Author: michael austin
Valentine Dinner Countdown
This is the first of a week's worth of suggestions on where to take your honey on Valentine's Day. We're talking dinner here.
Suggestion: Spiaggia, 9 [...]
Super Bowl (of pasta) Without the Football
Let's say you're like me and couldn't give a rat's claw about the Super Bowl, even if it is Super Bowl XL, the coolest Roman numeral possible for the [...]
Last Chance New Year's
Here's your last chance until 4705, and you won't hear any more Chinese New Year chatter from me until then. Opera restaurant (312-461-0161), at 1301 [...]
Lion spotted in River North
Well, Happy New Year. As forecasted I spent last night at Big Bowl at 60 E. Ohio popping tasty pot stickers into my mouth, and following those with a [...]
Year of the Dog
Get your resolutions ready because Sunday begins the Chinese New Year. It's the Year of the Dog, 4704. And me, I was just getting used to writing 4703 [...]
Focus, Cub Nation
Cub fans, now would be the time for you to make your way to your beloved Wrigley Field for some prime picture-taking opportunities. The steel framewor [...]
City in the suburbs
Evanston transforms from sleepy burb to mini-metropolis
We are seated at Koi Chinese and sushi restaurant in downtown Evanston, and Andy Warhol's por [...]
Dinner and a ride
There's a great restuarant in Lincoln Park--literally in the park--that deserves your attention, especially at this time of year. It's called North Po [...]
Landmark that lady!
Recognizing just how much of a pillar Lois Weisberg is in our community, the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois is intent on making her a land [...]
Curbside parking in Streeterville
The upscale food market Fox & Obel at 401 E. Illinois St. (312-410-7301) in Streeterville is now offering free valet parking, effectively solving one [...]
The sound of Scottish d'dums
Hyde Park is the setting for a unique drum concert this Sunday, Jan. 22, when Scottish percussionist Colin Currie is featured in "Veni, Veni Emmanuel, [...]
Sake to you
Beginning tonight--tonight--the popular Sake and Sushi 101 class returns to Sushisamba Rio, the stylish River North restaurant at 504 N. Wells St. The [...]
Where you Goin?
And another thing about Suzanne Goin (which is pronounced like "goin' to California"). If you ever go to California, you should eat at her restaurants [...]
Bye-bye, dives
During dinner last night at the West Loop's Blackbird restaurant, a dinner cooked by visiting chef Suzanne Goin, who owns A.O.C. and Lucques in Los An [...]
The Coast is Magnificent
File this one under, "From Pilsen to the Magnificent Mile." Walkabout Theater opens its production of The Coast of Chicago, a stage adaptation of Stua [...]
Geaux Bears!
On Sunday the Bears begin their march toward the Super Bowl, a game they haven't reached in 20 years. Incidentally, that was Super Bowl XX--those NFL [...]
In either Loop, $50 is $50
Anyone who dines at the South Loop's Opera Sunday through Wednesday in January receives a $50 gift certificate to Red Light, chef Jackie Shen's pan-As [...]
Le Deal at Le Lan
The inventive River North restaurant Le Lan, a collaboration between chefs Roland Licciono and Arun Sampanthavivat, is offering a $20.06 two-course me [...]
Old Town, Fit Town
Old Town must be the fittest neighborhood in the city with three full-service gym/spas within a couple of blocks of each other. Obviously there are en [...]
So long, Berghoff
You wouldn't have guessed it by the lines snaking down the sidewalk on West Adams Street lately but The Berghoff Restaurant, a Chicago icon, is closin [...]