Top Doctors
by Geoffrey Johnson, with Joanna Topor MacKenzie and Dennis Rodkin
In cooperation with Castle Connolly Medical Ltd., Chicago presents a list of 355 of the area’s best physicians in 56 different medical specialties. In addition, seven doctors weigh in on a wide variety of health issues, and a panel of experts explain how to be a smarter patient.

The Transformers
Our Chicagoans of the Year for 2007 are a champion of the disabled, an African American publisher, a world-renowned chef, a mother who turned loss into hope, a lifesaving animal lover, a kid helping other kids, and a longtime advocate of tolerance and diversity.

Inside Job
by Michael Stone
As a U. of C. grad student, Sudhir Venkatesh talked his way inside a crackdealing gang and befriended its leader. Now, in a new book, he tells of his foray into participatory sociology.

The Smoking Guns
by Robert Loerzel
At the turn of the 20th century, the country’s most famous antismoking crusader was a sharptongued, stern-faced zealot from Chicago who nearly succeeded in achieving a statewide ban on cigarettes. Now, as a new antismoking law takes effect in Illinois, her nearly forgotten story gets a fitting coda.

Fashion: Earth Angel
by Stacey Jones
The beauty of a bride in all white: When the palette is singular, the attributes of the star of the show shine through-those sensual lips, that luxurious hair, the freshness of the bare skin, and those mesmerizing eyes.

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Contributors

Arena

PAGE TWO Who’s backing whom in the Illinois GOP primary; Family Secrets in print ARTS & CULTURE The Blip heads to detox; a sportscaster spoof; sex-starved wives speak up; a documentary about a Northwestern doc; the baddest guitar players from Brazil; last-ditch advice for the CTA SERVICE DESK Planning a wedding? To give you a head start, we tasted the hors d’oeuvres from six top caterers. Plus: Booze markups STYLE Five New Year’s Eve parties, five sure-fire dresses; German-Swiss furniturein River North; one sharp dresser shares his secrets. Plus: Sales Check

Table
A powerhouse opening; Charlie Trotter’s protégés divide and conquer; the hottest restaurants right now; Dutch pancakes rock.

Cheers
by Sarah Preston
Net gain: A new bar opens near the United Center; high society in River North.

Business
by Jonathan Black
When Kraft and California Pizza Kitchen get together to design a new frozen pizza, the taste tests can get intense.

Sports
by Debra Pickett
North Shore Rhythmics, based in Glenview, is the home base of some of the country’s most elite athletes. So, why has no one heard of it?

Deal Estate
by Dennis Rodkin
A Crown comedown, a Blair Hull house, and condo news from Evanston, Dunning, and Chinatown.

Classifieds

The Closer
by Jeff Ruby
All the letters to the magazine that were too good to throw away, now in print.

Chicago Guide®
Your handbook to what’s going on around town. Drinking and reading for cold winter nights; serendipity strikes at Raven Theatre.

Restaurants

The definitive guide to Chicago’s top restaurants. Red velvet drapes and bacon cheeseburgers go hand in hand in the South Loop.