STEPHANIE IZARD, INC.: In the two years since the curly-haired Chicago chef won a TV reality show, she has managed to turn her 15 minutes of fame into the launching pad for a celebrity brand. Her $1.5-million, 130-seat restaurant in the West Loop is racing to open next month. Will the crowds come? Read more
Camera Obscura: As the Victorian age gave way to the 20th century, a beautiful young Chicago photographer named Beatrice Tonnesen made her mark with a brilliant idea: using live models in advertisements. But Tonnesen’s pioneering role, like her artfully composed images (which often were usurped by well-known illustrators), faded into history—that is, until an inquisitive collector rescued Tonnesen from obscurity Read more
We asked, and your nominations poured in. Meet our 2010 class of honorees, five eco-minded innovators who aren't afraid to shake up the system Read more
The retired Chicago businessman Louis Susman recently became the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom, an appointment widely regarded as the prize for his ferocious fundraising on behalf of the Obama campaign. Derided by the British press as the “vacuum cleaner,” Susman is only the most prominent example of a continuing—and questionable—American tradition Read more