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September 2009
Shakespeare in the (Lincoln) Park
By Dennis Rodkin
Shakespeare in the (Lincoln) Park
List Price: Unit C-3 — $999,000
List Price: Unit D-1 — $999,000
The Property: These two condos in the building known as the Shakespeare Co-Op have approximately the same floor plan and exactly the same price. But both places have different finishes, most notably in... Read more
Guac, Stock, and Barrel
By Penny Pollack & Jeff Ruby
Quick Hit
We’ve heard the buzz on Chilam Balam (3023 North Broadway; 773-296-6901), a new cash-only Mexican BYO run by Chuy Valencia, an alum of Frontera Grill, but Pollack was skeptical. Especially when the halibut seviche ($9.25) and guacamole and chips ($7.25)—both recommended by the gregarious waiter—arrived in a flash and looked small, especially the guac, even by small-plate standards. Pollack’s upsell alert bell went off, but both were... Read more
Going Grunge
 

Yesterday I blogged about how grain sack upholstery can make an antique chair more casual. But if you want to be really casual, go for patched-up old truck tarps on your cushions, like the ones on this steel and teak Cargo chair by CS Basics which I saw while I was at ABC Carpet & Home last week in New York. At $1,200 a chair, this is the interior design equivalent of really expensive torn denim. Yet there’s something appealing about it. Perhaps it’s that there’s no reason to worry about ruining it—it’s already ruined.

—GINA BAZER

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The Audacity of 'Hope'
Don't-miss picks for 09.16.09 through 09.22.09: Ravinia wraps with a biggie … Thomas Frank weighs in on Kansas … Beer returns for one night only … and in Freebies: Joffrey alfresco, plus Dybek, Kotlowitz, and Baryshnikov sightings Read more
Hejfina Sale, Divine Consign, Home in Color
By Bradley Lincoln
It’s safe to assume that Chicago Art Source Gallery is fond of the figurative and abstract work of local artist Francine Turk—it has devoted a permanent section of the space to an ongoing exhibition of her work, and are celebrating with an opening reception... Read more
Burr Ridge Drops Out of the $1-Million Club
By Dennis Rodkin
Chicago’s annual real estate-charts in its October 2009 issue (which hits newsstands this week) reveal lots of declines in both sale prices and the number of homes sold in 288 Chicago neighborhoods and suburbs. But one decline demands a closer look: what happened in Burr Ridge? That suburb... Read more