Features

Best New Restaurants
by Dennis Ray Wheaton, Anne Spiselman, and David Novick
Twenty top new spots are bursting with flavor that ranges from down-home to haute cuisine.

Sonic Youth
by Mark Jannot
Seminal punk rocker and record producer Steve Albini may have tarnished his underground credibility by working with rock juggernaut Nirvana, but he’s still the music industry’s icon of conoclasm.

All That Buzz
by Mark Jannot
How three local rock acts beguiled critics and fans, and made Chicago the hippest place on earth.

Cleaning Up
by Edward R. Allen
For years, Streets and San has been an old boys’ club – a playground for thieves, loafers, and hacks – but with Eileen Carey in charge of the department, the party could be over.

Vanishing Act
by Frank Kuznik
He bilked investors out of millions before he disappeared. But have we seen the last of Woody Kelly?

Departments

Letters

Frontlines
Chicago rock critics open their hate-mail bags; a North Shore bar inspires a Saturday-night soap; and survivor Ricky Pueschel starts over, again

Metro
by Greg Hinz
A diagnosis of healthcare campaign cash; terror by taxi; the Trib preaches without practicing; and the World Cup runneth over Chicago

Modern Times
by Marcia Froelke Coburn
After 11 years of covering the private lives of public people, “INC.” columnist Kathy O’Malley is giving up on gossip.

Stage & Screen
by Penelope Mesic
Actor John Malkovich often chooses roles that inspire revulsion. Now he’s dramatizing the life of Lee Harvey Oswald for Steppenwolf Theatre.

Reporter
by Dennis Rodkin
A blown tire set off this lawsuit; exaggerated testimony of military heroics transformed it.

Media
by Paul Engleman
A 60-year-old manuscript about outlaw Joan Dillinger finally surfaces and makes it into print.

Prime Time

Hot dates around town this month

The Goods

by Leah Eskin
It’s time to get lost in the garden and sow the seeds of spring – try out these outdoor delights.

Going Places
by Anne Spiselman and David Novick
Unexpected contrasts and enduring charms are reasons enough to visit Highland Park and Highwood.

Back Talk
by Henry Hanson
Lee Godie, Walter Netsch, Robert Falls, Carol Prins, Jack Star, Ray Nordstrand, Christo, Muriel Newman, Jean Cocteau