Openings
Open now: The newest location of Bow Truss Coffee Roasters (1641 W. 18th St., Pilsen) is up and brewing in the buzzy neighborhood.
Open now: No need for a membership to dine at three of the restaurants at Soho House (113-135 N. Green St., West Loop, 312-521-8000): The Allis, a cocktail and coffee lounge with snacks and salads; Pizza East, which uses a ciabatta-style dough for its wood-fired pies; and Chicken Shop, which, shockingly for the city right now, serves rotisserie chickens rather than fried birds.
Thursday, August 14: It’s torta time, Wicker Park. Xoco (1471 N. Milwaukee Ave., no phone) is all ready to move in, and Rick Bayless’s casual café has added a full-service waitstaff, cocktails, and a serious brunch menu (wood-oven French toast with a bacon-pecan sprinkle, anyone?)
Friday, August 15: And more good news for Wicker Parkers: Brobagel (1931 W. North Ave., 773-772-4422), the return to bagelmaking for Piece Brewery and Pizzeria owner Bill Jacobs, will be ready for breakfast starting at 6:30 a.m.
Morsels
Bon Appétit magazine has pulled together their list of 50 nominees for Best New Restaurants across the U.S.. and two Chicago spots made the cut: Nico Osteria (1015 N. Rush St., Gold Coast, 312-994-7100) and Mott St. (1401 N. Ashland Ave., Noble Square, 773-687-9977). Both made our ranking of Best New Restaurants, too, coming in second and eighth, respectively.
In case you missed its debut last weekend, the Green City Market Fulton will be up and running again on Saturday starting at 7 a.m. The second location of the farmers market is set up at a parking lot at 222 N. Halsted St. until 1 p.m., and vendors at this offshoot include Brunkow Cheese, Mint Creek, and Nichols Farm & Orchard.
To pack August with as much as possible, Found (1631 N. Chicago Ave., Evanston, 847-868-8945) has added a slew of weeknight events between now and the end of the month, including a cheese chat with Lisa Futterman of Pastoral on Thursday from 5 to 6:30 p.m. and a Parisian-style flea market with lots of pastis to try from 11:30 to 9 p.m. on August 20. Go to foundkitchen.com for more info on the events.