Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2024 i Chicago magazine

IT’S STARTLING HOW MUCH HAS CHANGED SINCE THE LAST time Chicago compiled its Power 50 rankings, in 2016. Looking at the top 10 alone from that list: Rahm Emanuel now lives on the other side of the world as the U.S. ambassador to Japan, moneybags Ken Griffin and Bruce Rauner have also left town, Mike Madigan awaits trial on corruption charges, and Rocky Wirtz died last year. The vacuum they left has been filled by a new crop of leaders, some carried to power by the progressive movement that has swept Chicago — a movement they helped spur. A remarkable 37 of the latest Power 50 (page 42) are nowhere to be found on the 2016 list. Ten of the new additions are under 40 years old, two even under 30.…

THE JAMES R. THOMPSON CENTER WAS FOR DECADES DOWNTOWN’S EPICENTER of state government, a home for departments ranging from the governor’s office to a driver services facility. Now the 17-story curved glass tower — an exemplar of postmodern architecture — stands forlornly empty, with signs affixed to its entryways announcing in big red letters: “The Driver Services Facility Has Moved Across the Street.” But come mid-2026, the old haunt is expected to crackle with new vigor as Google opens a second regional headquarters there, expanding beyond its base in Fulton Market (see page 22). On top of bringing along thousands of well-paid employees, Google is sparking hopes of a turnaround of economically distressed—some would say depressed — La Salle Street, which runs along the Thompson Center’s west edge. Once among the…

IN BATMAN BEGINS, the 2005 film in which Chicago stood in for Gotham City, a young Bruce Wayne rides a train resembling the L into the city with his billionaire parents. The car is sleek, clean, and modern. “Gotham’s been good to our family, but the city’s been suffering,” Thomas Wayne says to his son. “People less fortunate than us have been enduring very hard times. So we built a new, cheap public transportation system to unite the city.” Fans of the film know what happens next. The city falls into disrepair, and the public transit system becomes a decrepit and scary mess, one resembling Chicago’s real-life CTA lines — and that’s if the trains show up at all. During this winter’s subzero weather, commuters reported wait times of up to…

FORGING NEW PATHS comes naturally to Sonat Birnecker Hart, cofounder of the renowned craft distillery Koval. With a PhD in German cultural history and post-doctorate in Jewish studies, she taught at Berlin’s prestigious Humboldt-Universität. But when family roots beckoned her back to Chicago, she says, “whiskey was the solution.” She and her husband launched Koval in 2008. Their ambitious plan included lobbying (successfully) to change state laws to permit tours and tastings at their Lake View distillery. The 50-year-old mother of two teens also keeps evolving in terms of how she keeps fit. HITTING THE BRAKES “Finding time to unplug is incredibly important. I was practicing it, on and off, my whole life with Shabbat, but it became essential during the pandemic. Taking Friday night to really be present, make a…

WHEN RODOLFO CUADROS first began dating his wife, he wanted to share his culinary skills with her family. The catch? They were vegan. That forced Cuadros to rethink his relationship with meat and cooking, and it gradually reshaped how he ate: “After years of eating like that, you start to look at vegetables in different ways.” That viewpoint, married with his deep knowledge of Latin American food, influences the restaurants Cuadros has been rapidly opening since 2019, when he debuted Amaru. In 2021, he added Bloom Plant Based Kitchen, followed by Lil Amaru in Time Out Market in 2022. Don Bucio’s Taqueria and Bloom Sushi Counter at XMarket launched in 2023. Amaru (1904 W. North Ave., Bucktown) is not plant based, but it allowed Cuadros to begin creating his take on…

SEASONAL INGREDIENTS LIKE Midwestern rhubarb and exotic citrus have long inspired Chicago’s own Great American Baking Show winner, Martin Sorge. But as his skills flourished, he began exploring beyond the produce department. “I discovered the array of grains and flours that could add flavor to my creations,” he says. “I also discovered Janie’s Mill, a farm and grain mill in Ashkum, Illinois.” On a recent tour there, Sorge was struck by the beauty of a stark black stalk of emmer, an ancient wheat variety with Middle Eastern roots and a nutty earthiness that perfectly complements warm spices, prompting this cozy take on classic carrot cake. MARTIN SORGE’S BLACK EMMER CARROT CAKE Makes 8 to 10 servings Active time 30 minutes Total time 2 hours 30 minutes 3 cups raw pecan halves2…

FOR A GUY WHO CHUGGED A GHOST ENERGY DRINK FOR BREAKFAST, MIKE SATINOVER HAS REMARKABLY STEADY HANDS. They don’t jitter when he places a level, the kind you’d buy at Home Depot, on top of two logs of rolled-up dough sheets, resembling industrial spools of paper towels. Rolling out ramen dough is exacting work. And Satinover won’t trust anyone else at his restaurant to do it — not until he can train someone properly, and that might take months. So with hands as still as a watchmaker’s despite three espresso shots’ worth of caffeine in his bloodstream, he adjusts the rolls of dough until the level’s bubble floats precisely between the center lines. This ensures an even thickness when the machine he feeds the dough into pushes out what will…

LUCY HEWETT HAS PHOTOGRAPHED plenty of food stories for Chicago, but illustrating the intensity of chef Mike Satinover (“The Ramen Lord,” page 56) was a different kind of challenge. “This wasn’t going to be a studio setup with lights,” she says. “We were trying to capture all of Mike’s responsibilities, along with the precision and details that go into making ramen. So I just decided to be his shadow.” She spent the day with him at Akahoshi Ramen, from the morning prep through meal service. While “dancing around the restaurant,” as she puts it, she used two cameras to switch between closer, introspective portraits and wide shots that got at the energy of the place. Days later, Hewett returned — this time as a customer, trying a bowl of Satinover’s signature…

Have you ever shopped for groceries at Jewels? If you have, you’re pronouncing the store’s name wrong. It’s Jewel—short for Jewel Tea Company, the name of the original business that was founded here in 1899. So why do so many Chicagoans add an s? It’s a linguistic phenomenon with stores, especially grocery stores. Kroger, Aldi, and Meijer are commonly referred to as Kroger’s, Aldi’s, and Meijer’s. (Even President Biden said “Meijer’s” on a visit to Michigan. At one time, this would have been correct, since the chain was founded as Meijer’s Thrifty Acres.) According to the economic news site Marketplace, the practice can be traced to the tendency to name businesses after their founders (for instance, Marshall Field’s). Shoppers are so used to associating businesses with individual owners that they…

◼ Scheduled trips in 2019 (prepandemic): 802,331 ◼ Scheduled trips in 2023: 530,924 ◼ Actual trips in 2023:1 454,051 ◼ Trains arriving on time in 2023:2 267,433 1. Trains that completed at least half their route. 2. Trains arriving within a 25 percent window on either side of their scheduled intervals.…

ABOUT A YEAR AGO, HARRISON McEldowney was busy at work on a project in the Maldives. There in his role as senior creative director at the Chicago-based consulting company Wilson Dow, he went online for inspiration and stumbled across a video that kindled some dormant artistic embers. It was footage of Burning Man—but the drone filming the event had crashed to the ground, where partygoers had retrieved it and passed around the still-recording robot. Suddenly, McEldowney, who’d built a celebrated career as a dance choreographer in the 1990s and 2000s before fully transitioning to the corporate world, had an idea. “Everything is through the lens of a camera these days,” he says. “Why not take it one step further?” He immediately texted his friend Mark Howard, founding artistic director of Trinity…

ON THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF THE FIVE-WAY INTERsection of Fuller and Loomis Streets and Archer Avenue in Bridgeport is a prototypical Chicago apartment building. The three-story structure is modest in scale, its bricks various shades of sandy brown and reddish orange, with a series of helix-shaped accents crowning the façade. Today, the structure is nondescript, unassuming: a Chicago apartment complex, nothing more, nothing less. When I first saw the building in August 2020, after my partner and I moved to Bridgeport from the North Side, there was more. On the ground floor, storefront signage — maroon lettering on creamy peach tiles — promised passersby “Ice Cream” and “Drugs,” offerings once made by R.V. Kunka Pharmacy, a neighborhood drugstore. Even though the shop no longer existed, that distinctive lettering — asymmetrical…

◼ Jillian Sassone started reworking heirloom jewelry in her San Diego home as a hobby. Now her baubles have a sparkling new residency in the Gold Coast, the third boutique for her company, Marrow Fine, and first outside of Southern Cal. The art deco–inspired store shines in the engagement- and wedding-ring department with a range of white diamonds, colored gemstones, and even enameled bands with Gothic engraving. Can’t decide? Book a consultation over Champagne in the adjoining Babe Cave, a private salon designed to resemble a hollowed-out ruby. Even if there are no nuptials in your future, you can still get a happily-ever-after feeling shopping the pinkie and birthstone rings. 9 W. Walton St.…

During a shoot for “The Power 50,” Blackhawks principal owner Danny Wirtz’s sweater, embroidered with the team’s logo, caught the eye of Chicago art director Elizabeth Carlisle. “It was very nice,” she says. “Simple and classic.” Carlisle mustered up the courage to ask Wirtz if it was available to purchase. “Oh no,” Wirtz responded. “I had this specifically made.” Now that’s a power move.…

1 The state primary is Mar. 19. On the ballot: Eileen O’Neill Burke versus Clayton Harris III for Cook County state’s attorney, and the mayor-backed Bring Chicago Home, a progressively scaled tax on big-dollar real estate deals to fund homeless services. 2 If you can’t beat ’em, steal their manager. Craig Counsell, whom the Cubs poached from the division rival Brewers by doubling his salary, coaches his first game for the local squad Mar. 28, on the road against the Rangers. 3 Highland Park native Richard Marx will perform at the Auditorium Theatre Mar. 1, but don’t you dare talk during his show. In January, he told a chatty New York fan to “learn some fucking manners.” 4 The next edition of Chicagohenge, the semiannual equinoctial phenomenon in which the setting…

1 MAXWELLS TRADING What Erling Wu-Bower and Josh Tilden, late of the dearly departed Pacific Standard Time, are back with this airy Kinzie Industrial Corridor restaurant. Why Sample Wu-Bower and Christopher Jung’s genre-defying cuisine, like spicy braised lamb pasta with chile crunch or French onion dip with scallion pancakes, while sipping riffs on classic cocktails. Where 1516 W. Carroll Ave., West Loop 2 BISOUS What Inspired by 1960s Paris, the cocktail bar is a sister to Sparrow, the Gold Coast rum bar. Why Mark this pretty, elegant spot down for your next martini date. Where 938 W. Fulton Market, West Loop 3 CARIÑO What Chef Norman Fenton (Brass Heart) helms this fine-dining venture, with tasting menus and a taco omakase. Why Sample an expansive look at Latin flavors (also, tacos are fun). Where 4662 N. Broadway, Uptown…

1 J.B. Pritzker ILLINOIS GOVERNOR Pritzker isn’t just the king of Illinois. When crises hit, he’s shown that he runs the show in Chicago, too. During the pandemic, he preempted local officials, including Mayor Lightfoot, to close restaurants and schools. More recently, when Mayor Johnson attempted to establish a refugee camp in Brighton Park, the state shut it down, saying the land was contaminated. Point, Pritzker. Meanwhile, he has consolidated his power over the state Democratic Party. In 2022, he successfully pushed to get an ally elected party chair. That same year, he gave $5.5 million to Democratic state candidates, helping maintain his party’s supermajorities in both legislative chambers—and guaranteeing their loyalty. He’s used his control over state government to make Illinois a bastion of progressivism. He has aggressively expanded…

◼ All the Peanuts characters felt like real people to me as a kid, almost like my friends. Simply opening one of those old decaying Peanuts paperbacks in my grandparents’ basement felt like going to someone’s house to play. I felt so sorry for Charlie Brown that I made him a valentine, even though I knew he was just a drawing. That Charles Schulz could affect me so deeply with his simple little doodles remains an astonishing artistic summit against which I’m always comparing myself. ◼ No matter what I draw, somehow it always comes out looking slightly more considered and composed than the thing itself, which maybe is the first step towards what we think of as “beauty” in art. Our brains naturally condense experience into a more intense or…