Chicago 2009

Description:

A North Michigan Avenue Landmark since 1927

• Michigan Avenue shopping is just one-half block from this Gold Coast hotel set three blocks from the lake.

• Decorated in European style with armoires and elegant bedding, the guestrooms offer CD players and gourmet coffee.

• The hotel restaurant NiX serves regional American cuisine with Pacific Rim accents in a red-and-black-themed bistro setting.

Description:

Casual and comfortable, Andy's, a full restaurant and bar, is popular with both the hard-core and the neophyte jazz enthusiast. The club has one of the busiest schedules in town, with sets starting at 5 and 9:30pm Monday through Saturday. (If you're catching the late show, the kitchen stays open until 1am). The Sunday night jam sessions, which start at 7:30pm, attract veteran local musicians and young up-and-comers.

Description:

This is possibly the best jazz record store in the country. For novices, the "Killers Rack" displays albums that the store's owners consider essential to any jazz collection. Besides jazz, there are bins filled with blues, Latin, and "New Music." The albums are filed alphabetically and by category (vocals, big band, and so on), and there are a couple of turntables to help you spend wisely. Jazz Record Mart also features a stage and seating for 50, where local and national artists coming through town entertain with in-store performances.

Description:

It's easier to take risks when you're part of a larger operation -- you can work on alternative energy if you're part of BP, or safely heckle a mime if you're part of an angry crowd. Remaining bold outside the nest: graham elliot. Lodged in a brick-walled, wood-beamed 18th century warehouse, GE's the ballsy solo effort from America's youngest-ever 4-star chef, who gained his rep for stunt cuisine (foie gras w/ Pop Rocks, etc) while backed up by the cred of Avenues. His eponymous new spot also plays it risky, with dishes like the ode-to-WIS Aged Cheddar Risotto (w/ Pabst-glazed pearl onions, Granny Smiths, bacon "dust", & Cheez-Its), a Signature Caesar w/ brioche "Twinkie" croutons (themselves stuffed w/ Parmesan cream cheese), and a Grilled Rack of Pork served w/ collards, grits, white peach chutney, and rootbeer bbq sauce (Barq's-b-q?). GE's also monkeying with their cocktails, serving up a deconstructed Bloody w/ horseradish cream, micro celery, Worcestershire powder, and tomato-vodka sorbet, and a Piña Colada w/ coconut-milk panna cotta, dark rum ice, grilled Hawaiian pineapple, and a pineapple Fruit Roll-Up -- only exceeded in trade value by a foie gras Lunchable. Riskiest of all: the chef's pumping in his own upbeat acoustic tunes, and plans collaborations w/ musically-inclined employees in the future -- because it's easier to take a sitar solo when you can blame the idea on the busboy.

Description:

Topolo, as it is famously called, doles out scrumptious Mexican food. This upscale restaurant requires a two week reservation period. Chef Bayless creates magic with Ceviche Callejero and Pescado en Salsa Verde. Other dishes also receive equal attention as the staff skillfully cater to the diners. Brunch is served on weekends. Cell phones are not allowed in the dining area; valet parking is available.

Description:

An architecture river cruise is a perfect activity for sunny spring and summer days, and is fun for the whole family. Tour goers are treated to a 90 minute description and back story of how Chicago literally rebuilt itself after the Great Fire of 1871. Each tour guide will add his or her take on some of the buildings discussed, as well as the heavyweight architects behind them. Remember sunscreen!

Description:

Foodies flock to the namesake restaurant of chef Charlie Trotter, Chicago's first celebrity chef. Yes, he's done TV shows and authored a series of cookbooks (with almost impossible-to-follow recipes), but Trotter's focus is this restaurant, a shrine to creative fine dining.

There is no a la carte menu, so this is not the place to come if you're a picky eater. Your only choice is to decide between the vegetable ($135) or grand ($155) degustation menu. Trotter delights in presenting diners with unfamiliar ingredients and presentations, and prides himself on using only organic or free-range products (so you can feel good about indulging). The entree descriptions signal Trotter's attention to detail; sample dishes from a recent menu include steamed Casco Bay cod with cockles, picholine olives, artichokes, and stinging nettles; and roasted saddle of rabbit with fingerling potatoes, turnips, and mustard greens. Be prepared to linger: Dinner here can take up to 3 hours. The dining room may be formal, but the overall attitude is not intimidating. The wine list is extensive, and a sommelier is on hand to help match wines with each course.

For a taste of Trotter's gourmet fare without the high price tag, check out Trotter's to Go, his gourmet food store in Lincoln Park at 1337 W. Fullerton Ave. (btw. Lakewood and Wayne aves.; tel. 773/868-6510).

Description:

This is possibly the best jazz record store in the country. For novices, the "Killers Rack" displays albums that the store's owners consider essential to any jazz collection. Besides jazz, there are bins filled with blues, Latin, and "New Music." The albums are filed alphabetically and by category (vocals, big band, and so on), and there are a couple of turntables to help you spend wisely. Jazz Record Mart also features a stage and seating for 50, where local and national artists coming through town entertain with in-store performances.

Our Local Expert Says:

Even if art is not your thing, you must visit the Art Institute for its brand new Modern Wing that overlooks Millennium Park.

Description:

You can't -- and shouldn't -- miss the Art Institute. (You really have no excuse, since it's conveniently located right on Michigan Ave. in the heart of downtown.) No matter what medium or century interests you, the Art Institute has something in its collection to fit the bill. Japanese ukiyo-e prints, ancient Egyptian bronzes, Greek vases, 19th-century British photography, masterpieces by most of the greatest names in 20th-century sculpture, and modern American textiles are just some of the works on display, but for a general overview of the museum's collection, take the free "Highlights of the Art Institute" tour, offered at 2pm on Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday.

If time is limited, head straight to the museum's renowned anthology of Impressionist art, which includes one of the world's largest collections of Monet paintings; this is one of the most popular areas of the museum, so arriving early pays off. Among the treasures, you'll find Seurat's pointillist masterpiece Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. The galleries of European and American contemporary art include paintings, sculptures, and mixed-media works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Salvador Dalí, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, and Andy Warhol. Visitors are sometimes surprised when they discover many of the icons that hang here (Grant Wood's American Gothic; Edward Hopper's Nighthawks).

Often overlooked but worth seeing are the Arthur Rubloff collection of delicate mid-19th-century glass paperweights, and the great hall of European arms and armor dating from the 15th to the 19th centuries. Composed of more than 1,500 objects, including armor, horse equipment, swords and daggers, polearms, and maces, the collection is one of the most important assemblages of its kind in the country. (If you do head down here, you'll see Marc Chagall's stunning stained-glass windows at the end of the gallery.)

Children younger than 12 get in for free, and the Art Institute goes the extra mile to entertain them. The Kraft Education Center on the lower level features interactive exhibits and has a list of "gallery games" to make visiting the museum more fun. When I was a kid, I was entranced by the Thorne Miniature Rooms, filled with tiny reproductions of furnished interiors from European and American history (heaven for a dollhouse fanatic).

The museum has a cafeteria and an elegant full-service restaurant, a picturesque courtyard cafe (open June-Sept), and a large shop. It offers a busy schedule of lectures, films, and other special presentations, as well as guided tours. The museum also has a research library. Allow 3 hours.

Touring the Art Institute -- If you want to enjoy your favorite masterpieces in something resembling peace and quiet, put some thought into the timing of your visit to the Art Institute, a museum so popular that it draws as much traffic as our jammed expressways.

Some tips for avoiding the rush hour: Many people don't realize the museum is open on Monday; keep this secret to yourself, and visit when the galleries are relatively subdued. Also, many visitors aren't aware that the museum stays open late on Thursdays, so consider stopping by after an early dinner (another bonus: free admission).

Description:

Casual and comfortable, Andy's, a full restaurant and bar, is popular with both the hard-core and the neophyte jazz enthusiast. The club has one of the busiest schedules in town, with sets starting at 5 and 9:30pm Monday through Saturday. (If you're catching the late show, the kitchen stays open until 1am). The Sunday night jam sessions, which start at 7:30pm, attract veteran local musicians and young up-and-comers.

Description:

If you think food is meant to be experienced with all the senses, book a table at Moto, home to Chicago's most jaw-droppingly original dishes. Chef Homaro Cantu, who worked with Chicago celebrity chef Charlie Trotter for 4 years, calls his cuisine "avant-garde with Asian influences" -- but what he's really interested in is taking dining beyond just eating. Dishes here are interactive experiences. For example, he entwines fresh herbs in custom-designed corkscrew-handled spoons, which allows the scent of the herbs to waft toward diners as they eat. For the ultimate made-to-order dish, a piece of fish cooks inside an insulated box right at your table. Cantu's got a sense of humor, too -- during a raw food course, he uses a "virtual aroma device" to emit a subtle smoky scent, and sometimes the menu itself is edible. (For a special occasion, you can call ahead and request a custom message.) Dining here is strictly degustation, with a five-course, seven-course, and "gastronomic tasting menu" of up to 18 courses. Courses are creative but not necessarily filling, so be prepared to snack later if you choose the five-course option. The restaurant itself has a minimalist Zen feel -- here, all the drama is at your table.

Description:

Pizzeria Uno invented Chicago-style pizza, and many deep-dish aficionados still refuse to accept any imitations. Uno's is now a chain of restaurants throughout the country, but this location is the original. You can eat in the restaurant itself on the basement level or, weather permitting, on the outdoor patio right off the sidewalk. Salads, sandwiches, and a house minestrone are also available, but let's be honest -- the only reason to come here is for the pizza. As with Gino's East , pizzas take about 45 minutes to make, so if you're starving, order an appetizer or salad.

Uno was so successful that the owners opened Pizzeria Due in a lovely gray-brick Victorian town house nearby at 619 N. Wabash Ave., at Ontario Street (tel. 312/943-2400). The menu is exactly the same; the atmosphere just a tad nicer (with more outdoor seating).

Our Local Expert Says:

If you are in the mood for a relaxing day, Millennium Park is the perfect place for a afternoon picnic, where you can take in the art and architecture. In the summer catch a performance at Pritzker Pavilion, while enjoying a bottle of wine with friends from the Great Lawn.

Description:

Chicago is full of must-see attractions, but at the top of the Can't Miss list is Millennium Park. It debuted in 2004, several years overdue, but it was worth the wait. It is a true gem, right downtown between Michigan Avenue and the lake. One can easily spend an afternoon just sitting on the benches at the perimeter of the Pritzker Pavilion, stare at their warped reflection in Cloud Gate ("The Bean" to locals), and watch the rotating faces in Crown Fountain spew water every five minutes or so. Immediately to the south of Millennium Park lie the Art Institute and Grant Park, which all together would make for a wonderfully relaxing day. If you only have time for one of the three, though, do not pass go, do not collect $200- without going to Millennium Park.

Our Local Expert Says:

Deemed one of the best restaurants in the nation, get ready for a fantastic food adventure.

Description:

Alinea -- anointed the best restaurant in the country by no less than Gourmet magazine -- is a place no serious foodie should miss. Like Homaro Cantu at Moto, Chef Grant Achatz wants to revolutionize the way we eat, which he does by presenting familiar foods in new contexts and unexpected forms. (He's been known, for example, to serve dishes on lavender-scented pillows, so the floral scent wafts up as you eat.) The menu changes constantly, but you're guaranteed to taste something new here, whether it's ravioli with a liquid-truffle filling or bites of bison tenderloin wrapped in crispy potatoes and seasoned with cinnamon. Achatz, who has worked with Spain's Ferran Adrià (the master of food deconstruction), as well as French Laundry's Thomas Keller, says he wants diners to feel like they're taking a journey, "zigzagging between challenge and comfort." The restaurant itself is certainly comfortable, with shoulder-high chairs you can sink into and soft, flattering lighting sparkling off the sharp angles of the grand staircase. But you'll only be comfortable dining here if you're willing to go along for the ride. Eat with an open mind (and a full wallet), and you'll be well rewarded.