The Museum’s collection of Islamic art ranges in date from the seventh to the nineteenth century. Its nearly twelve thousand objects reflect the great diversity and range of the cultural traditions of Islam, with works from as far westward as Spain and Morocco and as far eastward as Central Asia and India. Comprising sacred and secular objects, the collection reveals the mutual influence of artistic practices such as calligraphy, and the exchange of motifs such as vegetal ornament (the arabesque) and geometric patterning in both realms.
Emporium Arcade Bar
This Wicker Park newcomer features 30 arcade games and pinball machines from the ’80s and ’90s, including Pacman, Donkey Kong, NBA Jam, Streetfighter and Smash TV. There is no cover charge, and tokens cost 25 cents for one play. Games line the walls of the space and there are adjacent shelves to hold your drink while you play.
The Publican
Featuring pork and fish/seafood preparations, the menu is best described by Kahan and Huston as “pristine product, simply prepared,” an approach to food Kahan has long espoused in all of his kitchens. The Publican boasts the simplest cuisine of all three properties, each dish stripped of adornment and containing only essential ingredients. The menu is presented in sections: Fish, Meat and Vegetables, each laid out from lightest to heaviest fare.
Pristinely fresh oysters, hand-selected for the restaurant from purveyors with whom the culinary team has formed partnerships over the past year, anchor the fish portion of the menu. From classic Belgian-style mussels to seafood stew to wood-roasted whole fish, the seafood is simple and straightforward yet eclectic in presentation.
Meat dishes center upon pork, all certified organic and sourced from Dyersville, Iowa. Anchored by a wide selection of housemade terrines and charcuteries, the menu changes daily to reflect the seasonal availability of products. Other hearty dishes, again, presented simply and stripped of adornment, include such seasonal items as black and white sausage, steak tartare, pork shoulder and pot-au-feu. Kahan and Huston plan to make the wood-roasted chicken a signature, “… with the best frites in town,” boasts Kahan.
A selection of vegetables rounds out the menu, including such seasonal items as daily aïoli, roasted broccoli, pine nuts and Italian buratta and cauliflower sformato with Marcona almond romesco.
Strong architectural lines dominate the space, which is large, airy and awash in earthy colors. Guests enter The Publican through a glass-enclosed vestibule, its 10-foot-high ceiling offering a glimpse of the restaurant’s 13.6-foot ceiling. Inside, the spacious interior is dominated by a large walnut communal table designed to recall 16th Century European banquets. Set up in racetrack fashion, the banquet table seats upwards of 100 people, side by side.
At the center of the banquet table stands eight English pub-style three-tiered cocktail tables where guests can stand, leaning comfortably on one level, with their beer and food resting on the other tiers. This interior space is large enough for guests who are waiting for tables or visiting the restaurant just for a beer and a bite. Against the east wall stand a series of four-top walnut banquette tables set up on platforms and privatized by table-height swinging doors.
The walls and ceiling are wrapped in a material reminiscent of antique pressed tin. Across the front of the space, 10-foot cafe-style doors open out onto the street. At the back of the restaurant, a partially open kitchen offers a view to the culinary action.
Ed Debevics
Orchestrated ’50s mayhem recalls the diner in the old television series “Happy Days.” Ed’s is jam-packed with action: period decor and memorabilia, deejays spinning gems from the ’50s-’70s (“Tutti Frutti,” “The Twist”) and gum-cracking waitstaff, who shtick it up by dishing out rude comments to all — don’t worry; the sass is all in good fun and part of the joint’s appeal . The “”Route 66” is available for private parties of up to 35 people, the “Elvis Room” handles groups of up to 40. The bustling corps of valet parkers outside are an amusement in itself. Ed’s is one of the city’s best bets for visiting families.
Balena
The Bristol and Boka Restaurant Group have teamed up for this rustic Italian restaurant in the Landmark space in Lincoln Park, where a wood-burning grill and roasting spits work hard to turn out dishes such as cherry and duck bruschetta, whole grilled fish, pizza and panzanella.
Harry Caray’s Restaurant
Located near the main entrance to Navy Pier, Harry Caray’s Tavern waterfront location, family friendly menu, and Chicago’s premier sports museum combine to create a one-of-a-kind dining experience for guests of all ages. The extensive menu includes flavorful sandwiches and wraps, pastas, fresh salads, and homemade pizzas. The Chicago Sports Museum, featuring beautifully crafted display cabinets, highlights a rotating collection of museum-quality sports memorabilia, including an extensive collection of artifacts, photographs, and vintage newspapers celebrating Chicago sports legends, past and present. Harry’s extensive patio offers the perfect place to enjoy the beauty of Lake Michigan and the excitement of Navy Pier. Click here for more information.
Trencherman
Trenchermen is headed up by Chef Mike Sheerin, the former Chef de Cuisine of Blackbird, and his brother Patrick Sheerin, the former executive Chef of the Signature Room. They teamed up with designer Kevin Heisner and restaurateur Matt Eisler. On their website, they define “Trencherman” as “a person who enjoys food; a hearty eater and drinker.” You can’t help but be a trencherman when you eat at this establishment.
Epic Burger
Epic Burger features a limited menu of fresh chuck, all natural beef Epic Burger, a tasty turkey Burger, all-natural chicken breast sandwich, and the very veggie portabella sandwich, all cooked fresh to order and topped with Epic-sauce-lettuce-tomato-pickle-grilled or raw onion.
Epic Burger give a whole new meaning to ‘burger joint’. Simplistic and fantastic are the only words to describe Epic Burger.
Wolfbait & B-girls
Wolfbait & B-girls is not only where Chicago shops, but where Chicago sells. Showcasing the wares of over 170 local artisans as well as Chicago-based fair-trade companies, Wolfbait highlights our city’s local talent.
Wolfbait & B-girls is a female-owned and operated independent business, fashioned by two native designers, Shirley Kienitz and Jenny Stadler. Their respective collections, Bruiser and Brazen judy, are executed in-house from concept to consumer. This, along with customer-oriented workshops, and featured, artist trunk shows, creates an intimate environment for a unique shopping experience. Wolfbait just so happens to be a one-stop shop for unique and practical clothing, playful accessories, and one-of-a-kind handcrafted treasures. See something you like? Call us to order by phone if you can’t make it in person!
The name Wolfbait & B-girls is a nod to historic Chicago. The 1950’s guidebook Chicago Confidential defines wolfbait as girls who moved to the city looking for success, and b-girls as what they sometimes turn into. Think B-movie, B-side, bad girl, Bruiser and Brazen judy. Wolfbait is not only for the shopper, but also for the artisan.
The Underground
The Underground, located in Chicago’s River North neighborhood, has elevated the Chicago nightlife to unprecedented heights and is Chicago’s premiere, upscale, cutting-edge nightclub where every guest is a VIP. Among the congregation of Chicago’s brightest and most talented you will always find a rotating whose who of celebrities, international DJs, and other bold-faced names.
The Underground’s interior is an avant-garde recreation of a top-secret, military hideaway complete with artillery cases as cocktail tables, illuminated world maps and lighting as soft and complimentary as it is dramatic. Upscale American cuisine complements the venue with a mouth-watering menu of late night bites to pair with our cocktail and Champagne list.
The Architectural Revolution
The Architectural Revolution’s goal is to create a store like no other right at the corner of Clark and Belmont in Chicago. With items ranging from spiritual to macabre we are dedicated to bringing you the strange and interesting, spiritual and mystical. The owner travels all over the world to bring unique items to you, our customer! He literally travels over 100,000 miles a year between visiting vendors, tradeshows, and every where else in between, worldwide.
An entire quarter of our store is dedicated just to incense and incense accessories from all around the globe.
Hubba-Hubba
“People always say to us, ‘I haven’t seen this anywhere else.’ That’s because at Hubba-Hubba we put outfits together that seem to give our boutique a unique ambience.” So says Julie Cohen, owner of Hubba-Hubba.
Hubba-Hubba has built a large loyal customer base due to its unique inventory, exceptional sales team and clever promotional ideas like the birthday discount, Hubba-Hubba Loyalty Card and their fabulous Girls Night Out events.
At Hubba-Hubba customers can find items they won’t see everywhere else as well as awesome designs from Michael Stars tees & !iT Jeans, and a great jewelry selection. There is truly something for every girl! Visit hubbahubbachicago.com for more information.
The Alley
The legendary Alley Chicago store has become an infamous “landmark” destination for generations of the counter-culture.
The Alley Chicago through years of dedication and determination has become the Midwest’s premier one stop shop for bikers, punks, goths, rockers, and all other alternative lifestyles. The Owner, Mark Thomas, often states, “The more things change, the more they remain the same.” This holds true for our core customer base and our store philosophy. Faces change, trends change, but who we are and who our core customer is will always remain the same.
Museum of Contemporary Photography
The Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP) is a stimulating and innovative forum for the collection, creation, and examination of contemporary imagemaking in its camera tradition and in its expanded vocabulary of digital processes. Accredited by the American Association of Museums, the museum considers all elements of our mission to promote a greater understanding and appreciation of the artistic, cultural and political implication of the image in our world today, within the context of public service and responsibility to the community and museum profession.
The Museum is committed to broadening the visual arts by constantly searching for new national and international talent to exhibit rather than simply following suit established by larger institutions. To this end, the museum’s programming guides the public to a greater understanding of thought-provoking contemporary photography as well as an appreciation for traditional work that has not yet received critical acclaim.
Adler Planetarium
The Adler Planetarium is unique among Chicago museums in the variety of immersive theater programs it offers to visitors. From the Big Bang to the stars overhead tonight, the Adler’s theaters draw the audience into the experience.
Visitors at the Adler Planetarium will be transported to the distant corners of the cosmos and witness how the Universe evolved over 13.7 billion years – from the Big Bang to modern day. The Solar System is much more than a star and eight planets; it is home to a set of diverse and amazing objects that we are only beginning to understand. Explore the many worlds — planets, moons, dwarf planets, comets, and asteroids — that orbit the Sun.
Explore the Majestic Agora (in Grant Park)
Located along the southwest side of Grant Park, Agora is one of Chicago’s most recent and important sculptural installations. Comprised of 106 nine-foot tall headless torsos made of cast iron, the artwork derives it name from the Greek word for meeting place. The figures are posed walking in groups in various directions or standing still. Internationally renowned artist Magdalena Abakanowicz donated the sculptural group along with the Polish Ministry of Culture, a Polish cultural foundation, and other private donors. Born into an aristocratic family just outside of Warsaw, Abakanowicz (b. 1930) was deeply affected by World War II and the forty-five years of Soviet domination that followed. In her journals, she writes that she has lived “…in times which were extraordinary by their various forms of collective hate and collective adulation. Marches and parades worshipped leaders, great and good, who soon turned out to be mass murderers. I was obsessed by the image of the crowd… I suspected that under the human skull, instincts and emotions overpower the intellect without us being aware of it.” The sculptor began creating large headless figures in the 1970s. Initially working in burlap and resin, she went on to use bronze, steel, and iron. Although Abakanowicz has frequently exhibited in museums and public spaces throughout the world, Agora is her largest permanent installation.
Museum of Science & Industry: Science Storms Exhibit
Science Storms reveals the science behind seven natural phenomena—lightning, fire, tornados, avalanches, tsunamis, sunlight and atoms in motion. Investigate the basic scientific principles behind nature’s power as you try more than 50 amazing experiments that take two floors and 26,000 square feet to contain … barely. It’s a perfect storm of physics, chemistry and curiosity.
This permanent exhibit is included in Museum general admission, and does not require a separate timed-entry ticket. Join us on an adventure to discover science inspired by the spectacle of nature!
Designer Issac Mizrahi gushes about his love for Radio City Music Hall
Jinna Yang tips her har to ‘Top Hat’
As the name suggests, this design-driven LES shop of oddities, set in a former Chinese bakery, gives a retail performance worth applauding; proprietress Nina Allen sells items from her wholesale company, Sweet Bella, a hodgepodge of gift-worthy gizmos like French bird callers, German mechanical pens, whimsically patterned Japanese masking tape and Venetian change purses, all laid out in old-school desks and display cases.
Dahesh Museum
The Dahesh Museum of Art is the only institution in the United States devoted to collecting, exhibiting, and interpreting works by Europe’s academically trained artists of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Dahesh serves a diverse audience by placing these artists in the broader context of 19th-century visual culture, and by offering a fresh appraisal of the role academies played in reinvigorating the classical ideals of beauty, humanism, and skill.
Thomas Farley on The Slipper Room
The Slipper Room is the brain child of performer and producer James Habacker. When it opened in 1999 neo-burlesque was in its infancy. Before that time there had been some random shows in lofts and bars around the city, but the Slipper Room was the first venue built specifically to showcase the work of this burgeoning new collective. It was an art project in itself, an artist run venue designed to nurture emerging talent, and push performers to reach their true potential.
For eleven years, the Slipper Room presented Variety shows most every night of the week, on other nights you never knew what you might find, a kabuki dance troupe, a full orchestra, a play, a famous musician doing a secret show. The theatre also created its own touring company and began taking its show on the road around the US and Europe, spreading the word, and planting the seeds that led to so many scenes springing up in towns all over.
The New Museum – a strong statement about contemporary art
The New Museum is devoted entirely to contemporary art from all over the world. Its exhibitions are often shocking, controversial, and they attract great criticism. But isn’t this what contemporary art is all about? The building of the New Museum, located on Bowery and Prince, is a contemporary art piece in itself. The Japanese architecture firm designed the building as a series of gigantic boxes, the museum’s galleries, placed on top of each other. It is truly a monument of contemporary art. Located in the Lower East side, where most buildings are old and poorly maintained, the building of the New Museum definitely stands and makes a strong statement – contemporary art exist, and it matters. The New Museum seems to reject everything that is bourgeois or old, making space for a new direction in art and culture – modernity.