Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2023 i Chicago magazine

BY IMMERSING HIMSELF IN THE STORIES OF CHICAGO’S far-flung localities, the writer brings to life the cultural and geographic diversity of a major metropolitan area, crafting love letters to the city while also providing a valuable service to Chicago magazine’s readers.” That’s how judges of this year’s National City and Regional Magazine Awards lauded Chicago contributing editor Edward Robert McClelland’s neighborhood series in naming it the best online column. McClelland explored all 77 of the city’s community areas for chicagomag.com — a feat that was as ambitious as it was enlightening. In all, the magazine received 14 nominations this year, including for general excellence, excellence online, and excellence in writing—a trifecta of excellence! Chicago also had finalists for feature story (two, in fact, both by Jake Malooley — one about the…

ANSWERED BY EDWARD ROBERT McCLELLAND In the 1980s, I saw a TV special in which a comedian roamed the streets of Chicago asking passersby: “Do you ever toddle?” The comedian couldn’t find any toddlers. It’s been a century since Chicagoans toddled, but when they did, no city toddled more. The toddle was a partnered dance consisting of a series of hop steps, punctuated by back kicks. Along with the Charleston and the Lindy Hop, it defined the jazz culture of the Roaring Twenties. Chicago, home of Al Capone and Louis Armstrong, roared loudly in the 1920s. In 1921, the local music company Melrose Brothers published “Take It Easy,” which it advertised as “the Toddle Tune from Toddle Town.” That same year, Chicagoans Marie Hollernan and George Offerman were married in…

IF RYAN POLES’S assignment as the Bears’ general manager was to make bold moves, he’s acing the test. Last season, his first, he traded star linebacker Khalil Mack to the Chargers for draft picks. In March, he swapped the Bears’ No. 1 pick to the Panthers for wide receiver D.J. Moore and four picks. That brings us to the topic of wins and losses. The reason Poles had the top pick to deal? The Bears finished last season a league-worst 3–14. Chicago talked to Poles, 37, who spent 13 seasons as a Chiefs scout and executive, about growing up in a football family, sleeping at Halas Hall, and, most importantly, whether the Bears will be any good this season. Q: What are your earliest memories of football? A: My mom sent…

WHEN ALT-ROCKERS Neptune’s Core picked their moniker in 2019, it seemed like a clever and ironic descriptor for their new band: Neptune is a gas planet and thus presumably coreless. Hence, they didn’t “exist.” During a later trip to the Adler Planetarium, however, the group—which comprises two sets of sisters in their midteens, Kaitlin and Jackie Cywinski and Sofie and Hannah Richter—learned that not only does Neptune have a core, but it’s one of the densest objects in the Milky Way. The revelation just made them more confident in the name — and themselves. “Now we own it,” says Sofie, 17, who plays guitar and sings. “We’re dense. We are indestructible. We’re fierce.” Those traits are readily apparent on the band’s latest EP, Called Upon, out August 25 via Side Hustle…

NEARLY 40 YEARS AGO, I arrived in Japan for my first job out of college and mustered the courage to try sushi. I ordered a standard set arranged on a wooden board and ate each piece in turn: fluke, tuna, yellowtail, octopus, shrimp, salmon roe, and, finally, a slab of something yellow and spongy that scared the bejesus out of me. What part of fish anatomy was this? Maw? Later I learned it was simply tamago: sweetened egg omelette, usually reserved for a last bite. By the time I left Japan a couple of years later, sushi was my favorite meal. In the intervening decades, it has become everyone else’s as well. When I wrote a cover story for Chicago last September about the new wave of omakase, it seemed like…

1 LITTLE GOAT DINER Stephanie Izard moved her beloved all-day diner from its West Loop location to this much smaller space, giving it a neighborhoody feel. The menu is pared down some, but staples like the Fat Elvis pancakes and the healthy-ish oatmeal with honey yogurt, strawberry jam, and oat streusel remain. What to order The bacon kimchi biscuit ($12), with bacon jam, a folded egg, and tangy kimchi cream cheese, available 7 to 10 a.m. weekdays at the walkup window 2 GG’S CHICKEN SHOP Lee Wolen took inspiration from dinners with his mom for this family-friendly restaurant, which started out as a pandemic-era virtual offering. It’s become the neighborhood’s go-to carryout joint for tender, well-seasoned rotisserie chicken (available in quarter, half, and whole birds), alongside sides like elotes. Think Boston Market,…

YOU DON’T NOTICE THE GROUND UNTIL SOMEONE points it out. Visiting Bromberek Flagstone in Joliet, I mention to the quarry’s owner, Larry Bromberek, that I expected a vast, yawning chasm, not a flat grayish-white moonscape. Dressed in shades of faded blue—T-shirt, jeans, and a button-down shirt, with dust-covered black shoes—Bromberek, 70, nods and gestures to the north side, then takes me over to an eight-foot-high cross section of the earth. As Interstate 80 grumbles and thrums nearby, he identifies the sundry layers revealed by 30 years of mining. Up top is the overburden, a collection of soil, sand, silt, and grit. Below that are several staggered levels of yellowish rock, a fragment of the Sugar Run dolomite formation that rests beneath the area. It’s commonly known as Joliet-Lemont limestone. Discovered…

Liv Melchers’s three-year-old Able Shoppe put Elgin on the map as a destination for vintage wares and fashion. Now she’s moving her act to West Town, with a pop-up at 1821 West Chicago Avenue through September that’s focused on her favorite things. Midcentury modern decor “One should not be the oldest thing in one’s home. When I’m hunting for midcentury pieces specifically, I like objects made of quality materials such as teak or walnut that do not feel stuck in the 1960s but play well with antiques and modern decor. I love a sleek gooseneck lamp juxtaposed with a primitive stool.” Prints “I’m always looking for moody landscape oil paintings, graphic museum prints, and portraits. Currently I am really excited about oversized abstract paintings. They add great energy.” Vintage clothing…

No. 1 DAWN McKENNA Dawn McKenna Group, Coldwell Banker Should sellers renovate before putting their homes on the market? Professional staging can sometimes improve the house just as much as renovation. SALES ABOVE $40 MILLION ATM Team BHHS Chicago BellaHart Group Dream Town Blackshaw Messel Group Compass Burlington Group @properties Christie’s Buy Sell Love Chicago Team BHHS Chicago Chicago Home Collective Compass ChicagoHome Brokerage Network @properties Christie’s Alice Chin Team Compass Corteam RE/Max C Starr Team @properties Christie’s Scott Curcio Residential Baird & Warner Currey Koertgen Team RE/Max Larysa Domino Group @properties Christie’s Dorger McCarthy Group Keller Williams Foley Group John Greene Fu Group @properties Christie’s Melissa Garcia Team RE/Max Steve Genyk Group Dream Town GK Chicago BHHS Chicago Danny Glick Group @properties Christie’s Hering Homes Team Coldwell Banker JH Group Jameson Sotheby’s…

ALEXA ABAROA OF NAPERVILLE’S DeEtta’s Bakery has a résumé more decorated than her creations (she has won multiple international cake design awards), but concocting a cake for a magazine cover was a new challenge. She went with a pop-art-inspired design to make the words “Best of Chicago” stand out. “I definitely wanted something very eye-catching, very dramatic,” she says. Working from a sketch, she started building the buttercream layers, adding the fondant dots, and stacking the layers using dowels. (The blue drip represents Lake Michigan.) The toppers, including Chicago’s iconic skyscrapers and red stars, took eight-plus hours to make, and placing them was the most stressful part of the whole process. That was done on set to avoid damage during transportation. “They’re more fragile,” Abaroa explains. In the end, Chicago…

1 The AT&T store on the Magnificent Mile will close Aug. 1, following Verizon, Banana Republic, and Gap. The vacancy rate on the city’s fanciest shopping strip is close to 25 percent. 2 Bally’s is opening a temporary casino in the Medinah Temple this summer. It will have gambling there until 2026, when Bally’s finishes its $1.74 billion facility on the site of the Chicago Tribune printing plant in River West. 3 Chance the Rapper will celebrate the 10th anniversary of Acid Rap at the United Center on Aug. 19, with special guest Saba. Is the 30-year-old hip hop star already a legacy act? 4 Aug. 19 to 20 brings the dreaded Air and Water Show to the lakefront — Chicago’s worst weekend of the year. Escape the noise pollution…

Darnell Wright, offensive tackle (first-round pick) “When you go against him, it’s gonna be a long day. He’s super competitive and smart, and the athletic traits are there too. We went to United Center, and there’s video of him crossing over, stepping back and shooting the three, smooth. And he’s 335 pounds.” D.J. Moore, wide receiver (trade from Panthers) “He’s a guy that looks different. There’s been a lot of wild moments since he’s been here [in mini-camps], and that’s what he’s here to do. He can separate, he’s a playmaker, and he’s starting to develop that relationship with the quarterback.” Gervon Dexter Sr., defensive tackle (second-round pick) “He has all the physical traits, and is a really smart football player too. He’s super fast for his size. He’s probably…

> GROWING HOME “It’s an organic farm that’s been in the neighborhood 15 years. In an area that’s deprived of fresh vegetables, home-grown food, it’s refreshing to have them. They have a farmers’ market Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. I like their kale, some of their greens, tomatoes — just a variety of things I can’t get easily.” 1844 W. 59th St. > ENGLEWOOD BRANDED “It’s all local merchandise: sweatshirts, T-shirts that say things like ‘Respect Englewood,’ ‘Honor Englewood,’ things that make you feel good about the community. They’re opening an outdoor corner space near the store called the Englewood Breakroom, where they’ll hold events.” 1546 W. 63rd St. > HAUTE BRATS “We don’t really have any sit-down restaurants, but you can grab chicken, brats, gyros here. The food…

BITTER POPS 3357 N. Lincoln Ave., Lake View Perfect order Pop’s double smash burger, pretzel and beer cheese, Courage lager When it comes to smash burgers, I’m a charred-edges man. Two ultrathin patties, please, each singed around the corners until they flake like South Side burnt ends. Suffice to say, they smash ’em good at Bitter Pops: one part takeout beer emporium, one part family-friendly taproom. There are no froufrou toppings, just grilled onions, American cheese, and a dynamite Dijonnaise, which marries a garlicky aïoli with a sharp mustard. Imagine an elevated patty melt served on a potato bun—only with edges so gloriously brittle you’d swear chef Steve McCrea ironed every one. The code word for the whole menu should be “extra-crispy.” I’d quibble with using whitefish—a mite pungent—for the…

BEST ROLLER-SKATING GURU Myesha McCaskill Sure, Myesha McCaskill is an amazing roller skater (her nickname isn’t SmoothGoddess for nothing) and an expert instructor, whether teaching freestyle or JB, the Chicago variety named for the James Brown music that accompanies its dips, slides, and fancy foot-work. But those labels sell short both her and the classes she offers through her business, Inspired by Favor. Originally, McCaskill, 40, taught in rinks on the South Side, but she resisted limiting herself to the city’s traditional skating set. “I wanted to bridge the gap and make it more diverse,” she says. Two years ago, she added Saturday classes at the Rooted Space in North Center and, not long after, monthly ones at Chicago Athletic Association. McCaskill’s motivational messages of falling safely and getting…

After 21 years of selling her 14-karat gold chains online and at luxury boutiques, Lana Bramlette has opened Lana, a brick-and-mortar store that’s big on sparkle. In mirrored gold cases, you can find her collection, which has evolved over the years to encompass ways to, as she puts it, “dress the whole body,” from body chains to anklets and hand lariats. For fall, she’s introducing dramatic diamond pieces, like earrings that crawl all the way up the ear. A side room is a by-appointment enclave for private showings and customization. “It’s always been my dream to open a store,” says Bramlette, who lives on the North Shore. “What more amazing place to do it than in my own backyard?” 912 Green Bay Rd., Winnetka…

I was the best shortstop in baseball for a little while. A lot of players were making more money than me. I never cared. If you want to make money no matter the cost, you will do stupid stuff that gets you in trouble. Most of my friends I grew up with died or they’re in jail because they wanted to make money. I remember where I came from in Venezuela. I didn’t have money. I didn’t have a house. I didn’t have anything. My parents got divorced when I was 10. I lived in a correctional school for two years. God gave me the opportunity to come to the United States at 16. I didn’t want to go back to what I was. Winning the World Series in 2005…

IN MAY, WHEN THEN-MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT ANNOUNCED PLANS TO HOUSE 250 Venezuelan migrants in the old South Shore High School, she ignited a nativist backlash that sounded like something from a Donald Trump rally. “It is a slap in the face that we as citizens of the United States of America do not have the resources and support, but you’re gonna bring people that are not citizens here in our buildings that we pay taxes for that you took away from us,” South Shore resident Natasha Dunn said outside a public meeting at the school. Inside, a protester waved a “Build the Wall 2024” placard. Dunn is a plaintiff in a lawsuit that has temporarily halted the city’s plans. The suit contends that a 2019 city ordinance to employ the…

NATIVE CALIFORNIAN JINGMAI O’Connor goes full metal in all pursuits, from postdoc research to gym routine and all-organic diet. After earning her Ph.D. at the University of Southern California, the self-described “punk rock paleontologist” spent 10 years in Beijing — a perfect spot for her vocation, considering the vast majority of rare feathered-dinosaur specimens come from Liaoning Province in northeast China. The Field Museum’s associate curator of fossil reptiles since 2020, the Printers Row resident bikes or walks everywhere. As she approaches her 40th birthday in late August, O’Connor recently added “kids’ author” to her CV (November’s When Dinosaurs Conquered the Skies), and she’s now featured in a Field exhibition, The Changing Face of Science, highlighting women and people of color in the profession. IS KICKBOXING YOUR FAVORITE WAY TO EXERCISE?…

AS ONE OF THE MANY PEOPLE who now work remotely, I am always looking for a good spot to tap away at my laptop, a place where I can escape my house now and then for a change of scenery. My current pick? Daisies. Yes, that’s right: The Logan Square Midwest-Italian restaurant has become the best coworking space in town. Consider that, in addition to its pasta-focused dinner, it’s open daily from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. for pastries and coffee, has free Wi-Fi and plenty of electrical plugs, serves draft oat milk lattes, and sets out bottles of water on the bar. But the biggest draw: the exceptional offerings from Leigh Omilinsky, who joined Daisies in December as an executive pastry chef and partner. Her daytime menu includes ham and…

WHEN PUTTING A FRESH SPIN ON THE MANGONADA, PALETA FACTORY’S MANUEL Bucio knew better than to reinvent the wheel. “Mangonadas are a beloved staple of Mexican street food,” he says. “The goal was to preserve the original flavors and ingredients but present them in a way that’s both familiar and novel.” Per his mission, all the dish’s hallmarks — mango tarted up with lime juice, the saltiness and subtle heat of Tajín seasoning, and a lashing of blood-red, sweet-and-sour chamoy sauce — feature in his adaptation, but the ice pop format dials up the refreshment and the fun. PALETA FACTORY’S MANGONADA PALETAS Makes 10 ice pops Active time 10 minutes Total time 4 hours 10 minutes Special equipment 10-cavity covered ice pop mold (available on Amazon), wooden ice pop sticks Chamoy,…

Chris Hytha’s favorite skyscraper is the Carbon & Carbide Building. The photographer lives in Philadelphia but keeps a picture of the Chicago landmark on his bedroom wall. “It’s just mesmerizing,” he says. The 503-foot-high art deco structure is famously topped by a gold-covered cap, but the opulent ornamentation is impossible to fully appreciate from the ground. That was the inspiration behind Hytha’s Highrises series, which shows the tops of skyscrapers from across the country, including many of Chicago’s most renowned, from a rare perspective: straight on. “So many of these details are hundreds of feet up, where you can barely make out the ornate designs,” Hytha says. While studying architecture at Drexel University, Hytha started shooting row houses in Philadelphia, photographing them in a consistent manner to show their variety.…

No. 3 JENA RADNAY @properties Christie’s How should sellers pitch their homes to gain an edge? You want to create an atmosphere and tone for the house in your marketing. I recently listed a house that had a Las Vegas feel, so we leaned into that. You have to think, What’s the personality of the house? What’s the oddest thing you’ve seen thrown in to close a sale? A statue of a puma that had already been sold through the estate sale. We had to negotiate with the person who bought the statue to get it back, but we got it done. What one small thing can turn buyers off? Seeing pet stuff — dog bowls, leashes. I tell people, “You have to live like elves. Leave no trace, or…