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May 2009
Odyssey: Loose Morels
By Rod O’Connor
A rookie joins 250 morel maniacs on a cool spring day in search of all the free gourmet mushrooms he can find. Along the way, he encounters cutthroat competition, poisonous decoys, and one ungodly ugly turkey Read more
Buchanan Arrives!

Looking for some fun this weekend? Head to Buchanan, Michigan, just west of Three Oaks and about an hour-and-a-half drive, where several businesses are opening their storefronts to serve wine and nibbles to celebrate the birth of a revitalized downtown there. Highlights are antiques shops owned by a couple of Chicagoans: Alan Robandt and Thomas Jolly. See our story on the two here. The Buchanan Museum of Fine Art is celebrating its grand opening, too. The party takes place from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, May 23, on Front Street.

—JAN PARR

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The Lost Boy
By Geoffrey Johnson
In 1908, Chicago’s chief of police shot to death a Russian-born Jewish immigrant who had come to the chief’s Lincoln Park home. One hundred years later, Aleksandar Hemon, another European who has made Chicago his home, used that tale as a springboard for his acclaimed novel The Lazarus Project. Hemon followed in the path of several historians who had already taken on that same story—yet despite those combined investigations, the circumstances behind the immigrant’s death remain a mystery Read more
The Rockhouse
Among the selling points listed in the press release for the new rock ’n’ roll bar The Rockhouse, which opened Friday in the old Déjà Vu space, was the staff’s multitude of piercings and tattoos—so many, in fact, “visitors would never know they were in Lincoln Park.” As for us, we’ve seen more small-of-back tats in greater LP than we care to count—not to mention neighborhood rock bars, including the also-newbies Amp and Faith & Whiskey—but we’ll let you be the judge... Read more
Alzheimer's Association Rita Hayworth Gala
May 9, 2009--Princess Yasmin Aga Khan held the first Rita Hayworth Gala in 1985 to honor her mother, actress Rita Hayworth, who died as a result of Alzheimer's disease. Since then, the annual gala has grown into a premier social event that has raised more than $220 million to support medical research and programs in the treatment, prevention, and cure of Alzheimer's disease. This year, Mercedes-Benz debuted two new vehicles on-site, which welcomed guests on display as they entered the Hilton Chicago. Once inside, guests enjoyed an "Evening in Monte Carlo", with complimentary casino gaming, dinner, dancing, and live entertainment by the Roy Vombrack Orchestra. Read more
Sale of the Week: That Yellow House in Old Town
By Dennis Rodkin
Sale Price: $2.375 million
The Property: The bright yellow stucco of this Old Town house makes it look like the kids in the busy play lot across the street attacked the place with their crayons. Built in 1979, when Old Town was a neighborhood for urban pioneers, the house used to have a less showy façade; it was changed during... Read more
Sweet Dreams
 

For the first time in the U.S., Hastens, the luxury bedding company, is putting some of its all-natural, made-by-hand in Sweden beds on sale. The Excel is marked down 23 percent;  the Continental, 26 percent. 430 N. Wells St. and 976 Green bay Rd., Winnetka. Sale starts May 15 and runs through July 1. 

—JAN PARR

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Kindel Furniture Launch at Bedside Manor
May 7, 2009 -- Bedside Manor Ltd celebrated the launch of a new line of furniture at its Lincoln Park location on May 7th. The complete line of Kindel Furniture is now available for sale in all stores. Design aficionados inspired by the current Hollywood Regency aesthetic were charmed by the Dorothy Draper Collection on display. Kindel Furniture is the perfect complement to the fine linens and accessories offered at Bedside Manor. Proudly made in America since 1901, the company is well known for its fine quality and hand craftsmanship. Read more
Winging It

Zoe Ryan, the enthusiastic and talented design curator at the Art Institute of Chicago, gave me a brief tour of the department's new space in the Renzo Piano-designed Modern Wing the other day. She and her colleagues have put together some terrific displays of functional art. I especially loved the exhibit of iconic seating by Ron Arad, Marcel Wanders, Konstantin Grcic, along with lighting by Ingo Mauer, among others (see it 'til January). Along with gorgeous flatware in one case were elegantly simple, reversible drinking glasses by an under-the-radar Chicagoan, Felicia Ferrone (more on her in the next issue of Chicago Home + Garden).

-JAN PARR

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