The Property: This 15-room Gold Coast townhouse has an ornate limestone façade, though not much vintage detail left inside. But what the interior lacks in period finishes, it makes up for with lots of room (8,100 square feet) and natural light—the latter courtesy of the driveway-wide private space that separates this place from its neighbor to the immediate south. There are also lovely old plaster moldings (now painted over), high ceilings, five fireplaces—and, half a block away, the lawns and gardens at the south end of Lincoln Park...
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By Penny Pollack & Jeff Ruby
Jacky’s Back
In January, Jacky Pluton, who flirted with four stars at Pluton a couple of years back, plans to open a traditional brasserie called Haussmann in the space that once housed MK North and Brasserie T (305 S. Happ Rd.; Northfield). “It will be a Chicago brasserie with Parisian flair,” says Pluton. “Some very rustic dishes, but some dishes will have more of a 2008 feel. We will do a lot of tableside, from rib eye for two to Dover sole to roasted chicken for two. And every day, we will have a baked fish in clay.” The restaurant, named for Baron Haussmann (a 19th-century French legend who rebuilt Paris under Napoleon III), is the latest attempt to succeed in a familiar address. “I think it is one of the best spaces in the North Shore,” says Pluton. “No one took advantage of it before. And I will be honest: I think...
By Penny Pollack & Jeff Ruby
Trotter to the Moon
By now, you’ve probably read about the $5,000 all-star chef blowout dinner at Charlie Trotter’s (816 W. Armitage Ave.; 773-248-6228) on October 7th to raise funds for Trotter's Cullinary Education Foundation and to celebrate the restaurant’s 20th anniversary. Pollack attended the event, in deep disguise, and like everyone else, she was blown away by the food and the passion contained within the walls of the restaurant, courtesy of world-class chefs Ferran Adrià, Heston Blumenthal, Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud, Tetsuya Wakuda, Pierre Hermé, David Myers, and Trotter himself. (Thank God no culinary terrorist decided to target Lincoln Park that night.) She also recorded every chef’s speech, which included the obligatory...
By Christine Newman
The architectural photographer Barbara Karant turns her camera on her house in Bucktown—and on her rescued greyhounds. Read more
By Penny Pollack & Jeff Ruby
7 Questions for Willie Wagner, the self-taught pitmaster/owner at Pilsen’s new 60-seat BYO, Honky Tonk Barbeque (1213 W. 18th St.; 312-226-7427)
D: How did you get into barbecue?
WW: I was a salesman for 18 years and got tired of it. Always had fun throwing parties and cooking for my friends, so I started a mobile barbecue business, and did some catering, too. Got a really good response, and it just grew into this spot...
By Dennis Rodkin
As Chicago's real-estate market began to experience the big chill, homeowners worried that this was the beginning of the next ice age. But as our annual house survey demonstrates, there were a few bright spots in a year that was more frustrating than desperate. Read more
By Rebecca Little
Stranger than Fiction
A lot of plays are hyped as “smart”; few live up to the promise. But Fiction—a story that, from a lesser playwright, could have been a sappy Lifetime movie—makes the cut, thanks to Steven Dietz’s witty repartee and highly literate characters. The story follows a pair of married novelists who, when they find out the wife has a few weeks to live, decide to share their diaries and lay bare the secrets of their lives. Previews run Friday the 28th and Saturday the 29th at 7:30 p.m., Sunday the 30th...
By Dennis Rodkin
Chicago's annual survey of high-end house sales reveals a rare downturn in volume Read more
By Rebecca Little
Once an open roost for gangs, Division Street has achieved near total turnaround with a retail strip that shows little sign of slowing down. Read more