” I was disappointed that one of my all-time favorite restaurants was not on that list.
Before Le Perroquet [#26] there was Jovan (on Huron Street, a few blocks west of Saks). Jovan came first and was a great, great restaurant. I can still taste some of their memorable dishes, including the sole with lobster sauce, along with their fabulous breads. It was not-to-be-missed dining every time we were in Chicago.
Joyce K. Schneiderman
Fox Point, Wisconsin
For more reactions to our top 40 lists, visit Chicagomag.com/top40 and check out the comment threads.
CORRECTIONS
>> “The Sheet” in April’s Arena misstated where Happy Hanky’s products are available. They can be purchased exclusively at HappyHanky.com.
>> The name of the photographer Tom Maday was misspelled in a credit in May’s Arena.