Opening

Young American was one of the most anticipated openings of 2019, and it’s now officially open for business. The bar comes from the team behind Ludlow Liquors (which I also love) and has taken over the space that used to house Johnny’s Grill and Mezcaleria Las Flores.

Morsels

There are a couple of closures to report. The Artist’s Café, a Michigan Avenue stalwart for more than 60 years, has closed. HopCat’s Chicago location in Lincoln Park is now closed — owners told the Trib they picked the “wrong location” and that the chain of beer spots couldn’t make a go of it in Chicago.

It’s a guarantee that anything involving dibs (the controversial practice of capturing your shoveled-out parking space with junk) will get Chicagoans’s blood running, especially in the middle of a harsh few weeks of winter. Goose Island has successfully captured social media by releasing a dibs-themed beer, with cans for those who are pro-dibs and anti-dibs. Both contain the same dark porter, which I guess is good for winter drinking (I can’t think of any other connection between dibs and beer that makes sense to anyone outside the Goose Island marketing team).

Chicago Restaurant Week took a hit from the polar vortex, as almost no one wanted to leave the house and dine in negative 40-degree weather. Given how much money the event creates for Chicago’s restaurants, it’s not a surprise that the promotion has now been extended five extra days to February 12. Make sure to check the Choose Chicago website, since not every restaurant elected to participate.

There are many issues that women face in the culinary industry, and not nearly enough coverage of them. That’s why I enjoyed reading this roundtable on Fooditor: Three superstar culinary women — Christine Cikowski (Honey Butter Fried Chicken), Sandra Holl (Floriole Café and Bakery) and Dana Cree (Pretty Cool Ice Cream) — sat down for a long frank discussion of everything from having kids to dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace.