Results tagged “timeoutchicago”

Time Out Chicago's David Tamarkin tries to write a humorous piece about our obsession with bacon — he thinks it's much ado about nothing — but comes across sounding like Clint Eastwood in "Gran Torino." Thanks, David. You just gave us an excuse to run another shot of our recent pantry meat experiment. [TOC]

• The Parking Ticket Geek has coverage from today's City Hall Parking Meter protest.
• The Harold Ickes Homes are coming down and Chi-Town Daily News has a great story on it. [via Gapers Block]
• Brown Line riders rejoice! Another stop is finally reopening; this time, it's the Wellington stop which has been closed for 16 months.
• The Sun-Times brings us the bizarre story of the sorority, the former Chicago Housing Authority comptroller, and the $900,000 wax statue.

The Golden Globes and the Oscars may have come and gone, but awards season is still going. The League of Chicago Theatres gave out the 2009 Broadway in Chicago Emerging Theater Award to Rogers Park-based theater company, the side project, on April 1. While the mere giving of the award didn’t perk our news-gathering ears, the side project’s upcoming show The Rocks has us intrigued, partly due to the vague description on the website - "20-somethings talk about…stuff." Chicago Dramatists’ Resident Playwright Mark A. Young wrote the play as a follow-up to his successful New Orleans at the same company in 2006. The show is in repertory with The Bird Sanctuary, by award-winning playwright Lynne McMahon. (This show’s descriptions starts with “50-somethings”….the juxtaposition already has us excited/nervous.)

We attended the Time Out Chicago Eat Out Awards last night at the Cultural Center. Man, that Tiffany dome looks great. Kicked off by host Stephanie Izard, the awards began with the Critics' picks before finishing the night with the readers' choices. We sat at a table next to Martial Noguier and his wife and boy, talk about a couple in love. They exchanged a sweet kiss between smiles and applause. Pretty cute.

Every blog out there has jumped on yesterday's press release from Mambo Grill, which announced that it was temporarily closing and laying off 75 percent of its staff at the end of the month while building out a new location at 410 N. Wells. This comes hot on the heels of Time Out Chicago reporting the demise of Harry's Hot Dogs (the building housing Harry's is being razed to make way for a park) and Rockstar Dogs (another "he shoots and misses badly" miscalculation by Dion Antic).

Ah, Pilsen. We've lost count of how many of our friends have moved to the South Side neighborhood over the last six months and it's certainly had us curious to learn more about the intriguing neighborhood. We're not alone. In a new feature, our friends at Time Out Chicago have examined Pilsen front-to-back and come away with some interesting features.

• Tomorrow the Music Box begins a week-long run of the 2009 Oscar-nominated short films, with one program for Live Action and another for Animation. It's a great smorgasbord including films from all over the world. If you can't make it to the Music Box, you'll be able to watch them at home: the nominated short films will be released on iTunes on February 17. Just keep in mind what David Lynch says about that.
• Speaking of digital cinema, one of the films we loved the most at last year's CIFF gets a non-traditional release in a few weeks. Must Read After My Death, the fascinating and disturbing documentary fashioned by Morgan Dews from materials left behind by his family, opens theatrically in New York and LA on February 20 but will also be viewable in ultrahigh quality online. Via Gigantic Digital, a $2.99 "ticket" will give a viewer unlimited access. As a result of their outreach, Time Out Chicago will actually change the way they cover films. Hank Sartin explains: "After an extended discussion, we're going to run a review both online and in print. In print, we're going to include a newly designed logo indicating that this film is not in theaters but is online. We're going to take this case-by-case, but try to cover films getting non-traditional release whenever we can, online if not always in print."
• Also on February 20, the Alliance Française of Chicago presents an evening of Europe's best short films of 2008. More than 2,000 international cinema professionals voted for the winners, in a format inspired by the Césars. The lineup is a surprise, but expect some solid work that you're unlikely to see anywhere else. Tickets are $12 for members, $15 for non-members; more info here.

After turning down offers to venture out to Vegas, Kuma's Corner owner Mike Cain told Time Out Chicago that he does have expansion on the brain. In addition to bringing Kuma's winning blend of minor chord metal and gourmet burgers to other working class towns, Cain is planning a second Kuma's location specializing in Southern cuisine.

An investor who owns a portion of Time Out Chicago is searching to sell his share of a 50% holding in the magazine's parent company. According to Crain's:

Billionaire businessman William Louis-Dreyfus is part of a group of investors who own half of Time Out Chicago. He also owns one-third of Time Out New York, with the other shares held by the Clark family of Singer Sewing Co. fame and Tony Elliott, the founder of the Time Out brand, who has a piece of the Chicago publication.

Continue reading "Time Out Cash Out?"

Following up on the upcoming Stephanie Izard restaurant she mentioned in her "Re-Grills" is a name for the venue and partners. Time Out Chicago has the scoop (fitting, since they're also trying to hook her up, as well) that the Drunken Monkey Goat is pairing Izard with Kevin Boehm and Rob Katz of BOKA, Perennial and Landmark fame. It's still casual and affordable, in Wicker Park, and conservatively slated to open in summer 2K9. [TOC]

They say that the key to a man's heart is through his stomach. In our case, it's the stomach and a possible diseased liver. If you're looking for love in all the wrong places, Time Out Chicago wants to set you up with a chef, bartender or restaurateur. This is the second time TOC has tried to play matchmaker and the results from that first experience must have been so good that they're nocking an arrow in Cupid's quiver again. So if you've caught yourself stealing a quick glance at the Breakfast Queen, Wondering if that bartender at Frontera makes a good margarita at home, wanted to compare your wine knowledge with a sommelier or want to know who is the brains behind Billy Dec, now's your chance.

1.Arrive the minute the doors open. This way, you won’t have to wait in line just to get in and will have more than 10 pies (out of 75) to choose from if you come a bit later.

Ah, to have the budget of a magazine to play with. Scott Smith at Time Out Chicago gets to play with dolls action figures. Now Chicago Magazine's Jeff Ruby and John Kenzie have created "The Adventures of Steak Man," the "corn-fed crusader" who bears a striking resemblance to a middle-aged Burt Ward.

• Be careful on the two-wheelers, especially if you're a chef. Phil Vettel took time out from covering his Bizarro-world Chicago Gourmet to report that both Laurent Gras of L2O and Café Matou's Charlie Socher were in recent accidents. Gras, a bicycling enthusiast, was hopsitalized for a week and is now back in the kitchen. Socher wiped out his motorcycle (hopefully he wore a leather jacket for a controlled slide); chef Polo Heredia is filling in while he recovers. [The Stew]
• Meanwhile, Tribune wine critic Bill Daley writes about a new wine advocacy group called TAPAS (Tempranillo Advocates, Producers and Amigos Society) that promotes advocacy of American-grown tempranillo [Tribune]
• Is Hopleaf expanding? That's the rumor on the street, according to David Tamarkin at TOC (via). Next door neighbor and longtime Andersonville trattoria La Donna is moving just a bit north, to 6340 N. Clark, by mid-November, and Hopleaf is negotiating for the space. [TOC]

In celebrating Time Out's 40th anniversary, our colleagues at Time Out Chicago have assembled a list of Chicago's 40 Cultural Heroes, honoring Chicago's best and brightest and leaving no stone unturned. The issue focuses on "people who continue elevating our flat prairie metropolis to even headier heights," says TOC Editor Frank Sennett. The Chicagoans featured span a wide range, from Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan to Mayor Richard M. Daley to acclaimed, award-winning writer Achy Obejas.

• Mercat a la Planxa's Jose Garces flays Bobby Flay on Iron Chef [Philly City Paper]
• Applebee's "owns riblets." Wonderful; another reason not to go. [NYT]
• Joanna MIller delves into a vegetarian nicoise salad. [My Vegetable Blog]

• From the "DUH!" Files: Apparently fast food meals aren't good for kids. The Center for Science in the Public Interest released a report this week that concluded that kids meals at fast food chains exceed the 430 calories-per-meal limit. Among the worst offenders, Chili's makes the list twice with kids meals at or over 1000 calories each. [via MenuPages Chicago]
• "Rock Star Chef City" alert: BOURDAIN is in town through next week finally filming for the No Reservations Chicago episode. He's got the venerable Louisa Chu in tow, who'll be escorting him to Calumet Fisheries, Burt's Place in Morton Grove and L2O, among other places. We're so stalking this weekend. [Food Chain]
• Lori Barrett writes about cold soups. [Drive Thru]
• An argument for frozen fish [Washington Post, via]

A couple of localvore items of note to start:

• Sam Adams head honcho Jim Koch will be at Binny's South Loop this evening from 5-7 p.m. Koch will be pairing several Sam Adams selections with various summer grill dishes, as well as give a historical overview of how he founded Boston Beer Company using his great-grandfather's recipes. RSVP to (312) 768-4400.
• Folks around here love a good riesling. Lucky for us that it's Riesling Week and Julia Thiel has comiled a list of restaurants celebrating it in town over at the Food Chain.
• Also from the Reader's website, Chicago Drinks is a new site where readers can view weekly drink specials throughout town, get an inside look at bars throughout town and view videos previously posted to the Food Chain. It's definitely a work in progress, but shows promise. Until then, keep reading Anthony's "Properly Sauced" posts here.

Not that there isn’t always sort some of comedy show happening here in town, but lately there has been sort of a surge, what with the Improv Comedy Festival just wrapping up and last weekend’s aptly (and hilariously) named Snubfest Comedy Festival – comedians snubbed from the Improv Fest lineup.

We don't usually toot our own horn, but sometimes the opportunity is just too good to pass up. Last weekend we participated in Schadenfreude's 2nd Annual Alt-Media Slam contest along with Gapers Block, Time Out Chicago, and the Red Eye. The event had a wide-open feel as last year's champs, The Chicago Reader (and their trophy), failed to make an appearance. Tempers flared, slams were thrown, and only one team was left standing as champions: Us (holla!). We took home a nice fake plasma TV and a shiny red bow for our efforts. We'd go into a blow-by-blow account, but our friends over at Schadenfreude have been kind enough to provide a video of the event. For those of you already looking forward to next year's contest (cough-Scott Smith-cough), take note: after taking the upcoming holiday weekend off to celebrate, the Chicagoist team will reconvene next week to begin plotting our title defense.

Tomorrow night at the Hideout, Chicagoist will be going up against Time Out Chicago, Gapers Block, and the Red Eye in Schadenfreude's second annual Alternative Media Slam. We're not sure how a Tribune company paper counts as "alternative," but last year's winner (cough bullshit cough) the Reader wouldn't participate this year. We'll be trading yo-mama–style rap-battle insults with the other esteemed publications...and the Red Eye. Hey-o! We're practicing already.

[]

, About Face Theater's current production up at Center on Halsted, is supposed to have a nude scene in it. But the Chicago version has the boys in their manpanties, and the playwright is none too pleased with the sanitized version of his work.

Chicago Magazine's February issue has a list of 171 Chicago-based websites they think are worth checking out. Naturally we're in there ... twice! Once under "News Reporting" and then again as Sun-Times critic Jim DeRogatis' personal picks. The thing is until today, the only place this list lived was in the magazine, even through Chicago Magazine's website has been telling us "story coming soon" for weeks now.

The Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival kicked off last night and continues through January 13, a smörgåsbord of comedy stylings from 99 troupes from across the U.S. and Canada. Intrepid performers leave the comfort of California and Texas, brave delays at O’Hare, and risk negative comments on their MySpace pages—all to entertain you. Organizers estimate 10,000 of you attended last year’s event and, with fest favorites like Elephant Larry, Canadian Content, Cool Table, and Big News returning, this year’s crowds will likely be just as huge.

Prepare yourselves for the first big indie nerdgasm of '08, coming up Tuesday: Michel Gondry (that's one) will be at the Apple Store (that's two) discussing his upcoming film (three), about video-store clerks (four) played by Jack Black and Mos Def (five), who accidentally erase but then remake the videos they rent out (aaaand new pants).

A classic's a classic (above). But just in case you were thinking about sitting through the latest CGI remake, here's a bad review review from local critics: