Like the idea of animal hides, dramatic chandeliers, deep shag rugs, dark colors, rough woods, and tribal elements all rolled together in a glamorously sexy way? Call Project Interiors. Aimee Wertepny founded her firm in 2005 and now employs six visionary women to create memorable spaces that their forward-thinking clients love. Wertepny is also highly … Read more
Give a warm welcome to these new neighbors.
Eight Chicago creatives whose feeds deserve your follow
Since 2009, Michael Wollpert, a local trainer with a serious following, has operated a facility for other trainers to use with private clients. In January, he opened this River North studio to bring his effective regimen to the masses: Trainology offers more than 50 classes a week based on the way Wollpert himself trains for … Read more
The Cronut—a croissant-doughnut hybrid—blazed into town with a trademark attached, forcing bakers to crossbreed new pastries instead of copying. Amid the doughssant, the crognet, and the wonut, the doughscuit tops them all. Endgrain’s doughnut wizard, Enoch Simpson, bakes a slightly sour, light biscuit, then deep-fries, glazes, and slices it, filling it with crème fraîche mixed … Read more
Why not turn your front room into a white-cube art gallery, host events for the best local emerging artists, and sell their work to forward-thinking collectors? This living-working situation is practically a Chicago tradition and has been good to Bill Gross, who started 65Grand in 2005 in his West Town apartment. Now operating in a space … Read more
The crowds have eased up a bit since this Ohio import opened in Lake View last September to a line that went out the door and down two blocks. But the buzz has yet to die down for Jeni Britton Bauer’s inventive flavors. The best reward for waiting? The puck-size ice-cream sandwiches made in delicious … Read more
Until last year, the gig situation for contemporary classical music—an emerging form called new music by its practitioners—had groups renting space and lugging their equipment to concerts. But Peter Margasak’s new- and experimental-music series Frequency, started in May 2013 at the Roscoe Village club Constellation, eased logistics and created a gathering place in the process. … Read more
Recently entering the field of restaurant accessories to high-end clothing stores near Michigan Avenue—the Zodiac at Neiman Marcus, Fred’s at Barneys New York, and RL, around the corner from the Ralph Lauren boutique—Sophie’s surges ahead. Quibbles over its odd location next to the men’s department vanish as you enter the civilized but unstuffy dining room … Read more
In March, Christine LaSorda combined her two loves—baking and reading—to create this Wicker Park bakery homage to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Kids will get a kick out of something at every turn here: an indoor tree with leaves made of book pages, teacup light fixtures, jewel-toned chairs that push up to tables with … Read more
