Dual Children’s Boutique Arrives on Oak Street

Two-For-One
The European children’s brand Monnalisa (49 E. Oak St.; 312-929-2229, monnalisa.eu) and its sister store L.O.L. Kids (lol-kids.com) recently joined the long list of luxury boutiques on Oak Street...

Read more »

Northwestern Law Prof on Rahm's Prospects Now

Weeks ago, when most people thought that the challenge to Rahm Emanuel’s residency status was a lost cause, Northwestern Law Professor Sam Tenenbaum dissented. He reminded me of that today when I called him for his reaction to the Illinois Appeals Court ruling that Rahm is ineligible to run for mayor because he does not meet the residency requirement of having lived in Chicago for a year prior to...

Read more »

What to Do This Weekend: Embrace the Snow

Fact: Snow has a different personality at night. By day, it’s the sodden, misery-inducing stuff that requires shoveling. By night, it’s winter-wonderlandesque...

Read more »

Weekend Photos: Felix da Housecat @ The Mid

The longtime Chicago-house DJ and producer—and hometown son—Felix da Housecat (that’s him in the tortoiseshell specs and plaid shirt) stepped up Saturday for his inaugural spin on the decks at The Mid, a new West Loop dance club that opened December 30th in the old Mannequin space...

Read more »

Sale of the Week

Winnetka Manor Sells for 43 Times Its 1952 Purchase Price

List Price: $4.9 million
Sale Price: $4.625 million
The Property: The sellers of this English country home in Winnetka got only 88 percent of the $5.2 million that they had originally asked for the place—but that’s still at least 43 times what their parents had paid for it in 1952...

Read more »

Bear Down Boy: Pete Wentz works the room at Angels & Kings’ Hard Rock opening bash

At first glance, I thought the fuzzy bear hood worn by Pete Wentz at last night’s VIP reopening of Angels & Kings in the Hard Rock Hotel—view a photo gallery here—signaled either a transition out of his flat-hair phase or further proof that the fashion industry, and the faux-fur trade in particular, will be taking a truly whimsical turn for spring...

Read more »

VIP Reopening: Angels & Kings @ Hard Rock Hotel

The rock lounge Angels & Kings, formerly of River North, reopened last night to an invite-only crowd in the lobby of the Hard Rock Hotel Chicago. Pete Wentz and his new band, Black Cards, played a short set before posing on the red carpet (that’s him, with what we can only assume are pro-Bears swipes of solidarity greasepaint) then hitting the bar...

Read more »

A Bar for Every Bears Fan: Where to Watch Sunday’s Game Against the Packers

Yesterday, I used a very important communication tool (Facebook) to poll a medium-sized group of people (my Facebook friends) on an extremely pertinent question: Where will you be watching Sunday’s Biggest-Deal Sporting Event of All Time?...

Read more »

On the Market

Bienvenue to the South Loop

List Price: $1,499,900
The Property: This 4,300-square-foot condo on the 19th floor of a century-old building on South Michigan Avenue has expansive views of Grant Park, the skyline, and Lake Michigan—but it is laid out with the convenience of suburban ranch house...

Read more »

Rich and Rahm as Family Men—Some Striking Similarities

Not to take the comparison between Rich Daley and Rahm Emanuel too far—Daley in ballet tights?—but as family men the mayor and his would-be successor share a couple of key traits. When Bill Clinton came to town on Tuesday to tout the talents of his buddy Rahm, and Rahm responded by toasting his former boss, “I could not ask for a better role model than you,” I wondered what Rahm’s wife Amy Rule thought...

Read more »

Greg Biggers, the New Chef at Café des Architectes

Nine Questions for Greg Biggers The new chef at Café des Architectes (Sofitel Chicago Water Tower, 20 E. Chestnut St.; 312-324-4063) is Greg Biggers...

Read more »

Q Tips, Plus Liz Phair’s Weekend Plans

Our top five picks for things to do this week: Four big plays and an exhibition, plus where Liz Phair will be lunching this weekend

Read more »

Weekend Photos: Privét

At 11:30 p.m. on Friday you could almost hear the crystals in Privét’s newly hung chandeliers clinking: Although management successfully completed a rush overhaul of the Gold Coast space that housed Le Passage for nearly a decade, not even they could hasten a fashionably late crowd...

Read more »

Housing Bulletin

Marketing a Vintage House

Sellers of vintage homes may be at a greater disadvantage now than during a healthy real-estate market. Homebuyers today are getting such great deals on new or recent construction—sometimes at rock-bottom foreclosure prices—that they don’t have to bother with taking on a house that needs some updating just to get a better price...

Read more »

New Lifestyle Boutique Arrives in Ukrainian Village

Co-ed Clothing
Autumn and Brian Merritt closed their Lincoln Park boutique—Solemates, a men and women’s clothing and accessories shop—in 2010; but, they did it to focus on their independent lifestyle label...

Read more »

Luis Gutierrez on Why Rahm Emanuel Should Not Be Mayor

As Bill Clinton hits Chicago today to campaign for Rahm Emanuel, Luis Gutierrez, since 1993 the Congressman from the 4th District, is recording a robo call urging Chicagoans to vote for Gery Chico for mayor—and not to vote for Rahm Emanuel. Gutierrez, the loudest voice in the U.S congress for easing up on immigrants, and, for a time, a prospect to...

Read more »