As if we don't already spend enough on drinking, here comes a new record-breaking bottle, just in time for New Year's Eve: a three-liter jeroboam of 1995 Dom Pérignon, dipped in white gold, for a whopping $35,000. Only 17 such bottles will be sold in the United States; Chicago's single example will be housed at Manor—at least until some poor sucker drops the cash to impress a girl. At Tuesday's media and VIP party for the bottle's arrival...

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As if we don't already spend enough on drinking, here comes a new record-breaking bottle, just in time for New Year's Eve: a three-liter jeroboam of 1995 Dom Pérignon, dipped in white gold, for a whopping $35,000. Only 17 such bottles will be sold in the United States; Chicago's single example will be housed at Manor—at least until some poor sucker drops the cash to impress a girl. At Tuesday's media and VIP party for the bottle's arrival...

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As if we don't already spend enough on drinking, here comes a new record-breaking bottle, just in time for New Year's Eve: a three-liter jeroboam of 1995 Dom Pérignon, dipped in white gold, for a whopping $35,000. Only 17 such bottles will be sold in the United States; Chicago's single example will be housed at Manor—at least until some poor sucker drops the cash to impress a girl. At Tuesday's media and VIP party for the bottle's arrival...

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Gold-plated Bubbly, Celebrities Aplenty

As if we don’t already spend enough on drinking, here comes a new record-breaking bottle, just in time for New Year’s Eve: a three-liter jeroboam of 1995 Dom Pérignon, dipped in white gold, for a whopping $35,000. Only 17 such bottles will be sold in the United States; Chicago’s single example will be housed at Manor—at least until some poor sucker drops the cash to impress a girl. At Tuesday’s media and VIP party for the bottle’s arrival…

Pizza Identity Crisis and Dancing Turkeys

Greece Is the Word
Have a taste for revani? Loukoumades? Psaronefri? “You’ve never had Greek food like this, very individualized items,” says Toni Di Meola about the food at her two-week-old Mythos (2030-32 W. Montrose Ave.; 773-334-2000). She and Vicky Zervas—her sister and partner—were born and raised in Athens and they hand-squeeze every lemon and use herbs carried back from Greece by their mother. But the sisters are most proud of the deep fryer that they have never used. “It came with the property, but we pan fry or sauté everything in extra virgin olive oil,” says Di Meola. “We don’t want the smell of the grease.”

BTW: Revani is a semolina flour cake made with 16 eggs; loukoumades are puff balls sprinkled with cinnamon and drizzled with honey; and psaronefri is charcoal-broiled pork tenderloin served with…

Girl, Interrupted

Our Last Girl Standing is taking a seat for a couple of days while she gets over a cold. She anticipates a full recovery by Thursday; check back then for the latest from the nightlife front.

NYE: The Countdown

It’s crunch time, people. If you haven’t yet started making your New Year’s Eve plans, get to it. Since I first posted about NYE parties in November, notices have been flooding my inbox and this blog’s comments section. Bookmark that page and check back. Or simply decide on a bar, club, or restaurant, visit its Web site, and make your reservations, stat. Keep in mind: Most packages cover eats and drinks until midnight, so if you show up later on, in most instances, you’ll just have to pay for cover and a cash bar (some neighborhood bars don’t even charge a cover)…

Hello, Purgatory; bye-bye, Bubala

Hot off the Grill
“We just wanted to bring Korean food to Old Town, or downtown, because everything else is located up north,” says Okcha McDonald, a partner at three-week-old Red Top Grill (1507 N. Sedgwick St.; 312-981-1775). RTG is in the old Heat space and the former sushi bar is now decked with built-in gas grills for Korean barbecue. All the classics are on hand—bibim bap, bulgogi, galbi, chap chae—and plenty of kimchi. McDonald admits that parking around there is terrible but they are working on valet service and, for now, the place is BYO with no corkage. Not a bad tradeoff for stowing the car a few blocks away. 

One Down, Two to Go
As reported here last week, Meritage (2118 N. Damen Ave.; 773-235-6434) will close on January 1st. But even before the owner, Chris Peckat, turns the key for the last time, he plans to launch his next venture, Risqué Café (3419 N. Clark St.), an American smokehouse. While Drew Neimeyer (Peckat’s Meritage chef) bones up on ribs, duck wings, turkey legs, and pulled pork, Peckat keeps busy with the selection of 200 to 300 American craft beers to go with the ’cue. But that’s not all…

Jews and Brews

Despite the sloshy weather and falling ice, I got back to my roots Saturday night and attended the Heeb magazine storytelling event at the shiny-new Spertus Museum. (Question: How does a sign that reads “Caution: Falling Ice” do anything to keep you from getting hit by said ice? Apparently Krueck + Sexton, the architects behind the magnificent new Spertus facility, didn’t think of everything when they designed those slanted glass panels.)

For those unfamiliar with Heeb, it’s a hip, irreverent magazine for young Jewish types (like me). At Saturday’s storytelling event, part of a nationwide series, comedians and writers got seven minutes…

Scene and Overheard: Thanksgiving Weekend

The Most Creative and Simultaneously Self-Deprecating Birthday Bash Award Goes to … Rockit Ranch’s Arturo Gomez. Upon entering his party last Wednesday at The Underground, every guest was handed a pair of thick, black-plastic eyeglass frames and instructed to wear them throughout the evening, so that everyone resembled the guest of honor, whose ubiquitous Prada specs never leave his face. A roomful of pretty people sporting nerdy glasses? Priceless…. PLUS: quotes & notes, most interesting press release, things to do tonight, more…