Shell Games
From mussels steeped in vindaloo sauce to a classic marinière, there’s a prep for every palate. We scoured the area for unusually good ones, and found five places that dazzled—including one we liked best of all.
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Dining Tidbits
Alla Famiglia, Italian, Fondue, Budget Beat
Bench Marks
A rant on rotten seating
Sugar Shock
You Gotta Like . . . . . . a little place like Bien Trucha Restaurante (410 W. State St., Geneva; 630-232-2665). The month-old BYO from Ricardo García-Rubio, who ran Tia Maria’s in Geneva for 20 years, has room for no more than 15 customers at a time, and does everything made-to-order. “Our specialty is … Read more
Ale Raisers: Best New Bars & Clubs
Where to do your drinking now: our picks for the city’s hottest new spots
Drinking at Work
How do you perk up a dull Tuesday? Drink at work!
Luckily, I have a new acquaintance: Gabriel Magliaro, who, with some friends, has started a new Chicago beer company, Half Acre. Their first beer—a tomcat-colored lager that is brewed in Black River Falls, Wisconsin—just landed at Pint, Rodan, Jerry’s 2, and several other bars in Wicker Park. I was intrigued when Gabriel called me about it; I mean, how many local beers are there? For a city this size, there is a dearth of homegrown ale. Business idea, people!
Celebrity Beat: Carmen Electra
Carmen Electra made a local stop Saturday to host RedHot Midnight Kiss, an event benefiting the West Side homeless shelter Primo Center for Women and Children, at the just-opened club Bon V (1100 W. Randolph St.).
It was a commendable cause—the 27-year-old Primo keeps mothers and children together, and helps its clients locate permanent housing—but it was the night’s sexy host who catapulted attendance…
I Love the Seventies
Love them or hate them, concept bars—watering holes that serve up a gimmick with that shot and a beer—just keep on coming. The latest example, and my new favorite, is the Reagle Beagle, located on Grand just off the Mag Mile. If the bar’s name doesn’t resonate with you, then you were either born after the mid-eighties or never had an affinity for Chrissy Snow’s ample assets (hello, Three’s Company). Who hasn’t wanted to hang out at the Beagle with Jack Tripper and his rotating cast of sexy co-stars?
New on the Market-Lake Forest’s House of Mosaics
List Price: $7.5 million The Property: Every exterior wall of this 9,000-square-foot house in Lake Forest is covered in pebble mosaics, all the way to the top of its three-story tower. The mosaics-some that date from the house’s origins in 1882, and others from latter-day additions-depict hummingbirds, vines, family members’ names, and cabbage roses. At … Read more
Brasserie Ruhlmann Calls in the Big Guns
New York’s Loss . . . Dish has learned that the chef at Brasserie Ruhlmann, the offshoot of a classic NYC brasserie/raw bar opening opposite Japonais (600 W. Chicago Ave.; 312-822-9600) in early October, will be Christian Delouvrier. A native of Gascony, Delouvrier is a veteran of New York standouts such as Alain Ducasse at … Read more