By Amalie Drury
Want a table at the Melman brothers’ hot spot above Paris Club? Bottle service is the only way to ensure it Read more
Amalie Drury
By Amalie Drury
When I first saw an announcement heralding the debut of the Bravo Zulu Lounge at this year’s Chicago Air and Water Show—officially my favorite weekend of summer; is anyone else already shivering over these practice flybys?—I didn’t get it... Read more
By Amalie Drury
If you ever dined at Jerry Kleiner’s South Loop restaurant Opera, the building’s new occupant, The Scout Waterhouse + Kitchen, is bound to give you a serious jolt of culture shock. The interior of The Scout, which is in soft-opening mode now in advance of its grand opening on August 19, is done in a style I’d call post-Kleiner: nary an inch of velvet, an ounce of wrought iron, or a dash of primary color anywhere in sight... Read more
By Amalie Drury
Much to my mother’s chagrin, I am a sometime passenger on the back of The Creative Director’s motorcycle, so I was heartened last night to find a row of hogs parked outside my destination: The Garage, a brand new bar in the Gladstone/Jefferson Park area, just a few blocks south of Superdawg. “These are my people,” I thought, having barely recovered from a numb posterior brought on by last weekend’s cruise to summer camp in Elkhorn, Wisconsin... Read more
By Amalie Drury
As of two weeks ago, Patrick Fegan was predicting an August 1 opening for his in-the-works West Loop pub, Paddy O’Fegan’s (not actually named after himself; read the legend here). But when I stopped by yesterday afternoon to check in on the bar’s progress, the general manager Cathy McDonagh delivered an all-too-familiar update... Read more
By Amalie Drury
Attention, beer geeks: You now have yet another reason to head north. Just a few blocks from Half Acre Beer Co. and not so far from Metropolitan Brewing, the friends and business partners Jared Saunders and Whit Nelson are opening Brew Camp, their temple to homebrewing tucked into a cozy North Center storefront, today... Read more
By Amalie Drury
My friend Joan, recently back from a vacation in Cuba, messaged me on Facebook last week: “Amalie—serious work-related question. Where can I find a good frozen daiquiri in Chicago? We had so many good ones on our trip, but it seems every place here tells me they don’t have a blender!” The first thing that came to mind... Read more
By Amalie Drury
I swear I saw rock stars at Cirque du Soleil last night. There they were, slouching around under the big top in their faded black skinny jeans, cool bed-head haircuts, and rumpled vests over V-neck tees. As we sipped $8.50 Bud Lights during intermission, I jabbed The Creative Director in the shoulder and pointed: “Look! I bet they’re here for Pitchfork... Read more
By Amalie Drury
Cutting calories and carbs has been my mission in June and July, but that’s no easy feat when you write about bars for a living—and also when every summer weekend devolves into a giddy, three-day festival of beer and encased meats... Read more
By Amalie Drury
OUT OF THE VAULT: Want to get a seat at Wicker Park's new bank-turned-bar? Go on a Thursday. Read more