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I was on vacation last week in Three Oaks, Michigan, where I always make a point to stop at Ipso Facto, a great antique/salvage shop that Larry Vodak says was his inspiration for starting Scout in Andersonville. Ipso’s owner, Brandon Nelson, a transplanted Chicagoan, stocks a cool mix of odd Americana pieces, art, sculptural objects, and retro furniture. It’s just an hour or so drive from Chicago—a great day trip.
—JAN PARR
Read moreTuesday night I had the chance to check out C-View, the 29th-floor lounge in the Affinia Chicago. The bar is the counterpart to C-House, the hotel's new restaurant from the James Beard–recognized chef Marcus Samuelsson, but don't expect his full seafood menu in the lounge—at least, not yet. A staffer told me they're still trying to figure out how to bus the food from the lobby-level restaurant to the 29th-floor bar. At Tuesday's media party, just about the only things served were...
Read moreThe stars were aligned.
I'd just about given up on a former neighborhood favorite, Kuma's Corner. There are only so many times you can hear "45-minute wait" before you gather your dignity and look elsewhere for ridiculously oversized burgers and ear-splitting heavy metal. But last night, signs pointed tentatively to yes: A full day of ominous skies meant the patio crowd might have stayed away, and, if we hustled, we could scoot in a hair before 7 p.m., the hour when all bets are off. Plus, I was...
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