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Just Say Oui

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If, on a map of Wisconsin, you drew one line north from Madison and another west from Green Bay, those lines would intersect, allowing for a degree of artistic license, in Amherst, Wisconsin, home to Central Waters Brewing Company.

Until Memorial Day weekend—the bulk of which I spent shivering at a lakeside campsite in chilly Wisconsin—I’d never heard of Central Waters. For me, the ulterior motive behind any Wisconsin trip is restocking my inventory of New Glarus, the beer that first piqued my curiosity in Midwestern microbrews…

More (More, More) SATC

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No surprise here: Thanks to females showing up en masse (see Estrogen Fest 2008), Carrie’s Manolos crushed Indy’s itty bitty crystal skull this weekend at the box office.

At AMC 600 North Michigan Avenue, former Illinois Film Office director Brenda Sexton, and her business partner, Suzie Glickman, hosted a private screening of Sex and the City on Friday night…with about 250 or so of their gal pals. (Take that, Dr. Jones.)…

Sweet Avenues

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A Star Is Born

Dennis Ray Wheaton, Chicago magazine’s chief dining critic, is set to add a new name to the league of extraordinary chefs in Chicago: Curtis Duffy. Duffy, 32, recently stepped into the huge void left at Avenues (The Peninsula Chicago, 108 E. Superior St.; 312-573-6754) by the departure of Graham Elliot Bowles—a daunting task, even for a veteran of Alinea and Charlie Trotter’s. But it appears Duffy is up to the task. “The meal I had was in the league of [Grant] Achatz and Bowles, and beyond [Homaro] Cantu in brilliance of flavors and old-fashioned refinement,” Wheaton says. “Duffy uses a lot of grains, foams, berries, and you get the true…

Sex and the Windy City

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There are two kinds of people in this world: those giddy with anticipation in advance of Friday’s premiere of Sex and the City: The Movie and those who’d rather poke out their eyeballs with a six-inch stiletto than hear fictional sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw croon “Hellllloooo, lover” on the big screen. Everyone’s in luck! There are plenty of things to do this week, some of which are all about Sex and others that have nothing to do with it. (No shocker here: I fall into the fan camp and have a SATC-themed girls’ night out planned for Friday; more on that next Monday)…

Separating the Schlaf from the Chaff

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You’ve got to love the little guy.

Deep in the heart of Bud country, Schlafly is sticking it to The Man one all-American ale at a time. Launched in 1991 and bearing a subtly audacious tagline, “The Saint Louis Brewery,” the microbrew mecca turns out six no-nonsense beers year round (a pale ale, a pilsner—almost as if the brewmasters were trying to prove simple beer can still taste good), as well as a lengthy roster of more adventurous seasonals, including…

Trumped

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After spending more than a month recuperating from knee surgery, I finally kicked the couch last weekend and hobbled back onto the scene—and I couldn’t have picked a better spot to remind me just how much I love nightlife in Chicago: Rebar. You might have heard of it. It’s that little joint from Trump and his kids in a building they’re putting up along the river. Opened last month, the bar—whose name nods toward the more than 50,000 tons of rebar, or reinforced steel, used in the tower’s construction—is gilded and sceney, with an over-the-top drink menu. In short, it’s everything we want a Trump bar to be…