Newcity Chicago April 2018

APRIL 2018 BIG HEAT Chicago’sFood & Drink 50 DIANA DÁVILA of Mi Tocaya Antojería

ALEX KATZGRASS AND TREESAPRIL 12 – JUNE 2, 2018RICHARD GRAY GALLERY

April 2018 ARTS & CULTURECONTENTS Art Mounira Al-Solh draws the war intoThe Conversation the Art InstituteThe sound and fury of 37Daniel Borzutzky8 Dance Taking in the new artistic “laboratory” SITE/lessChef of the Moment 42Diana Dávila is a Frida Kahloof the kitchen Design11 Taking a seat at the Driehaus 44The Big HeatThese 50 kitchen creatives Dining & Drinkingare why Chicago’s culinary The simple pleasures of a favorite restaurantmoment is so very hot 4615 Film DOC10 makes a case for the big screen APRIL 2018 Newcity 48 Lit Mahogany L. Browne discusses “Black Girl Magic” 50 Music File Resonant Bodies Festival under no category 53 Stage Firebrand’s feminist take on “9 to 5” 56 Life Is Beautiful The landscape of a career 58 3

Editor’s That experience, combined with the words you’re Letter about to read on these pages, made me realize how derelict I’ve been in enjoying this culinary moment T hough we do it with a regularity that in Chicago (Bon Appétit magazine just dubbed us yields efficiencies derived from experi- “2017 Restaurant City of the Year”). Accordingly, I ence, the creation of our “Leaders of Chi- made a list of several dozen places I’ll be dining in cago Culture” lists, like the “Big Heat” in these next few months. Perhaps you’ll see me there. this issue, are nevertheless overwhelming under- Speaking of culinary experiences, I’d never even heard of Georgian wine (as in the country, not the takings for writers, editors, photographers and state) before I saw the fascinating and moving new documentary film, “Our Blood Is Wine.” Though designers. But amidst the grind, there are some it’s set almost entirely a world away in Eurasia, it’s intrinsically local, too—it is the first production special pleasures, chiefly for me the photo shoots, from Morgan Station Films, an affiliate of Chica- go’s Music Box Films and Music Box Theatre, and like the one we did for this issue. For two days in was directed by Chicago’s Emily Railsback and produced by and executive produced by our town’s early March, the city’s leading culinary creators Bruce Sheridan and William Schopf respectively. It should be available on VOD platforms like iTunes converged on our location at the intimate Mi To- when you read this. caya Antojería in Logan Square to spend fifteen Turns out Georgia is believed to be the cradle of wine production worldwide, with recent archeo- minutes or so getting their mugs snapped. While logical finds suggesting it dates back almost 8,000 years. But as fascinating as that is, the soul of the they waited for their turn in front of Monica Kass film is its depiction of the multi-generational con- nections being made by the families now bringing Rogers’ lens, we’d get a chance to meet, to chat, to wine production back to Georgia after a qualitative crater during the Soviet era. The processes they catch up. use may be ancient, but the pleasures they yield are contemporary and visceral. In the same way that We’re living in a moment where chefs have become Chicago’s chefs demonstrate every day, the creation cultural stars, but amidst all the corresponding of the bread we eat and the wine we drink is not chatter about world travels and “appearances,” most just one of life’s pleasures, it is life itself. of the talk those days centered on universal issues like children, where to live and, yes, food. Food at its highest levels, of course, but also decidedly sim- pler things too, like the frequent superiority of Ore-Ida Tater Tots to chef-made renditions. The reality is that chefs are not chefs because they seek fame, but because they have a primal drive to please their (and thus our) palates. In that quest, nothing is too mundane to enjoy.Newcity APRIL 2018 The downside of the photo shoot is spending a day Brian in a restaurant like Mi Tocaya before they open, Hieggelke intoxicated by the smells being conjured in the kitchen but without the means to requite the desire.4

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CONTRIBUTORS MICHAEL WORKMAN (“The ON THE COVER Conversation”) is a long-standing Photo: Monica Kass Rogers Newcity contributor who used to publish Cover Design: Dan Streeting the cultural journal Bridge, where he first got acquainted with his subject in this Vol. 33, No. 1378 issue, Daniel Borzutzky. PUBLISHERS DAVID HAMMOND (“Chef of the ZAKKIYYAH NAJEEBAH (Photographer, Brian & Jan Hieggelke Moment,” “My Favorite Restaurant” and “The Conversation”) is a Chicago-based Associate Publisher Mike Hartnett editor, “Big Heat”) is Newcity’s dining photographer and educator who and drinking editor. A longtime food and is primarily interested in using EDITORIAL travel writer based in Oak Park, David is “photographic imagery to address Editor Brian Hieggelke known for a particular penchant for hats. the politics and aesthetic values of Managing Editor Jan Hieggelke representation, inclusivity, black Art Editor Elliot Reichert MONICA KASS ROGERS womanhood, family histories, and Dance Editor Sharon Hoyer (Photographer, Cover/“Chef of the collective narratives.” Design Editor Vasia Rigou Moment” and “Big Heat”) loves to Dining and Drinking Editor photograph people and food; SETH BOUSTEAD (“Defiantly David Hammond especially food people. She recently Undefined”) is a composer, host Film Editor Ray Pride collaborated with chef John Colletti of “Relevant Tones” on WFMT, Lit Editor Toni Nealie on the new book, “Risotto and Beyond: founder/executive director of Access Music Editor Robert Rodi 100 Authentic Italian Rice Recipes Contemporary Music, and creator of Theater Editor Kevin Greene for Antipasti, Soups, Salads, Risotti, the Thirsty Ear Festival and the Sound Contributing Writers Isa Giallorenzo, One-Dish Meals, and Desserts.” of Silent Music Festival, which takes Aaron Hunt, Alex Huntsberger, Hugh Iglarsh, place April 14 at the Davis Theater. Chris Miller, Dennis Polkow, Loy Webb, Michael Workman CDiner-NewCIty-BigHeat-2018-v1.ai 1 3/16/18 1:34 PM ART & DESIGN meat free Senior Designers MJ Hieggelke, since ’83 Fletcher Martin Designers Jim Maciukenas, Stephanie Plenner,C 10-year consecutive winner, Chicago Dan Streeting, Billy WerchM Reader, Readers’ Poll • veggiediner.com MARKETING Y Marketing Manager Todd Hieggelke CM MY OPERATIONS CY General Manager Jan HieggelkeCMY Distribution Nick Bachmann, K Adam Desantis, Preston Klik, Quinn Nicholson, Matt RussellNewcity APRIL 2018 One copy of current issue free. Additional copies, including back issues up to one year, may be ordered. Copyright 2018, New City Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Newcity assumes no responsibility to return unsolicited editorial or graphic material. All rights in letters and unsolicited editorial or graphic material will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication and copyright purposes and subject to comment editorially. Nothing may be reprinted in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. Newcity is published by Newcity Communications, Inc. 47 West Polk, Suite 100-223, Chicago, IL 60605 Visit NewcityNetwork.com for advertising and editorial information.6

The Conversation: APRIL 2018 NewcityThe Sound andRhythm of PoetDaniel BorzutzkyBY MICHAEL WORKMANPHOTOGRAPHY BY ZAKKIYYAH NAJEEBAH 7

Newcity APRIL 2018 S ince winning the National Book Award for poetry for “It’s an approach to how his “Performance of Becoming Human,” Daniel Borzutzky you think about politics in has finally gotten the wider praise he deserves. An old friend relationship to what’s going whose work I published in the earliest volumes of Bridge, the on in our society, or to what journal I edited in the early aughts, Borzutzky remains less you think is going on in our well-recognized than he deserves in Chicago, the city he today calls society, that that’s then also home. Unflinching in his embrace of difficult emotions, even and a stance.” —DANIEL BORZUTZKY especially at the social and political injustices that mark the territory of his Latin American contemporaries, the verse of this son of Chilean “Yes. Starting around 2014, I started to write a lot about what was immigrants evokes the finest aspirations of Raúl Zurita (whose work he happening in the relationship between Chile and Chicago, which I was has translated), Philip Levine’s deliberations on the soul of Detroit, or thinking of then mostly in economic terms, and the experiments that Carolyn Forché’s dissections of a civil-war-torn El Salvador. the “Chicago Boys” and Milton Friedman wanted to enact in terms of privatizations that were done in Chile, and at extreme levels, and that His newest collection, “Lake Michigan,” takes the accomplishment of serve as a model because all these ideas were being tested out. So, “Performance” to more dystopian, challenging extremes. Chile has this sort of privatization on a mass level of schools, healthcare, social security, and so in 2012 when the Chicago Public Schools were I’ve seen “Lake Michigan” described as the Homan Square on strike for the first time in twenty-seven years, in Chile they were in section of the codex you’re working on. Is that a fair assess- the midst of a year-long student strike, their issues were largely the ment? same. Their issues were about privatization, and access. So I was At the end of my last book, the “Performance of Becoming Human,” certainly thinking about parallels; Chile uses a voucher system to there are some pieces that take place in a prison site on the beach in supplement people’s ability to pay for private education as a way of Chicago and so this becomes a kind of continuation of that project. On crushing public education, which is what has been proposed recently one level, it’s thinking about Homan Square and police violence in when George Bush wanted to privatize Social Security, he talked about Chicago more broadly—I’ll just say that—so Homan Square is certainly Chile as being the model for that, and claimed it was successful. But so, a part of it, but the interest is certainly broader than that. there are all these economic policies and the idea that it begins in Chicago and then moves to Chile is central, so it’s all important to me There’s this dividing line in the work that I think of as this reality as a Chilean living in Chicago, but I like to bring it back because I think of thought versus imagination, or poetry and politics, which the endgame is to bring it back to Chicago and the United States, and some say don’t go together. in Chile, those policies were sustained by repression and state violence. The poetry is all political and responding to the various political and While I’m very careful to not say that Chicago and Chile are the same economic realities of our time, and I would say two things: I wouldn’t thing, or that the way violence has worked is the same—of course in have the pretensions to confuse poetry with policy, and so to that Chile, the numbers of people who died or were tortured are much degree, it’s not attempting to do that, but part of the problem with greater—I would say that state violence, and especially abuses toward that question is that it seems you can’t have the one without the poor and minority communities, that they are used as a means of other, and certainly I’m using features of poetic language and sustaining public policies that seek to rid those communities of social narrative throughout the book. There’s all kind of dialogues with other and public services. writers, there is repetition throughout the book of an interest in sound and rhythm, and all of those things are certainly separate from what Rahm’s closing down sixty public schools on Chicago’s South you would do in an essay. Side, for instance. Right, but which is happening at the same time as cops are killing kids Doesn’t that suggest there’s something wrong with art for on the South Side, and that’s the point I want to make, is that those art’s sake? are not separate things. That the killing of black youth on the South To the degree that I don’t want to tell anybody what they should do Side serves as a means of sustaining the policies of shutting down with their art—I would start there—but I would also say that rejecting those schools. politics or doing art for art’s sake is also political, right? It’s an approach to how you think about politics in relationship to what’s Zurita was also a performance artist, staging actions in the streets. going on in our society, or to what you think is going on in our society, Is that something you were thinking of when you were writing the that that’s then also a stance. “Performance of Becoming Human,” this sort of action? No, I was thinking about performance, but not so much in the sense of There’s anger or outrage about what’s happening that’s very this kind of art action. The title refers back, for me, to this story by visceral in your work. Kafka, “A Report to an Academy,” which is about an African ape who is In terms of imagining a country or a nation, it’s doing a couple things: on the one hand, thinking about what is already happening, to some degree under the surface, or that is not entirely visible, so something like Homan Square which literally was invisible—well, I shouldn’t say literally—but which was invisible to most of us, but then I have also been thinking about those things that are scarcely visible and drawing them out to their logical conclusions, right? And so, it comes across throughout the books in terms of state violence and treatment of immigrants, and in terms of economic policy, it’s thinking about what we know is happening but we don’t sort of panic about, and trying to push that to where I think it’s heading, and that’s what people don’t see. With these historical precedents, for instance, talking about Pinochet as one of the original neoliberals, do you see that as a sort of parallel between what was happening in Chile and what’s happening now, what you refer to often in the text as a corpse, or a carcass economy?8

Markets and commerce have been pushed to this extreme, where the thinking is that we can monetize everything, right down to people’s sense of individuality. Is there a point to be made or balance to account for the sense that markets can be seen as somehow less nefarious? Umm. No. Because we don’t have a lot of empirical evidence at the moment—so, okay. The ideology that is purported by neoliberals is that market economics will trickle down through competition and through job creation in order to benefit the public, and people who do not have money. Yes, and on a fundamental level markets are a negation of collective action. Sure, we simply don’t have enough evidence—again, if we take Chicago as the example, we simply don’t have enough evidence that there is much interest in market investment in sustaining low-income communi- ties. Opening up a Whole Foods in poor neighborhoods is not an act which is going to end with real investment in what those neighborhoods need, and one could argue that doing things like that becomes the first step in removing low-income people from the neighborhood, right? So, no, to that degree I simply don’t see it. And again, if we toggle back and forth between Chile and Chicago, the question of whom markets benefit, it’s simply: the markets benefit people who can afford to be invested in them and who can control profit and the means of production. I just don’t see it. Chile has been using this slogan lately of “Capitalism with a human face” as an idea that could provide a counterbalance to some of the neoliberal ideas that were in place, but it’s not addressing the abandonment and social cruelties that mass capitalism and neoliberal- ism have created. It’s this extremism that you’re trying to root out in this experience of the two worlds. Yes, except the extremism is mainstream, right? It is extreme, except Rahm Emanuel runs as a liberal Democrat. Chile, since the end of the coup, has had three socialist presidents and they still have a mostly privatized school and healthcare and social security system. So, the idea is that these very right-wing policies both in the United States and in Chile have become simply the center, and to some degree, the center-left.captured, put in chains and taken back, and tortured on the ship, and in Do you then see these works as a critique of modernity?order to find his way out, he begins to act like the humans on the ship. I mean, just to limit the scope of the question a bit, I would say that it’s aThey’re really vile, they spit and belch all the time, and he begins to imitate critique of the way in which—I don’t know, I don’t know if I’m critiquingthem, and then finally learns how to talk and goes around Europe giving modernity in my writing, but I am critiquing the ways in which marketspeeches on his transformation. But he, the ape, while he’s plotting how forces and mass capitalism have existed side-by-side with extremeto imitate or ape the humans, he begins to speak as an artistic perfor- violence, with genocide, with racism and oppression throughout themance, right? So that was the seed, but it got me to thinking about the United States, and that they are forces that simply run parallel. To thatvarious ways that we perform humanity, on the one hand to survive. degree, that’s a facet of modernity, yes.That’s one kind of performance that people have to do, but on the otherhand—in all of our sort of various social situations, right?—I’m thinking So now with the elevation of Trumpism and the collusion of theparticularly about the way that people with power choose to perform or far right, the full range of bigotry and devaluation of humanity isnot perform their humanity… is kind of central. on display. If there’s any art form that has an effective capacity to work against all that, it’s poetry, right?Humanity is a choice. Yes. That’s right. I would say two things. I would say, stepping againYeah, and Kafka’s point, and then, I reference in “Lake Michigan,” Aimé outside of the United States and thinking about the ways in whichCésaire’s point, is that the choice that humans, and often civilized humans writers and artists in South America and Latin America have sought tomake, is to act like barbarians. And they do that through systemic affect the public sphere through art. That is an ideal, well, that that is aviolence and killing of people who have less power than they do. value that has existed for many writers and artists who have lived under dictatorships. Poetry and literature in general are so marginalized thatYou’ve described neoliberalism as a resurgent force, particularly in the question of audience is inevitably really limited, and as a writer, I’mChicago, can you elaborate? always struggling against the idea of wanting to write in such a way as toI’m precisely talking about those policies of public education, but not participate in a public narrative, or in a public dialogue, or to have mylimited to that issue, we see all sorts of ways in which the public sector is work commenting on what’s going on in the public, and knowing thataffected, that the city government is deciding to disinvest in public that is extremely limited. But the writers who I admire most felt veryservices, to hand that over, be that through the closing of schools or devoted to that idea, right? That their writing should be in conversationmental health facilities or (privatization of) prisons, to street and utility with a public, that it should have some service in inspiring social thoughtservices, so there’s all kinds of ways in which Chicago would hand over and action in some way.its responsibilities to private companies. Daniel Borzutzky will read with Nate Marshall on April 27 at 7:30pm at Women and Children First, 5233 North Clark, (773)769-9299.

Midsummer Night’s DreamAPRIL 25–MAY 6, 2018 | TICKETS START AT $34 Choreography: Alexander Ekman312.386.8905 | JOFFREY.ORG/MIDSUMMER Music: Mikael Karlsson2017–2018 SEASON SPONSORS PERFORMS AT:Midsummer Night’s Dream: Hans Nilsson/Royal Swedish Opera 50 East Congress Parkway, ChicagoOpening Reception: Curated by Arts + Public Life’sFriday, April 6 • 6:00-8:00 PM Teen Arts Council, this exhibition features art by ChicagolandWith remarks and performances by teen curators, teens that ask questions centeredteen artists and community members around their experiences: How do we view our past, presentClosing Reception: and future? How do we respondThursday, May 10 to certain situations? How do we explore our artistic views? #2018isYOCY Presented by: Free and open to the public.APL-TAC-NewCity-Apr2018-HalfPgAd.indd 1 Arts Incubator 301 E Garfield Blvd Chicago, IL 60637 Gallery hours: Wed-Fri 12-6 PM For more information, please contact Quenna Barrett at [email protected]. 3/15/18 3:23 PM

CHEF OF THE MOMENT APRIL 2018 Newcity 2018 DIANADÁVILA Says It to the Universe BY DAVID HAMMOND When Bon Appetit magazine featured chef Diana Dávila in 2017, they cited her restaurant Mi Tocaya Antojería as“one of the reasons we declared Chicago the restaurant city of the year.” National and local media have amply covered Dávila and her restau- rant, too, which is not quite a year old, with at least sixty write-ups, including from publications like NationalRestaurant News, Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times and Eater, as well as Plate and Chicago magazines. It’s fair to say Dávila is one of the most talked-about chefs in the city. It’s also fair to say that her influence is only beginning to be felt. PHOTOS BY MONICA KASS ROGERS Styling and makeup by Dafne. Diana wears clothing by Lubia Reyes and sits in front of a mural by Jason Brammer. 11

“Magic” comes up a Almost everyone here is Latino, and would make flour tortillas, and that’s What We lot in conversation when I’m talking about food, I’m talking where I learned these magical things. Do is with Dávila. We talked about connecting. That’s what I feel is I add a little bit of this, no measurements, with her about going my magic power. I’m just like all the That’s the spirit. In me, the home cook Witchcraft out to eat at other other people here, and our food comes and the professional cook are combined restaurants—a luxury from love—everything comes from into one. It’s the energy. she enjoys very rarely love—and it’s like something magical Where’s the these days— and because it reminds us of our roots. how, in the kitchen, Roots are part of who you are, and when Growth in Just Following she considers herself I tell [her kitchen staff] about what the a Fucking Chef? a bruja. dishes are like, they say, “Yeah, my mom used to make a dish that was similar,” When Dávila was at the since-closed I love going out to eat, and I love every- and that gives you the connection, the Cantina 1910, the restaurant got thing about restaurants. It’s like a show, feeling and taste memories, your beau- criticism, which we covered in “A an orchestra, all these moving organic tiful feelings of your mother making you Genuine Myth: If They Call it ‘Authen- parts, right? But sometimes it’s like you something that would fill you up. tic,’ It’s Probably Baloney,” reporting eat something that was just like, yeah, that “A chorus of Chicago food writers there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s good… Dávila cooked a lot at home, in the criticized what seemed an uninformed It’s good, but it’s mechanical. You could United States and in her family’s drubbing on Yelp; you don’t have to tell when chefs are working mechani- traditional home in San Luis Potosi. look very deeply into the Yelp com- cally and when they’re passionate, when In Mexico, cooking in the kitchen with mentary about this Mexican restaurant they’re conveying where the food is com- her abuela, her grandmother, was a to find statements like ‘It’s definitely ing from. You can feel it. That’s just intox- formative experience, the first sparks NOT authentic Mexican’ and ‘There is icating to me, the best part. That’s the of that passion for food that led her nothing authentically Mexican aboutNewcity APRIL 2018 magic, and that’s what I wanted to put to Mi Tocaya Antojería. this place.’ With all due respect, it into my food. What we do is witchcraft. doesn’t seem that many of these good I would go to the markets with her. I people know what they’re talking about.” The food must come from someplace would always be doing everything with deep inside the people making the her. All I wanted to do was just spend The cuisines of all countries constantly food, and it also comes from a place time with her and our chickens, cooking. evolve, based on the discovery of new of shared roots, a place of connection. My abuela was from a ranch, and she preparation techniques, the availability12

of new ingredients, and the simple of nopalitos, for instance, topping it on her cell phone and when she APRIL 2018 Newcityimpulse to design new ways to please with cheese curds and a Milanesa returned the call, it went to voicemail.diners. Dávila was trying new things that uses sweetbreads instead of the It was fiery, and went like this:at Cantina 1910, and she continues to more traditional pork. Throughout,try new things at Mi Tocaya Antojería. she endeavors to stay true to what Oh my god, guys, this is a lot of money.Dávila does her research, and though she knows of Mexican food, which We need to change it right now. This isshe’s not afraid at all to sometimes does not mean following the recipe sunflower oil. Motherfucker. This stuff isincorporate new ingredients into her that everyone else uses. so wildly expensive. Puta madre… [afterdishes, she loses patience with chefs a few other Spanish words I didn’t rec-who are messing with classics in Where’s the growth in just following a ognize, she realizes she’s being re-a way that transforms them into fucking chef? I’m not going to recycle corded] Oh hi, David, sorry you had tosomething completely different, the recipes, you know, I’m here to make hear all that…and that fail to show respect for recipes. People who have worked fortraditional Mexican foodways. Rick Bayless, they cook exactly like him. She was upset at an employee for They almost have the exact menu [as] using the wrong oil, and this startedI was at this event, and there was this his menu at Frontera. There’s a lack of me wondering how she handles herguy who runs a Mexican restaurant, and creativity and growth. employees, who seem to fully respecthe loves the food, but he had something her. Was this the result of their lovethat he was calling cecina [a traditional Say It to for her or their fear of her?Mexican dried beef] and it was literally the UniverseJewish-style brisket, corned beef. And I have a really good relationship withhe’s like, “Yeah, well, I wanted to put my Last summer, I was scheduled to pretty much everybody because youJewish roots in there.” But you don’t get host a presentation at Chicago know, there’s so many things going onto change hundreds of years of making Gourmet that would feature Dávila in the world, and here you think aboutsomething because you want to put cooking with Dudley Nieto, one of Chi- the things that you can control. Andyour roots into it! cago’s most venerable Mexican chefs. they know I want them to do better. In The topic was “The Mexican Milpa,” a staff meetings, I ask them to say outDávila proudly works within tradition, millennia-old agricultural technique for loud what their goals are. Say it out loud.but she unabashedly pushes the growing the three sisters—corn, beans, Say it to the universe: We’re workinglimits while respecting the underlying squash—in rotation to maximize yield together as a team, so this is not just myculinary heritage. She makes a stew and nutritional quality. I called Dávila coworker; you get to know them as peo- 13

ple, with goals and dreams. And then paintings and you see it in her dresses. No doubt, Boldin’s emotional support we can all help each other. We become She was representing the people, the is crucial. No one ever said being a a community with more things to offer indigenous people, and that’s where I chef or owning a restaurant is easy, and more things to receive. really draw my ideas and my plates, and Dávila does both. from that heritage, from that culture. One night recently, we stopped by It’s a lot of work, and it’s a toll on your Mi Tocaya Antojería, unannounced, I came across Kahlo’s “The Wounded family, on your marriage and financially. for dinner. I watched Dávila, unseen, Deer,” a painting of a doe, with Kahlo’s It’s a lot. And from the last project I did, working the room but also working head running through a barren wood, I mean I just saw it in them [the owners with her people. The look in their eyes riddled with arrows. I mentioned this of another restaurant she worked at]. I was not the look of fear: they were painting to Dávila and asked if she saw it in their faces, you know. They taking direction and they seemed to in any way identified with that side of were out $3 million. They had no more look up to her while they kept their Kahlo’s persona, the side that portrays money. They’re fucked, you know. They heads down doing their job. Dávila her victimhood, either as a wounded separated. believes her job is to turn out out- animal or as a person trapped in standing food, of course, but also to a bed, insides ripped out and on I didn’t want to have my own place, but help those who work for her to display. (Kahlo had childhood polio, once I started looking and looking and achieve full potential. was in a bus crash, and suffered there really weren’t any opportunities physical challenges that are reflected for me because who am I? I’m nobody. You should share everything. That’s how in her paintings.) You know what I mean? I didn’t work at we get better. I’m their mentor. I feel like Alinea. I didn’t cook at Next. I didn’t work I’m much more nurturing the way I run I’m not a victim. I’ve had a beautiful life. at Charlie Trotter’s. I didn’t work for one everything here. I want the best for My parents have been amazing. I love of the boys. You know what I mean? I everybody, but I’m also very tough on my family. I have two beautiful children. didn’t. I was just kind of being tossed everybody. You show people things that I knew at a young age what I wanted to around and one night my husband and you’ve learned. That’s what I do here. aspire to be. I am living the dream. I’m I are like, let’s just do it. I don’t know where it comes from. It with the love of my life. I feel like I’ve kind probably comes from being a mother. of finally evolved into the chef that I was So, she opened her own place, and always seeking to be, and now I want to with it, a Pandora’s box of new, Representing continue the growth: There’s so much everyday worries. the People that I want to do. What if nobody comes in for like three Sometimes Dávila has her hair in Let’s Just hours and we’re just sitting, you know, an up-do, with flowers in her hair Do It and I’m thinking “What have we done?” like Frida Kahlo, and she seems to Like yesterday, we were slow until like frequently be photographed in the Joe Boldin is Dávila’s husband. She 7:30pm. And I’m just like, nobody loves attire favored by the Mexican magic- sometimes goes by Diana Dávila Boldin, us any more. They forgot about us. realist artist, wife of Diego Rivera, lover which though perhaps technically, even We’re approaching the end of our first of Trotsky, icon of a strong yet surpris- legally, correct, seems not as poetic year. We’re not going to be “the new ingly vulnerable woman. I asked Dávila as the alliterative Diana Dávila, strong restaurant” any more. Now we don’t about her connection to Kahlo and her initial D sounds balanced by final A have all that publicity and everybody’s similarities to one of the most in-your- sounds, signifiers of the feminine in going to be covering all the new restau- face and bold artists, one of the Spanish and other Romance languages. rants that are opening. most powerful icons of femininity. During our interview, husband Joe sat As Dávila said this, tears pooled under My mom was a painter, and my dad nearby—Diego to her Frida—working both her eyes, tears not of fear but of would support her and frame her art for on his laptop, taking care of the the passion that will likely continue to her. I’ve always been very much about business side of the family enterprise. make Mi Tocaya Antojería one of the Kahlo’s paintings, her story, and her They were high school sweethearts, most exciting restaurants in Chicago. poems, where she really gives these and now they work together. little glimmers, her one-line poems that are so vast. Those are the real bones of Husband-wife teams are not her. She was a fascinating person, and unheard of in the restaurant industry, she drew a lot of inspiration from Mex- but usually the wife takes a backseat ican culture and from the indigenous position to the husband. Not so in this The James Beard Foundation namedNewcity APRIL 2018 people. After the revolution, Mexico was instance: Joe helps in the background, Mi Tocaya Antojería, 2800 West such a hub for the writers and poets and although the day I visited, he was in Logan Boulevard, a semifinalist for painters, and you have all these new front, shoveling fresh snowfall from 2018 recognition in the Best New political agendas after overthrowing a the sidewalk and walkway to Mi Restaurant category and Diana Dávila long-term party that was completely Tocaya Antojería. a semifinalist for Best Chef: Great Lakes. suppressing people, a party that owned the indigenous people and the lands. We went to high school together, we were She was inspired, and you see it in her high school sweethearts. He’s my muse.14

APRIL 2018 Newcity 15

Newcity APRIL 2018 DURING OUR BIG HEAT PHOTO SHOOT, chefs, bakers, bartenders and others whose images appear on these pages gathered in the dining room of Mi Tocaya Antojería, waiting for their moment in front of the camera. Around the room, they chatted in random clusters, sharing stories, tell- ing jokes, reflecting on news of the day, gossiping; it was all very social and friendly, and one could sense the spirit of a powerful, mutually sup- portive community. That community is why Chicago has fostered one of the nation’s most vital culinary cultures. In that room, it was clear that these men and women—some in chef’s whites, others in t-shirts and hoodies—were less competitors and more colleagues, in it together, offering friendly words to fellow travelers on the road between kitchen and table. Tradition demands that everyone be ranked, but that shouldn’t cloud the fact that in a basic sense, all these people—as well as many others in the city—are on the same playing field, pulling together to put before the world the best food and drink. (David Hammond) BIG HEAT was written by David Hammond and Lauren Knight with additional contributions from John Carruthers, Rebecca Holland, Rosemary Lane, Danielle Levsky and Kristine Sherred. All photos by Monica Kass Rogers shot on location at Mi Tocaya Antojería in front of a mural by Jason Brammer.16

1 • GRANT ACHATZ 21 food with concert venue-level acoustics. DIANA DÁVILA APRIL 2018 Newcity “We also continue to focus on upholding theGRANT ACHATZ standards of our other five restaurants,” Ach- Chef atz says, noting that twenty-five years intoChef a career of cooking, he never tires of it. “I still Diana Dávila is having a big year, includingRiding the success of Alinea, Next and Rois- find it rewarding and realized early on that prominent mention in Bon Appetit as wellter, and after opening branches of Chicago it was my passion,” he says. “I very much as a roster of local publications, and rec-originals the Aviary and the Office in New enjoy making people happy with food and ognition as a James Beard semifinalist forYork City, three-star Michelin chef Grant dining.” While waiting for the newest venue Best Chef: Midwest and Best New Restau-Achatz is focused on a new project back in to open, enthusiasts can purchase “The Avi- rant (her Mi Tocaya Antojería). Though theChicago, where he says, “the food scene is ary Cocktail Book,” a recipe collection with tagline on Dávila’s website is “Rethink yourone of the best in the world.” The Alinea an emphasis on photos and design, sched- understanding of Mexican cuisine,” she’sGroup is opening a food and music venue uled for summer 2018. not setting out to remake Mexican foodin Fulton Market, combining Alinea-quality traditions but to evolve them, and she takes a non-doctrinaire approach to the ways the foods of her heritage can evolve. She displays a willingness to play with traditions in dishes like beef tongue splashed with peanut butter as well as beer-can chicken with prickly pear. She extends that openness to others: “Korean tacos? Why not? Tacos don’t have to be only Mexican food. It’s like with pasta; it doesn’t have to be only Italian.” 3 JOHN AND KAREN SHIELDS Chef and Pastry Chef They may have just returned to Chicago, but John and Karen Shields have made headlines around the country for years. The husband-and-wife team met while working at Charlie Trotter’s, John as a chef and Karen as a pastry chef. They turned down Trotter’s invitation to helm his Vegas outpost but said yes to a Craigslist ad promising free reign of a fine-dining restaurant in remote Chilhowie, Virginia. Their now-closed Town House grill gar- nered the notice of foodies and the New York Times—and for John, a 2010 Best New Chef award from Food & Wine as well as a semi-finalist award for James Beard Foundation recognition. But the Shields were eager for a move and ended up back in the city where they met, and are once again earning rave reviews. Last year, the Shields opened Smyth, now a Michelin-starred restaurant, and The Loy- alist, a more casual spot that has earned national acclaim for its “Dirty Burg” burger, replacing Au Cheval on Bon Appetit’s 2017 list of the three best burgers in the United States. (John Cusack tweeted that it was the “best burger ever.”) 17

3 • JOHN AND KAREN SHIELDS 5 4 SARAH GRUENEBERG DAVID AND ANNA POSEY Chef The past year was huge for Sarah Chefs Grueneberg. Her pasta-centric In an industry of hard-drinking Monteverde has raked in acclaim workaholic types who fancy them- since 2015, and she now has a 2017 selves as pirates, the husband-and- James Beard Award for Best Chef: wife duo running Elske (Danish for Midwest, as well as a Jean Banchet “love”) are a tempering influence of Award for Restaurant of the Year. pure joy. It’s working for them—the Even the challenges she faced— One Off Hospitality vets have got- keeping up with staffing, for exam- ten raves for the thoughtful food ple—can be classified as “good and intuitive design of their West problems.” “I feel bad even talking Loop restaurant. In a year when about it,” she says. But the success Bon Appetit named Chicago the is well-earned for a chef who puts top restaurant city, Elske got the soul into every effort. “It sounds nod as the number-two best new cheesy to say that heart is a neces- restaurant in America. Not bad for sary ingredient, but I don’t want to a place built to offer the feeling, in be afraid to say it.” That heart guides David’s words, of “leaving a dinner her as she embraces a role as men- party at a friend’s house, full and tor, not only to cooks in her own happy. The best part of cooking is kitchen, but to aspiring chefs across that it’s personally satisfying and the city. “It’s time for me to start makes others happy. Having a busy passing down responsibility [at restaurant full of people having a Monteverde] and see where I can good time is the best feeling.” offer my services next,” she says.18 4 • DAVID AND ANNA POSEYNewcity APRIL 2018

7 • DANIELLE AND THAI DANG12 • ANDREW BROCHU6 cookbook “Gather & Graze: 120 Favorite pliment would be the James Beard Award APRIL 2018 Newcity Recipes for Tasty Good Times” (with nomination for Best New Restaurant heSTEPHANIE IZARD Rachel Holtzman). “Food sparks conver- received in February. He and his wife Dan- sation and helps people connect—that’s ielle, who he calls his main support system,Chef what I hope that my food communicates.” have focused on employing people fromArguably the reigning queen of Restaurant the Pilsen neighborhood and remainingRow, Stephanie Izard isn’t interested in 7 respectful to the area’s history. “It’s myruling alone. “The Chicago restaurant way of letting the community know whocommunity is a great group of chefs that THAI AND DANIELLE DANG we are. When guests sit down, feel theall want Chicago to be the best food scene vibe, are transformed and have a greatin the country and I am just one of many Chefs experience, it’s so exciting. This is themembers of this group,” she says. While At HaiSous in Pilsen, Thai Dang is on a American dream.”her restaurants—Girl & the Goat, Little mission to show Chicagoans how variedGoat Diner and Duck Duck Goat—thrive Vietnamese food is. “I want to bring Viet- 8and her This Little Goat product line takes namese food to the forefront and elevatewing, it’s community-building that Izard it,” he says. “Every restaurant has the JASON VINCENTcites as her greatest success. The Fulton same menu and does the same Vietnam-Market Harvest Fest, which she created ese hits but Vietnamese food is so broad. Chefalong with chef Paul Kahan, bloomed in The biggest compliment I receive is when Jason Vincent opened Logan Square’sits second year, drawing chefs from Chi- old Vietnamese aunties come in and eat Giant in 2016, along with chef Ben Lust-cago and beyond for a celebration of food food and it reminds them of home, but bader and general manager Josh Perlman.and fellowship. “My food and restaurants they don’t understand how it’s made. “For us, it’s all about the experience andare meant to bring people together,” Izard That’s when I know I’ve done something that has a lot to do with treating peoplesays. She extends that ethos with her 2018 great for Vietnamese food.” Another com- the right way,” Vincent says. “And I mean 19

keep things new after thirty years?” That quest comes with its fair share of highs— his fine-dining restaurant Topolobampo won the 2017 James Beard Award for Out- standing Restaurant—and lows—even after trying a second concept, his Fonda Frontera failed after three years in Wicker Park. But Bayless is nothing if not enter- prising. In 2018, he adds a culinary training program to his repertoire and is in talks to follow up 2014’s “Cascabel,” his food-fo- cused theatrical collaboration with Look- ingglass Theatre Company. For Bayless, all the moving pieces create one thing: “Joy. I could go on and on, but that’s it: joy.” 10 PAUL KAHAN Chef “Look at how far we’ve come together. When we opened Blackbird twenty years ago, there weren’t many independent chefs and restaurateurs. If you look at what’s going on in this city today, it’s amazing,” 8 • JASON VINCENTNewcity APRIL 2018 all people—from the dishwashers, to the 9 13 cooks, to the servers, to the guests, and BRIAN FISHER even to ourselves.” In late 2017, Vincent RICK BAYLESS and team signed on as food and beverage partners at Ace Hotel, where they oversee Chef all-day neighborhood restaurant City Rick Bayless has long been a critical Mouse, along with banquets and room ingredient of the Chicago restaurant service. Vincent recently headed to San scene. His Frontera Grill, opened in Francisco to learn more about their school 1986, established a culinary empire programs with an eye toward implement- that includes a portfolio of restaurants, ing similar approaches in Chicago. “As a a line of packaged foods and a succes- father and human, I see the need for sion of cookbooks and critically-ac- healthy and affordable food for kids,” Vin- claimed television shows and pod- cent says. “If you have a voice, use it. Help casts. With his legacy set, Bayless still your community, your country, and the seeks challenge: “We’re on the never- world become a better place.” ending quest not just for relevance, but for freshness,” he says. “How do we20

says Paul Kahan, chef and it really hard for small busi- 2607 W 17th St, Chicago, Illinois APRIL 2018 Newcity partner at One Off Hospitality. nesses to survive,” Regan“Chicago’s restaurants have a laments. Still, her unique mix USofA, Earth, Solar System, Orion Spiral Arm, ton of soul and that’s thanks of pragmatism and creativity to the fact that we bring a prove time and again that she Milky Way Galaxy, Local Group, Virgo Supercluster, Space Midwestern sensibility and has brought something spe- hospitality to what we do. We cial to Chicago. Fine ales plus tasty food need to continue to support and live, local music these strong, independent 12 every day we’re open... businesses.” Kahan casts a long shadow in Chicago with ANDREW BROCHU Brewery tours daily: establishments like The Pub- lican, Big Star, Dove’s Lun- Chef LAGUNITAS.COM/CHICAGO cheonette, Blackbird, Nico Roister is a boisterous place Osteria, Avec… Take an out- with a mixed crowd, and that ...or just come hang out! of-towner on a weeklong eclectic group is addressed by restaurant tour to Kahan-only Andrew Brochu, who says WED THURS FRI SAT SUN restaurants and they might “the thought behind the food never suspect the same group at Roister is to take culinary 21 was behind them. “We prefer techniques and flavors from to do things on our own terms all cultures and make deli- and treat each concept as if it cious bold dishes that are might be our last,” Kahan says. interesting for the foodie Later this year, Wrigleyville world and approachable for gets its own Big Star, and One the everyday neighborhood Off will open the California diner.” His most successful cuisine-centered Pacific Stan- dish at Roister, he tells us, is dard Time in River North. “definitely the chicken and chamomile. The chicken is11 butchered and each part is brined and prepared a certainILIANA REGAN way, the thighs in buttermilk and the breast in chamomile.”Chef The legs and wings go into chicken salad. “I’ve spent time Iliana Regan has carved out in many different restaurants her own spot as the “new over twenty years, and I apply gatherer,” creating cuisine something from that experi- that respects and elevates ence every day.” So far, it’s traditional methods and fla- been working out: in 2017, vors of her Midwestern roots. Brochu was named Jean Ban- Regan manages her two chet Chef of the Year; for 2018, restaurants—Michelin-starred he was named a James Beard farm-to-table Elizabeth and semifinalist for Best Chef:Japanese-Midwestern pub Great Lakes. Kitsune—as well as a bur- geoning edibles business, a 13 memoir and a cooking school program. That’s not even BRIAN FISHER counting projects she and her wife have left behind. “It’s a Chef big learning curve,” she says, Brian Fisher left his post as“deciding what to do to main- chef de cuisine at Schwa, the tain your business and your Michelin-starred hole-in-the- personal life.” Keeping her wall on Ashland Avenue in restaurants thriving in Chica- 2016. “I’d been there for so go’s manic dining scene is key. long, I didn’t really know who“The boom-and-bust cycle for I was as a cook not being restaurants in this city makes there,” he says. It didn’t take

Newcity APRIL 201815 • BRUCE SHERMANhim long to figure it out. A few 20 • JASON HAMMEL months later, he was in charge 14 • ZOE SCHOR of the “Saved by the Bell” pop-up, which launched a sec-22 ond location in L.A. in March, where Fisher will consult. That same year, Fisher opened Entente, an ingredient-driven and affordable fine dining restaurant on a stretch of Lin- coln Avenue in Lakeview. It earned a Michelin star in its first year. (“I cried for like three days. Maybe like a day.”) And it made Fisher a nominee for Rising Chef of the Year in the 2018 Jean Ban- chet Awards. What’s next? “We haven’t even hit the one-and-a- half year back yet. We’re just a baby. Who knows what we can do in Lakeview?” One thing is for sure: Fisher thrives on push- ing himself—and is humble in the process: “Whoa, I made the list? I’m flattered.” 14 ZOE SCHOR Chef “My cooking is meant to evoke nostalgia,” says Zoe Schor of West Town’s Split-Rail. “Our restaurant specializes in recre- ating classic American comfort food, and our hope is always to put a new spin on flavors you’ve had before.” Split-Rail’s “loaded baked potato gnocchi has all the flavors of the classic but served with light potato gnocchi instead of a heavy potato.” You remem- ber chicken and rice, of course; Schor says, “One of the newest menu items is a chicken and rice dish inspired by my grandpa Walter, who made a simple baked chicken and rice dish that I loved as a child. Our version is a little bit more complex, with dirty risotto in place of the sim- ple baked rice, but for me, it car- ries all the nostalgia of my grandfather’s dish.” There’s comfort in the classics, espe- cially when served with a con- temporary twist.

18 • ABE CONLON says Clark. “We can still push the envelope with fewer resources. Being an independent restaurant in Chicago makes the experience special—one of a kind,” explains Kim. They use that indepen- dence to be ambassadors for flavors and perspectives: “We try to be a gateway,” Kim says. “We make food that’s approachable, comfortable and delicious, but that also opens people to new ingredients or flavors.” 17 CARRIE NAHABEDIAN15 Chicago food community recognize how Chef APRIL 2018 Newcity they can create social change and commu- Carrie Nahabedian has watchedBRUCE SHERMAN nity consciousness. Sherman created and the River North neighborhood executed the Solidarity Soup campaign in evolve for eighteen years, and herChef 2017, in which contributions for immigrants restaurants Naha and BrindilleBruce Sherman has been lauded for his rights channeled funds into organizations have been an instrumental partfarm-to-table French-American cuisine at doing “the really important work.” of that transformation. Nahabe-Michelin-starred North Pond since 1999. dian has shaped her career bySherman aims to “provide an exceptional 16 the credo “everything should beexperience,” supported by “an inclusive an experience,” and diners haveenvironment for the staff to practice, refine BEVERLY KIM reaped the benefits. Her pres-and grow their personal and professional AND JOHNNY CLARK ence extends well beyond a sin-skills.” Sherman plans to refresh the entire gle neighborhood. Nahabedianrestaurant across the coming year, to “cel- Chefs is a matriarch of the Chicagoebrate and toast to the next twenty years.” Your typical neighborhood restaurant food community and has pro-At the 2008 Chicago Taste of the Nation doesn’t come with a Michelin star, but Bev- vided mentorship and advice toevent, Share Our Strength named Sher- erly Kim and Johnny Clark want Parachute, young chefs, offered her voice asman “Most Sustainable Chef.” That same their acclaimed Korean-American restau- the #MeToo movement reachedyear he accepted, and continues to hold, rant, to be closer to a local gem than a the restaurant industry, and hasthe position of national board chair of Chefs flashy fine dining destination. “I think we’ve consistently supported blossom-Collaborative. Sherman hopes others in the redefined what a mom-and-pop place is,” ing independent businesses. Strengthen- ing the community is her overarching goal. “I’m happy to be a leader,” she says, “but I’m just one of many. I’ve achieved what I’ve wanted to achieve in my career, so now I want to help others do the same.” Nahabe- dian recently announced plans to close Naha at the end of March, with the inten- tion of reopening in an undisclosed location in the fall. 18 ABE CONLON Chef When Fat Rice opened, it was exciting to have a restaurant in Chicago serving the food of Macao, a blended culinary tradi- tion overlooked by Chicago chefs. “We started out with Macanese cuisine, show- 23

19 • TONY MANTUANO ing how Portuguese and Chinese come hometown. This year, he’s opening 21 • JOHN MANION together,” Abe Conlon says. “We wanted another spot in a Disney theme parkNewcity APRIL 2018 to locate the building blocks of that cuisine. (Terralina Crafted Italian in Disney Now we’re looking at places like Brazil and Springs) as well as a baseball-themed the Malaysian communities. For instance, restaurant in collaboration with Cubs we’re doing a traditional chickpea stew. manager Joe Maddon. He’s also cook- When this dish is made in Portugal, you’d ing, tasting and penning his way find chorizo, salt cod, potatoes and carrots, through another cookbook with wife but in Brazil, you’d get African influences, and author Cathy Mantuano. “What so you’d find coconut milk, palm oil, a little about cooking gives me joy?” he asks. chili pepper, green banana and yucca root. “Working with such passionate young Fat Rice is going beyond Macao.” It prom- professionals and reproducing flavors ises to be a delicious trip. from when I worked in Italy and from my grandma’s cooking.” 19 20 TONY MANTUANO JASON HAMMEL Chef Getting Chicagoans to love authentic Ital- Chef ian food isn’t hard, but try doing it at the Underneath the flavors, the plating and level that Tony Mantuano supplies across the service, food is about connection. so many projects. In addition to chef and That’s the fundamental quality behind partner roles at Spiaggia, River Roast and Jason Hammel’s work. Chef at the long- Terzo Piano, Mantuano is involved in part- lauded Lula Cafe, which turns twenty nerships with Disney in Orlando and, until next year, Hammel says his role is earlier this year, a restaurant in his Kenosha evolving from DIY outsider to empa-24

22 • IAN DAVIS South Berwyn and I’m com- Band of Bohemia landed in the pletely taken by the possibili- kitchen, where he found ties. I’d love to do something in another like-minded tribe. Berwyn’s Depot District. It Davis worked in top restau- feels a lot like what Chicago rants around the world—the neighborhoods used to be like now-closed Michelin-starred twenty-five years ago. The Foliage at the Mandarin Orien- town has good bones and tal Hyde Park in London, huge untapped potential.” In Blackbird and Tru in Chicago, addition to his two restaurants, Momofuku in New York— he says, “I’m working on a little before joining the team to concept that’s really close to head Band of Bohemia in my heart: building grills and Ravenswood. Unlike previous other live-fire equipment.” stints, Davis had to craft a Tending the flames on the par- menu around beer—an rilla at El Che Bar has clearly approach he admits is “ass- had an impact. backwards.” But the con- straints and his competitive 22 nature landed his team a Michelin star in its very first IAN DAVIS year. And he isn’t slowing down. “We’re coming,” he says. Chef “People think just because A broken hand in the ring we’re a brewpub that we’re forced chef Ian Davis to give some quirky little thing that’s up dreams of professional box- going to go away in a year or ing. But for fortunate Chicago two. No. We’re here to stay.” eaters, the executive chef of STAY CONNECTED.thetic cultivator and recent 21 Sm e a a pprojects reflect that. Pilot Light,the nonprofit he co-founded, JOHN MANION June 25 to August 3hopes to instill a connectionwith nourishment early in a Chef * aeS m e a pchild’s life through food-based John Manion lamented incurriculum development for these pages a while back that August 6 to August 10 or August 17 (varies by park)elementary school students. rising rents might force him toMarisol, his new restaurant in relocate La Sirena Clandestina, O ln e it a i nB gnthe Museum of Contemporary a Fulton Market mainstay forArt, invites diners to connect years. He assures us now that Monday, April 23 (for parks WEST of California Ave.)the dots between food, art and “La Sirena feels like part of thedesign. “I want to communicate fabric of the West Loop, so of Tuesday, April 24 (for parks EAST of California Ave.)that our relationship to food course we would want to keepcan be as deep and transforma- it there.” He’s also cooking at I - e s nR gs r to APRIL 2018 Newcitytive as a story or a song,” Ham- El Che Bar, his “other place,”mel says, “even though the food and says he’s “very enthusias- Begins Saturday, April 28 for most parksitself is fleeting.” tic” about opening a place in Berwyn. “My wife and I live in Financial assistance is available for eligible Chicago residents. Learn more at www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/day-camp/ City of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, Mayor For more information about your Chicago Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners Park District visit www.ChicagoParkDistrict.com Michael P. Kelly, General Superintendent & CEO or call 312.742.7529 or 312.747.2001 (TTY) 25

back of the house, Tentori makes dining simply enjoyable for guests. He’s not look- ing to be puzzling, complex or to go after trends. “I don’t want to be fancy, fine din- ing,” he says. “It’s just simple food, cooked properly, with that ‘wow’ factor when you put it in your mouth.” And Tentori’s formula works remarkably well. 25 JIMMY BANNOS SR. AND JIMMY BANNOS JR. Chefs Third and fourth-generation restaurateurs respectively, Jimmy Bannos, Sr. and Jimmy Bannos, Jr. are all about legacy, and run on pure passion for the industry. “I’m excited to go to work every single day. That has not diminished,” Bannos senior says. That’s impressive commitment when you consider that his New Orleans-inspired Heaven on Seven is cruising into its thir- ty-eighth year of operation as a family operation in the same space. Bannos, Jr.’s The Purple Pig, recognized with a Miche- lin Bib Gourmand, is now in its ninth year, displaying impressive longevity in Chica- 24 GIUSEPPE TENTORI 23 • NOAH SANDOVALNewcity APRIL 2018 23 ese food makes me happiest. I recently had a very talented Vietnamese cook NOAH SANDOVAL work in my kitchen. She opened my eyes to things outside of pho.” Chef After time in the kitchen at Michelin-starred 24 Senza, Noah Sandoval has gotten raves at Oriole. The restaurant received an out-of- GIUSEPPE TENTORI the-gate four-star rating from Phil Vettel in the Tribune and the chef himself scored a Chef spot on the Food & Wine 2017 Best New Giuseppe Tentori does not shy away Chefs list. “The dish that most represents from a challenge. Whether executing what I’m trying to achieve in the kitchen a 2,200-person event as the executive would probably be the Alaskan King Crab,” chef of Boka Catering Group, meeting Sandoval says. “It’s focused on being a the voracious demand for oysters at perfect bite, simple with a deep concen- GT Fish & Oyster or flipping the steak- trated flavor profile. It’s what I try to pro- house script at GT Prime, Tentori duce in every course.” Like many leaders always has a full plate. “My job is not of new American cuisine, Sandoval is open boring,” says Tentori with understate- to multiple influences and acknowledges ment. “That’s the beauty of my profes- that some of his favorite foods are from sion—it’s full of challenge, and I love it.” Southeast Asia: “Hands down, Vietnam- Despite what may be happening in the26

27 • CARLOS GAYTÁN 26 • JIMMY PAPADOPOULOSgo’s restaurant scene. Their secret to suc- ness, but also pristine product, intellect, for almost a decade, he’s been serving his APRIL 2018 Newcitycess lies in a mutual need to keep reach- technique and execution. So, I began Franco-Mexican cuisine. Gaytán says thating for more. “What keeps me obsessed sketching how a combination of oysters the dish that he feels best represents hisis the creative drive, that push to just keep and caviar would translate from my head culinary approach is “the pork bellygoing,” Bannos, Jr. says. Both chefs are to the initial bite of food.” At Bohemian braised using French techniques, withalways eager to evolve, demonstrating a House, Papadopoulos admits he “had homemade mole,” a clear example of thewillingness to take risks that draws in new never cooked Eastern European food cultural marriage of his dishes. Gaytánaudiences. Their most recent concept, before, but ultimately found out how to opened Restaurant Ha, one of ten at HotelPiggy Smalls, will bring the family busi- make it work: I interrupted the standard Xcaret México in Riviera Maya, in late 2017,ness into the fast-casual domain. ‘pork-cabbage-potato’ routine with a sense a luxe and very different venue from his of playfulness. Now at Bellemore, I’m Chicago brick storefront. “It’s going much26 entirely free to cook with no constraints in better than expected,” says Gaytán. a big beautiful, bustling hospitality-drivenJIMMY PAPADOPOULOS artistic American restaurant. I genuinely 28 love the everyday grind.”Chef SARAH RINKAVAGEBefore Jimmy Papadopoulos was hired 27at Bellemore, his oyster pie was “the first Chefbite of my cooking that Kevin and Rob CARLOS GAYTÁN Chicago is one of those cities where the[Boehm and Katz, owners of Boka Restau- phrase “museum food” isn’t a pejorative.rant Group] ever tasted. That first impres- Chef Thanks to chef de cuisine Sarah Rinkavage,sion had to capture who I am as a chef. It Mexique is chef Carlos Gaytán’s Miche- the Museum of Contemporary Art at lasthad to showcase finesse, style, playful- lin-starred West Town restaurant where, has a modern restaurant to match its 27

28 • SARAH RINKAVAGE commitment to technique,” he says. “Aim- 33 • SANDRA HOLL ing high is a labor of love. Make it truly personal, unique and compelling. Your boundary-pushing exhibitions. Marisol has not budged from what audience will find you.” (Fehribach was a was her first experience opening a restau- made his fried chicken mem- semifinalist for the James Beard Best Chef: rant and the goal now, she says, is to make orable, his staff sweet and his Great Lakes for the sixth year in a row.) the work of her team sustainable. “This outlook pragmatic. He laments year is about creating a vibrant kitchen what he sees as some restau- 30 and front of house team, supported and rants’ stumbling commitment excited to come to work each day. Creat- to quality, despite marketing MATTHIAS MERGES ing new ways to get everyone involved in language proclaiming the the menu is a big goal of mine.” Rinkavage opposite, but he does recog- Chef is thrilled to produce food in a city as large nize the strain that increased Gideon Sweet, Billy Sunday, A10, Lucky and well-regarded as Chicago. “I believe costs can exert on a chef and Dorr and, soon, Mordecai—all cool names we all need to work together to take pride his restaurants. Old cook- and restaurants of Matthias Merges. After in what we have created here.” Rinkavage books continue to inspire almost fifteen years with Charlie Trotter, was a semifinalist for the James Beard him, along with African and Merges opened his own places, carrying Rising Star Chef of the Year. Southeast Asian cooking. on principles instilled at Trotter’s: “I’ve Rather than open a second always had a deep respect for the prod- 29 location, Fehribach opted to ucts we use and the craft, whether it’s a improve his first restaurant for perfectly marinated fillet of mackerel or a PAUL FEHRIBACH its second decade of deeply hamburger with summer tomatoes and rooted, historic Southern garden greens: respect the product, han- Chef cooking. “Being true to ingre- dle it with care, deliver it with passion.” Ten years since opening Big Jones, exec- dients also requires a high Named after an heirloom apple and pre- utive chef and co-owner Paul Fehribach sented in partnership with chef Graham Elliot Bowles, Gideon Sweet is a place that Merges says gives him “free reign to explore cultures and products that inspire me and add meaning to my exploration of cuisine and food culture. The dishes that represent what I’m trying to do in the kitchen are pomelo salad with Thai dress- 29 PAUL FEHRIBACHNewcity APRIL 201828

ing, cashews and mint, and warm king 31 • THE ZARAGOZA FAMILY APRIL 2018 Newcitycrab with sea urchin and smoked roe.” TOP ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT: ANDIE, JONATHAN, TONY BOTTOM ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT: NORMA, JOHN, ERIK31 30 • MATTHIAS MERGESTHE ZARAGOZA FAMILY 29ChefsAlmost forty percent of the customers atBirrieria Zaragoza are from their South-west Side neighborhood, says NormaZaragoza, the wife and mom in a fami-ly-run restaurant that specializes in someof the best goat you’ll find in Chicago.Though many of their locals share theMexican heritage of their cuisine, Normaand her family’s birria has universalappeal. “Customers have told us that ourbirria transports them to their original

she says. Drawing inspiration from her Midwestern roots and French training, she excels at well-executed desserts that feel “easy,” as she puts it—even if the flavors are complex, the enjoyment is uncompli- cated. “I like doing desserts because they make diners feel good, and it’s very special to be a part of that.” 33 SANDRA HOLL Baker Sandra Holl of Floriole says the croissant best represents what she’s trying to achieve: “It’s one of those things that’s somewhere between bread and pastry. It’s a thorn in my side, and it’s different every day. Some days it’s better than others; it really depends on the temperature, the fermentation, so it’s a constant struggle.” What makes a good croissant? “A big mess,” says Holl. “When you bite into it, there should be flakes everywhere, it 35 GREGORY WADE 32 • MEG GALUSNewcity APRIL 2018 country, regardless if it’s the Philippines, 32 Mexico, [a country in] Africa or Greece, because it reminds them of a food back MEG GALUS home. Customers have told us that we make them feel as if they were part of Pastry Chef our family.” That family feel is a big part Meg Galus, executive pastry chef of of the experience of Birrieria Zaragoza, Boka and Somerset, is a culinary cha- and Norma loves that: her greatest meleon, crafting thoughtful desserts satisfaction is getting “a chance to work that blend seamlessly with each with the family and watching people restaurant’s style. If there is a com- savoring a traditional Mexican dish with monality between her creations, it’s a their families.” desire to delight. “Before it’s interest- ing or innovative, it has to be delicious,”30

should crumble. You should find crumbsall day long. That’s success.” Another sat-isfying success for Holl is working withyoung folks at Floriole, “because it’s a funpart of their lives, and I like being a step-ping stone to where they’re going next.”34LEE WOLEN 32 • JOSHUA KULP AND CHRISTINE CIKOWSKIChef 36 hope we bring new and interesting dishes APRIL 2018 NewcityAt Somerset, Lee Wolen says that all he’s to people’s attention.” Zimmerman reads,trying to do is make “food people like to CHRISTINE CIKOWSKI travels and eats to find new foods or com-eat.” Exhibit A: “Our whole roasted chicken, AND JOSHUA KULP binations, then he perfects those flavors forbecause who doesn’t like chicken? It’s an guests. “Finding something I haven’t tastedelevated preparation, with garlic sausage Chefs before is one of my main motivators,” hestuffed beneath the chicken skin and Fried chicken was the hottest trend when says. At Sepia and Proxi, where he is exec-served with polenta and delicata squash, Christine Cikowski and Joshua Kulp opened utive chef, diners savor a range of inventivebut at the end of the day it has really famil- Honey Butter Fried Chicken in September dishes. “There’s a very adventurous andiar flavors.” Somerset is a new restaurant 2013. Now, their responsibly sourced, savvy diner in Chicago,” he says, “and that,from the Boka Restaurant Group, in the crave-worthy food is an Avondale corner- along with a supportive group of chefs, hashabit of opening successful chef-driven stone. “We feel a tremendous responsibility made it possible to have the success I’verestaurants. Wolen explains, however, that to share the success of our business with had.” Zimmerman can anticipate moreBoka’s Kevin Boehm and Rob Katz “don’t our team and our community,” says Kulp. accolades and Chicago diners more ofjust hire chefs: they really partner with us Conscientious leadership has been a defin- those flavors: he and his partner have mul-to create the best restaurants possible and ing characteristic of the duo’s business. tiple projects in the works.allow us the creative freedom to put our From open-book finances with their staffbest foot forward.” to participating in activism with the James 38 Beard Foundation, Cikowski and Kulp walk35 the walk. With an eye toward expansion, LAMAR MOORE including a new pop-up concept at RevivalGREGORY WADE Food Hall, TriBecca’s Cubano, the chefs Chef say they still have a lot they want to The defunct Write-On Currency ExchangeBaker accomplish. “We want,” Cikowski says, “to space, renovated by Theaster Gates asAt Publican Quality Bread, Gregory Wade continue to excite people.” part of his Arts Incubator initiative at thespends a lot of time focusing on whole University of Chicago, is now The Cur-grains and fermentation, both of which 37 rency Exchange Café. Lamar Moore is inhelp his breads stand out, making him a charge of the kitchen, and he says thatgo-to baker for restaurants around Chi- ANDREW ZIMMERMAN “we’re serving new American comfort food,cago. His baked goods have earned him approachable, down-home cookin’. Thea second James Beard Award nomination Chef most successful dish, I would have to say,for Outstanding Baker. Wade also works Andrew Zimmerman’s Sepia has won a is our ‘soul bowl,’ with huge African-Amer-to educate customers on creating healthy Michelin star each year since 2011 and his ican influences, a melting pot of collardfood systems, saying, “I hope to show secret is simple: “to make food that tastes greens, Cajun jambalaya, accented jas-consumers and other food service profes- good and that people like. Beyond that, Isionals that with knowledge, dedicationand communication, we can not only cre-ate a healthy, regenerative food system,but we can make this food available to allmembers of society, not just the elite.”He’d also like to open his own retail bakeryand café. “I love everything about makingbread,” he says. “The smells of the fer-menting dough and baking bread, the feelof flour on my hands. I’m able to get upand go to work every day because it’s areally rewarding process to share ourbreads with my community.” 31

38 • LAMAR MOORE 39 • ASHLEE AUBIN 25 • JIMMY BANNOS SR.Newcity APRIL 2018 mine rice, topped with an egg your way.” back.” But his style is not about challeng- traditional barbeque styles are finessed Moore holds a culinary degree from Le ing customers: “Roast chicken is the com- with chef-like precision and care. Cordon Bleu in Chicago, but he says that fort food I go back to over and over again.” his largest influence was his grandmother. 41 “She cooked all the time for me and my 40 family, the elderly, and the churches on SARAHLYNN PABLO Sunday morning. So as a chubby kid, I saw BARRY SORKIN a strong woman take care of her family AND NATALIA ROXAS and people, which made me want to follow Pitmaster in the same footsteps.” “When we opened Smoque, it was very Chefs simple,” says IT-professional-turned-pit- Filipino Kitchen is a joint effort of Sarah- 39 master Barry Sorkin. “We just wanted to lynn Pablo, a writer, and Natalia Roxas, a bring people the kinds of barbecue we photographer, both of whom put time into ASHLEE AUBIN loved from around the country, different the kitchen to bring the food of the Phil- styles. We wanted to stay true to those ippines to Chicago. Chicagoans are just Chef styles, but also put our own spin on them, beginning to understand Filipino food, Running the kitchens at Wood and Salero, our signature. We weren’t trying to mimic, and that understanding is challenging two distinctly different restaurants, can be we wanted to bring distinctive styles of because, as Pablo explains, “our cuisine challenging, says Ashlee Aubin, especially barbecue to Chicago in a way that was evolves as we evolve and continue to “when both restaurants may need you at also our own.” You can see this Smo- cook our foods. Our challenge as keepers the same time. However, it’s extremely que-signature touch on their brisket, of this tradition is to be inclusive while satisfying to be able to cook in different which follows Texas style, complemented not alienating others within and outside styles. It allows more creative freedom.” with a two-layer spice rub and a special of our communities.” As part of their mis- Aubin has pushed the limits of that free- in-house barbecue sauce. Sorkin says he sion, Pablo and Roxas bring Filipino food dom to present diners with items that wanted to have the word “smoke” in the to the people through events like Febru- might stretch beyond everyday habits. “I’m name of his place, and he wanted the ary’s Usapang Pagkain, which Pablo says always impressed by how open people are name “to convey that this was more than “is a discussion within the Filipino com- to raw foods,” he says. “We’ve done just a downhome smokehouse that limited munity about the food that sustains us as numerous crudos, tartares and ceviches the seasoning to just salt and pepper.” individuals and groups. Usapang Pagkain at both places and always get great feed- Smoque was to be—and is—a place where is an intergenerational space that explores ways to focus on how our food32

can support our communities physically, 40 • BARRY SORKINnutritionally, emotionally, psychically, his- 43 • PAUL MCGEEtorically, spiritually and socially.”42JARED ROUBEN James Beard nomination, and McGee 45 anticipates that more owner-operatedBrewmaster bars, especially those boasting a distinct JEAN JOHO“Moody Tongue,” says Jared Rouben, “is a theme or spirit, will open soon. Weekly name that probably applies to most read- training keeps staff techniques sharp and Chef ers of the Big Heat list. It conveys the idea tastes diverse—from the spendy classics In its fourth decade, fine dining remains of a discerning palate, someone who’s of Milk Room and Cherry Circle to the trop- relevant and refined at the appropriately concerned about what they eat and drink.” ical vibes of his darling Logan Square bar named Everest, located at the summit of Rouben puts thought into his brews, many and the newly-opened agave-driven the Chicago Stock Exchange building. of which he designs to be food-friendly. “I Lonesome Rose. “Take what may be an Under Jean Joho’s reign, the restaurant is approach beer from the perspectives of esoteric or unknown ingredient and talk poised for continued growth. The formally flavor and aromatics. So, if we’re enjoying about it in an approachable manner,” he trained chef has earned countless laurels, Szechuan food, we prefer a beer that’s says. “We are here to make everyone feel leading Chicago into a new era of cooking light and refreshing to cool the palate. If included and increase our guest’s knowl- and creativity. High-caliber cuisine no lon- we’re pairing with French food, say, roast edge and awareness.” ger demands tablecloths and vested serv- duck, we want complementary flavors, so ers, but Joho has always understood that I might go with a Belgian style that has a 44 evolution requires consistency. lot of cherry and plum to complement a rich, fatty protein.” The names of Moody NATE HENSSLER 46Tongue beers reflect culinary technique, flavor, aromatics and beer style. For exam- Chef TOM VAN LENTE ple, Sliced Nectarine IPA: with that nam- Many chefs draw on past experiences ing strategy, says Rouben, “You know to inform their most innovative and com- Chef what you’re going to experience.” pelling dishes. For Nate Henssler at Tom Van Lente is flying solo. He made a Portsmith, experiences in India subtly name for himself in the Chicago dining43 influence his menu. “In the late 1990s,” community working at TWO, White Oak Henssler remembers, “a buddy invited Tavern and The Winchester. Despite hisPAUL McGEE me to India for a wedding. I stayed for four successes, he felt restrained in a restau- months. Now, I have the confidence to use rant kitchen, so in 2017 he opened his ownBeverage Director South Asian flavors combined with French catering and consulting business, TVL Paul McGee and the team at Land & Sea technique. For instance, I’m serving a cal- Culinary. Busy from the beginning, Van Dept. are a major force in Chicago’s food amari Vindaloo with mango pickle and Lente has met challenges in going it alone: and beverage community. Tiki concept raita, a seasoned yogurt. We’re a seafood “Every single time I do an event, I have to Lost Lake earned its third consecutive restaurant, and I had been dragging my start from scratch,” he says, bemoaning heels on serving a fried squid dish, but the loss of a professional kitchen. But it’s 42 we’re in River North and we want to give clear he’s reveling in newfound freedom. JARED people what they want.” What’s cool is “I’ve never been able to showcase hospi- ROUBEN that this untraditional dish is not found tality as strongly as I can now,” he says. in India; you may be able to enjoy it only TVL Culinary fills a gap in services he saw at Portsmith. while working for others, and Van Lente APRIL 2018 Newcity is excited to build on the opportunity as 33

46 • TOM VAN LENTE 41 • NATALIA ROXAS AND SARAHLYNN PABLO 44 • NATE HENSSLERNewcity APRIL 2018 well as provide a model for others. “This taco—is very popular in his West Garfield David Karon and their gnarly guitar pedal is a tough industry; that’s no secret,” he Park neighborhood. The secret to his suc- company KHDK.” Dark Matter’s success says. “I like being the one to step out of cess, he believes, is that “no one ever did so far is only a beginning, Diaz says. “We the box. Maybe others will follow.” something like this before. Outdoor cook- have a lot of room to continue our mission ing has always been a joy to me, but to see of producing not only amazing coffee, but 47 so many smiles on so many people’s faces, reinforcing the fabric of our Chicago culture that orgasmic experience in their mouth via art, music, community and diversity. We PHILLIP FOSS that my menu has created, it’s so gratifying.” will open a store or two in 2018 here in the In his jerk crab leg, the sweetness of the city. Eventually, we will do some fun stores Chef meat pairs well with the heat of Thomas’ outside of Chicago. But not this year.” Phillip Foss just wants to have fun. After signature sauce, which is created with “a eight years and copious accolades, the chef blend of over twenty spices. The spices 50 at El Ideas who “cooks dinner like no one fuse with butter for a jerk flavor with a mild else in America” (according to Eater), still heat.” Thomas plans for his operation to go TONY FIASCHE finds time to meditate and play chess when worldwide, and he’s already opened a sec- he’s not in the kitchen. When it comes to ond location in Chatham. Still, “The Jerk ‘Nduja artisan cultivating staff, he prefers guidance over Taco Man way of life is to stay humble!” We’re not over-blessed with quality Italian heavy-handed rule: “The more you prac- delis in the Midwest. Publican Quality tice,” he says, “the better you will be.” And 49 Meats veteran Tony Fiasche is trying to don’t expect to see Foss leave his Tri-Taylor close that gap in the space of one cozy post any time soon: “I know this is anti-cap- JESSE DIAZ storefront at West Town’s Tempesta Mar- italistic, but I really want to leave El exactly ket. Chicagoans are talking about ‘nduja, where we are: innovating frequently and Coffee Roaster a Calabrian confluence of salumi and bringing fun into fine dining.” Jesse Diaz, the founder and president of andouille that packs spice and rich fatty Dark Matter, one of Chicago’s finest coffee pork. Fiasche and his father and co-owner 48 roasters, believes his biggest successes are Agostino also own ‘Nduja Artisans in “the development of our fermentation pro- Franklin Park, where the namesake pork JULIUS THOMAS gram using coffee from our partner in Gua- butter is produced and then distributed temala,” and, in the product area, “the throughout the Chicago area. Everything Chef Ghoul Screamer, which was our collabora- at Tempesta is made at ‘Nduja Artisans or The line at Jerk Taco Man is long; Julius tion with Kirk Hammett of Metallica and sourced from high-quality producers. Thomas’ kind of jerk—usually offered in a34

Apr 14 Arts on Equality Special EventThe Arts Together AApu–rg154 Hank Willis Thomas: UnbrandedJoin us on Northwestern University’sEvanston campus, your destination Art Exhibition, Block Museumfor world-class performances andexhibits. For a schedule of events, visit May 4–13artscircle.northwestern.edu The Waa-Mu Show:Image credits: (top left) Carla Surma; (right) Hank Manhattan MiracleWillis Thomas, Bounce back to normal (1933/2015). TheatreCourtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery,New York.Visit 80+ Artist Workspaces2018Racine Studios Kenosha StudiosSaturday, April 28 • 11-5 Sunday, April 29 • 11-5Art Exhibition • Meet the Artists • Live Entertainment Art Demonstrations • Free Food • Cash BarPreview Party | Friday, April 27 | $5 for 3 Days of Art | 5800 7th Avenue, Kenosha W W W. G E T B E H I N D T H E A R T S . O R G

MINDING THE GAPrts & CultureAfilmdirectedbyBingLiuplaysatChicagoMediaProject'sDoc10filmfestivalonSunday,April8.

Art Mounira Al-Solh, \"I strongly believe in our right to be frivolous #107,\" 2015, mixed media drawing on legal paper, 28.6 x 21 cm The truth is that Beirut is a beautiful city, full of art and music, drinking and dancing, and someDrawing Lessons of the most progressive people and contradic- APRIL 2018 NewcityFrom A Living History tory social conditions I have ever experienced. It’s not the Paris of the Middle East, it is theMounira Al-Solh at the Art Institute of Chicago Beirut of the Middle East, and if you don’t know what that means I encourage you to book yourBy Elliot J. Reichert ticket right away.Two summers ago, I wrote a love letter to that was once called the “Paris of the Middle It’s nearly impossible to discuss Beirut withoutChicago from Beirut, where I had chosen to East” for its lively culture and Western-friendly also talking about the war, the civil war thatspend the hottest months of the year working disposition. That description, still trotted out by lasted from 1975 to 1990 and saw aftershocks well-meaning people who surely could not find in 2006, when Israel shelled downtown Beirutalongside Lebanese colleagues at the Beirut Art Lebanon on a map, always makes me wince. from naval ships off the Mediterranean coastCenter, a small-but-mighty Kunsthalle in a city and a series of pro-Syria assassinations culminated in the Lebanese finally expelling Syrian forces that had lingered since the official end of armed hostilities. Most Lebanese, especially the younger generations, don’t want to talk about the war, not only because it is painful, but because it overshadows everything that has happened there since—the delicate political truce that has lasted for decades, the rebuilding of the war-torn city, the galleries and museums that have flourished, and the nightlife that rivals the likes of São Paulo and Berlin. Mounira Al Solh is among that generation that grew up during the Lebanese Civil War, born of a Lebanese father and a Syrian mother. To escape the chaos and violence, her family briefly relocated to Damascus in the 1980s. For reasons too complex to unravel here, Syria and Lebanon have shared a fraught and intertwined history since before their centuries under Ottoman rule and more recently under French mandate. Both achieved national sovereignty in the mid-forties, not long before the establish- ment of Israel and the Palestinian Nakba. Before then, Lebanese Christians succeeded in excluding Lebanon from the formation of a greater Arab state which was supported by Muslim Syrians who sought to enfold Lebanon within it. Damascus is two hours by car from Beirut, closer than the trip to your parents in the suburbs. During the civil war, many fled to Syria for safety, Al Solh and her family among them. With the United States, Russia, Turkey and Iran entrenched in the fray with the Syrian regime, the Kurdish resistance, the Free Syrian Army, the Islamic State, Hezbollah and other militias fighting on all sides, it is hardly a “civil war” that we are seeing in Syria today. However, the Lebanese Civil War also saw intervention from some of the same players, including the United States and Iran, as well as Israel, France, Syria and the omnipresent Hezbollah. In a cruel and ironic inversion of the Lebanese war years, millions of Syrians have fled over the border to 37

Lebanon, where they have stayed as migrants re-encountering those she had met elsewhere, or left to seek refugee status in Europe and the like a young man she knew in Beirut who ended up in a refugee camp in Norway by way United States. of Russia. Mounira Al Solh was living in Beirut in 2012 At the Art Institute, hundreds of her drawings when Syrians began to appear in Lebanon. are arrayed in a dark gray gallery on the first floor They were not refugees as we tend to of the Modern Wing. From afar, they appear stereotype them—desperate, penniless, and trembling—because these early migrants had more like a serial work of conceptual or ART TOP 5 minimalist tendencies. Up close, each sheet the resources to leave home and sustain 1 Hank Willis Thomas. themselves without the authorization to work. presents a loose portrait surrounded by Arabic Block Museum of Art. Among them were leftist artists and intellectuals scrawls—pen, pencil and marker co-mingle on Advertisements stripped of the page. Like the subjects themselves, the everything but figures demand who hoped that the Arab Spring would point a fresh focus on the ways that the way to a progressive resolution of the brutal styles vary widely. It is as if many artists gender and race are shaped decades of the Assad regime. As Al Solh tells it, contributed to the project, a sensation that by commodities. the Beirut nightlife in her neighborhood became belies the obviously intimate nature of each a site of excitement and cultural exchange. “It drawing. In fact, the fruits of collective labor are 2 Otobong Nkanga. exhibited in the adjacent room, where a much Museum of Contemporary was an amazing time. When you went out at Art. Nkanga binds Africa to night, you’d end up going crazy, getting drunk, smaller series of embroideries are hung on the the West through nuanced walls. Based on the drawing sessions, Al Solh investigations of economies of dancing on the tables with Syrians, Iraqis, raw materials and consumer Palestinians, Lebanese. It was so full of life, yet enlisted women to assist her in embroidering goods. at the same time still problematic.” Al Solh, who portraits and text that overlay her sketched impressions with dreamier scenarios of loss and 3 Nina Chanel Abney. lives in a traditionally Christian neighborhood Chicago Cultural Center. redemption. In the middle of this gallery, a The Chicago-born artist brings it where she is not originally from, does not put home with delightful and daring strange tent-like structure is suspended from the paintings and collage. her full name on her apartment door lest she alert her neighbors of her otherness. Wartime ceiling. On it are embroidered designs that 4 Ellen Rothenberg. sentiments linger in Beirut and the return of Syri- appear to be traditional motifs—figurative Spertus Institute. Drawing Ottoman processions, cypress trees, Palestinian on Spertus' archives of Judaica ans is a chilling reminder of the recent past, and materials on the Holocaust, despite that this time they are fleeing from war, tatreez, mermaids and peacocks. With help this photomontage installation from more than thirty Syrian women, the artist connects the history of not waging it. Since the outbreak of the war anti-Semitism with present-day and the migrant crisis, Syrians in Lebanon have embroidered a sperveri, a traditional wedding Islamophobia. been subject to rampant racism from Muslims bed canopy from the island of Rhodes, which is Greek by contemporary designation but much 5 Margot Bergman. and Christians alike. Corbett vs. Dempsey. closer to Turkey than to the Grecian mainland. You won't be able to look away from these eerie and intimate One at a time, Al Solh began inviting Syrians Greece, like Lebanon and Syria, existed for paintings of women. into her studio in Beirut, asking them to share centuries under Ottoman rule that caused 38 their stories, their dreams, their feelings about traditions and culture to intermingle throughout the empire. In an inversion befitting the tragic the war or whatever else was on their minds. As she listened, she sketched their portraits on ironies of Syria and Lebanon, Al Solh’s “Sperveri” yellow legal pads and took notes in the form of is meant not as a bed for consummation, but as brief quotations, almost always in the dialect of a memorial for those who have died since the Arabic shared by Lebanese and Syrians. At first, outbreak of the war, many whom drowned in it was a way for her to meditate on what might the sea between Lebanon and Greece. otherwise be an unfathomably abstract condition, one that she knew all too well from Two summers ago from Beirut, I wrote that growing up in Lebanon. According to Hendrik “resistance is more often a practice of preserving the palimpsest than a will to wipe it clean.” Folkerts, the Art Institute’s new curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, “It was also a Looking at Mounira Al Solh’s work in Chicago, where she has added new drawings of way for her to tap into her own memories of being in Syria during the Lebanese Civil War.” migrants she has met here through the Syrian Community Network, I feel compelled to revise Folkerts, who worked with Al Solh on her presentation of these drawings last summer at that statement. Indeed, if we don’t want to repeat the tragedies of history we must Documenta 14 in Kassel, says 2015 was a turning point both in the regional politics and in remember them, but if we want to make a the project. That year, Lebanon introduced visa better future, we must first imagine what it will look like. We must draw it, embroider it, paint it, restrictions on Syrians, slowing the tide of and sculpt it together—we must dream it andNewcity APRIL 2018 migrants and driving many of them to the create it before it will be. shores of the Mediterranean where they undertook risky sea crossings to Europe. Those Mounira Al Solh's \"I Strongly Believe In Our who survived the journey found fenced-off Right to Be Frivolous\" shows through April 29 borders in Eastern Europe and temporary camps on airstrips and abandoned prisons in at the Art Institute of Chicago, 111 South Greece, the Netherlands and elsewhere. That Michigan. The artist will participate in a panel discussion on \"Living Histories from Syria, year, Al Solh began meeting and drawing Lebanon and the Middle East\" on April 29 at people in other parts of the Middle East and the Art Institute's Fullerton Hall. Europe—Turkey, Italy, Greece—and even

Judy Ledgerwood Far From The TreeThrough April 22, 2018 Antony Gormley, after an idea by Gabriel Mitchell, Infinite Cube, 2014. APRIL 6–MAY 19, 2018 Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, Gift of Antony Gormley and W. J. T. Mitchell, 2014.63. NEW ADDRESSLawrence & Clark 1711 WEST CHICAGO AVENUEWEAVINGS BY LISA BARENSE CHICAGO ILLINOIS 60607 WWW. RHO FFM A NGA LLERY. C O M4755 N. Clark • Saturdays 1p-5p • lawrenceandclark.com WEAV- APRIL – MAY 2018 INGS BY APR 21–JUN 17, 2018 APRIL 2018 Newcity RICHARD REZAC ADDRESS THE RENAISSANCE SOCIETY at the University of Chicago 5811 South Ellis Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60637 renaissancesociety.org 39

EXHIBITIONSANDREW BAE GALLERY ILLINOIS HOLOCAUST MUSEUM & EDUCATION CENTER300 W. Superior Street312 335 8601 9603 Woods Drive, Skokie, [email protected] / www.andrewbaegallery.com 847 967 4800Tues-Sat 10-6 [email protected] / www.ilholocaustmuseum.orgMarch 6–April 28 Works on Paper: Kwang Jean Park, Mon–Wed 10-5, Thurs 10-8, Fri–Sun 10-5 January 21–September 23 The 75th Anniversary of the Tetsuya Noda, and Jungjin Lee Warsaw Ghetto UprisingBLOCK MUSEUM OF ART February 4–June 24 Speak Truth to Power: Human RightsAt Northwestern University Defenders Who Are Changing Our World40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston, IL March 15–September 16 Where the Children Sleep847 491 [email protected] / www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu LINDA WARREN PROJECTSTues, Sat–Sun 10-5, Wed–Fri 10-8, Mon closedThrough June 24 Experiments in Form: Sam Gilliam, Alan Shields, 327 N. Aberdeen, Ste. 151 312 432 9500 Frank Stella [email protected] / www.lindawarrenprojects.comThrough April 22 Paint the Eyes Softer: Mummy Portraits Tues–Sat 11-5 or by private appointment March 10–April 21 Gallery Y - Kim Piotrowski: Now That The Sky from Roman EgyptApril 14–August 5 Hank Willis Thomas: Unbranded Has Fallen March 10–April 21 Gallery X - Heather Marshall: Memories ThatCARL HAMMER GALLERY Are Not Mine740 N. Wells Street March 10–April 21 Gallery O - Nina Rizzo: Le Lavage312 266 [email protected] / www.carlhammergallery.com MONIQUE MELOCHE GALLERYTues–Fri 11-6, Sat 11-5March 2–May 5 Mary Lou Zelazny - VIVARIUM: New Paintings 2154 W. Division Street 773 252 0299DEPAUL ART MUSEUM [email protected] / www.moniquemeloche.com Tues–Sat 11-6At DePaul University Through April 28 Sheree Hovsepian: The Altogether.935 W. Fullerton Avenue773 325 7506 Jessica Vaughn: Paperwork (on the wall)[email protected] / museums.depaul.eduMon–Tues closed, Wed–Thurs 11-7, Fri–Sun 11-5April 26–August 5 Out of Easy ReachApril 26–August 5 BEVERLY FRESH: really somethin elseApril 26–August 5 DPAM Collects: Happy Little Trees & Other Recent Acquisitions

THE MUSEUM OF RICHARD GRAY GALLERYCONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY Richard Gray Gallery, Hancock: 875 N. Michigan Avenue, 38th FloorAt Columbia College Chicago Mon–Fri 10-5:30, Sat 11-5600 S. Michigan Avenue Gray Warehouse: 2044 W. Carroll Avenue312 663 5554 Wed–Sat By appointment [email protected] / www.mocp.org 312 642 8877Mon–Wed 10-5, Thurs 10-8, Fri–Sat 10-5, Sun 12-5 [email protected] / www.richardgraygallery.comApril 12–July 8 In Their Own Form April 12–June 2 Alex Katz: Grass and Trees (Gray Warehouse)THE NEUBAUER COLLEGIUM SCHINGOETHE CENTERFOR CULTURE AND SOCIETY of Aurora UniversityAt the University of Chicago 1315 Prairie Street, Aurora, IL5701 South Woodlawn Avenue 630 844 7843773 795 2329 [email protected] / www.aurora.edu/[email protected] / www.neubauercollegium.uchicago.edu Mon 10-4, Tues 10-7, Wed–Fri 10-4Mon–Fri 10-5 Through April 13 RICK BARTOW: Things You Know ButThrough June 2 Cecilia Vicuña: PALABRARmas Cannot ExplainTHE RENAISSANCE SOCIETY SMART MUSEUM OF ARTAt the University of Chicago5811 S. Ellis Ave., Cobb Hall, 4th Floor At the University of Chicago773 702 8670 5550 S. Greenwood [email protected] / www.renaissancesociety.org 773 702 0200Tues–Fri 10-5, Sat–Sun 12-5 [email protected] / www.smartmuseum.uchicago.eduThrough April 8 Unthought Environments Tues–Wed 10-5, Thurs 10-8, Fri–Sun 10-5April 21–June 17 Richard Rezac: Address Through April 22 The History of Perception April 24–December 30 Expanding Narratives: The FigureRHONA HOFFMAN GALLERY and the GroundNew Location Opens April 6:1711 W. Chicago Avenue312 455 [email protected] / www.rhoffmangallery.comTues–Fri 10-5:30, Sat 11-5:30April 6–May 19 Judy Ledgerwood: Far From The Tree

DanceNewcity APRIL 2018Dancing About DANCE TOP 5 Architecture Shadows Across Our Eyes/Photo: Cristina Tadeo 1 Process v. Product Festival. Exploring SITE/less, A New Artistic Laboratory Dance Center of Columbia College. Molly Shanahan continues By Michael Workman her dive into the bottomless caves of identity and Bebe Miller After years of collaboration, the dance- Michelle Kranicke: I don’t think there’s a space takes inspiration from syntax and translation as part of a weeklong architecture duo of Michelle Kranicke and like it in Chicago, [one] that is dedicated to festival. March 29-April 7 David Sundry see their efforts culminate in the experimentation and incubation [this way]; I 2 STOMPING GROUNDS. soft opening of an artistic laboratory for work think about economics and how everyone is various venues.Chicago trying to make everything digestible and Human Rhythm Project's that de es de nition. They’re calling it SITE/ two-month-long festival of less, as in without speci c location, or having a palatable to an audience. They’ll put in cross-cultural dance collaboration. language or they’ll bring in other people and April 2-June 7 de nition based on siloed disciplinary expectations. Rough and ready, the space is in make it dance theater or multidisciplinary in 3 Poor People's TV Room. some way with the hopes that the crossover will MCA Stage. Dance, song, the spirit and tradition of 1990s music club spoken word and lm combine in allow for some semblance of understanding. I this performance by Bessie-Award Lounge Ax or early Hyde Park Art Center. winning artist Okwui Okpokwasili. understand it, but what I think that does then is April 12-15 SITE/less is housed in the industrial area near it can erode, really, some basic elements of the 4 SITE/less Opening Noble Square, at the east side of the Kennedy art form. One thing Dave and I always talk Events. SITE/less. about is how this will be a research incubator Years of collaboration by dance- expressway. We walked along the porous, architecture duo of Michelle weeping concrete retaining wall to talk about kind of space, but it’s not going to be a place Kranicke and David Sundry  where we will all come together happily in a culminate in the opening of an making art audiences won’t recognize, and artistic laboratory for work that what that means for tracing new dance and art sandbox. You can play happily up to a point de es de nition. April 26-May 5 and then your edges kind of move and butt in cultural memory. 5 Chicago Dance Month against each other, and you’ll have to make Pop-up Performances. Block 37. Nine Chicago dance So, this place feels like the middle of some compromises. Even in dance and companies put on rush hour performances in the pedway and nowhere, but it’s just east of Ukrainian architecture, which is our collaboration, we’ve throughout Block 37. Free and on your way to just about anywhere. Village. Is this place an attempt to make found where dance needs this and architecture April 10 a version of the old Links Hall when it needs this, so we’re having this little standoff was in Wrigley? philosophically. So we’re trying to gure out, David Sundry: You’ll see people still throw “Okay, how do we preserve the integrity of the their garbage out, but ten, fteen, twenty form?” but then also nd this little in-between years ago, people might have a whole dump gap where we can both exist. truck lled with construction debris and DS: Yes, we want to avoid this sloppy utopian dump it all in the road. It’s a little like a version of “Everything’s working, everything’s bat-cave highway.42

successful,” just because you say it’s going to things, but the anchor-point idea is mature, I think anytime you can move away fromhappen. rigorous thought behind what’s going on. this commodity-centric, art world idea in any way and drag that kicking andThere’s a lot of bad art, rooted in Half the new art spaces that open up, screaming into other disciplinary areas,navel-gazing, inside-joke work that’s not their mission statement says “established that’s a good thing.about anything but itself. But I also take and emerging artists,” which of courseyour point about audience-pandering. means exactly nothing. MK: Oh, it’ll be kicking and screaming all right.MK: The other day we were talking about MK: In order to put something out that haspostmodernism. Everybody’s like, “Oh, gravitas and depth, it requires thinking. Long It’s a stance to resist art’s professionalization.postmodernism [in dance],” to the point thinking, longform thinking, and I feel like that, MK: That has been frustrating these past fewwhere, as Dave was saying, people forget especially with dance, hasn’t been at the years. I see the art of dance moving into thisthat postmodernism was a pushback forefront. As a purely pragmatic thing, this road that’s being populated because they thinkagainst modernism and now, that’s all space for me as an artist and performer is—I that’s what the audience wants to see and it’speople are being schooled in and so now want to have a place that is a permanent place digestible and therefore then they’ll get moneythe groundings and historical tenets of what for me to produce work that is interesting and because, “Okay, I see if I use some languagewas being pushed against are forgotten, so inspiring and while Zephyr’s paying a monthly then I’ll know what your piece is about andit’s this diluted form that makes seeing and rent here, I don’t have to gure in renting a therefore, great I’m so glad I get it.”watching the progression of different forms theater or venue.unsatisfactory. DS: And that maybe serves their social and politi- DS: And the other thing is, with the increasing cal check-box and they’re not going to get anySo, how do you see the programming nature of the collaboration, the things we’ve pushback. There’s a PR value they’re getting andcoalescing? wanted to do and we’ve wanted other people there’s a kind of vetting they have to do rst. ButMK: I feel exible on that, but in addition to to participate in, you can’t rent another guy’s as artists, you can choose whether or not that’sthe soft opening, Joseph Ravens at De brilla- space at those rates for six months. the only way you’re going to make work.tor and I are going to co-curate and do amovement-for-camera, dance-for-camera MK: That’s one of the major reasons, for MK: Right. I think it’s this American thing, to shyfestival in the fall because he’s moved down instance, when we set up those cinderblocks away from any work with a sense of ambiguityto Zhou B, so it makes a nice north-south at De brillator—for Valise 13, several hundred or ambivalence, and that’s really too bad,thing. Somebody we’re talking with does cinderblocks had to be hauled in and out of because that’s what I think art is all about.social practice fashion, so I could see this the space in a weekend—people were likeplace lled with sewing machines for an event. “How long is this staying up?” And it was like, SITE/less, 1250 West Augusta, will host its soft “Oh gosh, just until tomorrow.” So, it’s also opening with a premiere of \"Shadows AcrossDS: We started out with these ideas. interesting, from our standpoint, where we get Our Eyes,\" new movement studies by Kranicke to invite other artists to come and interact with and Molly Strom, April 26-May 5, $15. TicketsMK: People might come for a lot of different the architecture as well. at zephyrdance.com. “A must-see for any APRIL 2018 Newcity arts lover...successfully takes the temperature of our fractured, terrifying, bloodied moment.” Columbia UndergroundBebe Miller CompanyIn a Rhythm, a suite of new works inspired by the writingsof Gertude Stein, Toni Morrison, and David Foster Wallace.April 5, 6, and 7, 2018 at 7:30 p.m.Single tickets $30 Regular / $24 Seniors / $10 StudentsEvent is part of the Process v. Product Festival.Learn more at:colum.edu/dancecenterpresentsFind us on 43

\"The Art of Seating: 200 Years of American Design\" at the Driehaus Museum/Photo: Alex GarciaDesign DESIGN TOP 5 Sit Up and Take Notice 1 Sixteenth Annual Driehaus \"The Art of Seating, 200 Years of American Design\" Awards for Fashion at the Driehaus Museum Excellence. Chicago Vintage Motor Carriage. The annual fashion By Philip Berger show gives selected students from local programs an opportunity toNewcity APRIL 2018 Is there any piece of furniture more basic, sive holdings in paintings, sculpture and works showcase their talents and further ubiquitous or commonplace than the chair? It’s on paper as well as decorative arts—began their careers. April 27 the most elemental item in any residential with their collection of museum-quality and setting. “The Art of Seating,” an exhibition of historical chairs. The very first piece the Jacobs- 2 Arte Diseño Xicágo. American chairs from the last 200 years on ens collected—an 1875 Egyptian Revival National Museum of Mexican display at the Driehaus Museum, posits that, armchair made by the Pottier & Stymus Art. An exhibition focusing on the more than any other object, the chair tells the Manufacturing Company—is in this exhibition. influence of Mexican travelers, history of modern design. Addressing this issue The traveling edition included excellent didactic immigrants and artists in Chicago’s entertainingly and intelligently, the exhibition materials with succinct descriptions of each of art and design scene. Through traces the evolution of the chair in America. the thirty-seven pieces in the show, but the August 19 Driehaus curatorial staff, led by the museum’s There’s a great backstory to the show, which curator of collections and exhibitions Catherine 3 Macy’s Flower Show. has traveled to many venues in the last five-plus Shotick, has assembled fine embellishments to Macy’s State Street. This is years and arrived at the Driehaus under the the traveling materials, such as a historical your last chance to immerse auspices of International Art & Artists—a timeline that places the pieces in context. yourself in Macy’s annual floral nonprofit organization that manages traveling wonderland. “Once Upon a exhibits, and has currently has two other shows Less a comprehensive survey of every period Springtime\" promises a fairytale that originated at the Driehaus. “The Art of of American design than a window into the fortnight starting with the unveiling Seating“ began at the Museum of Contempo- collecting habits of the Jacobsens, the show of Macy’s famed floral windows. rary Art, Jacksonville—more specifically from its presents fine examples of nineteenth-century Through April 8 Jacobsen Collection of American Art. The styles and crafts and reflects the growing tradi- Jacobsen collection—which includes impres- tion in American furniture-making and 4 Vintage Garage. 5649 North Sheridan. Season Opener: The vintage clothing and jewelry show inside a multi-story garage filled with all the vintage you ever dreamt of. April 15 5 Fashion Challenge X: A Decade of Impact. Chicago Cultural Center. Heshima Kenya celebrates ten years of impact in the lives of refugee girls and young women with a fashion show that also highlights their social enterprise, the Maisha Collective, a program that fosters girl's empowerment, leadership and business skills. April 1244

craftsmanship, which Americans embraced asthey broke away from European designdictates over the course of the century.There’s an intriguing collection of items fromthe past sixty years, but oddly almost nothingrepresenting the period between the WorldWars, although the mid-century modernperiod is well represented with examples ofdesigns by Harry Bertoia, Isamu Noguchi,Eero Saarinen, the Eameses, and GeorgeNelson, when American design came todominate the world scene.The Driehaus, which occupies the repurposed \"The Art of Seating: Two Hundred Years of American Design\" at the Driehaus Museum. Photo: Alex Garcia1883 Samuel M. Nickerson house, is a peculiarlocation for a show you’d ordinarily expect in a engaging installation that takes advantage of encourages visitors to experience sitting inwhite-cube exhibition space designed to allow the residential setting—a wonderful place for each of them.the visitor to focus on the varied chair designs.The Nickerson house, by contrast, is a Gilded the real climax of the show: The Act of SittingAge mansion with elaborately decoratedsurfaces that demand attention. So while it’s a Lounge. For its presentation of the exhibit, the This may not seem like a big deal, butgreat experience to explore the space underany circumstances, it’s not always an ideal Driehaus offers up one of the bedrooms to touching items in any museum’s collection isplace to look at art exhibitions. Additionally, thelayout of the museum is such that the gift provide examples of some of the pieces in the notoriously forbidden so it’s a thrill to be ableshop is located between two of the four roomson the second floor—originally the family show—contemporary production pieces of to sit in some of them. If you like chairs—andbedrooms, all of which opened off a grandcenter hall—where the show is displayed. So chairs by Eames, Gehry and Nelson (recent really, how do you not like chairs?—it’s a lotwhile the lavish backdrop of decorative stonepanels and elaborate millwork is artwork itself, donations to the museum’s collection by Knoll of fun.it's distracting for the display of decorative arts. design firm) in addition to several others fromBut as it turns out, the Driehaus has cleverlyused its home space as an interactive, the museum’s and Richard  Driehaus’ personal \"The Art of Seating: 200 Years of American collection—a Jean-Jacques Ruhlmann barrel Design\" exhibition runs through August 12 at chair and a Josef Hoffmann club chair—and the Richard H. Driehaus Museum, 40 East Erie. The Board of Directors and the 2018 Gala Committee cordially invite you to attend the Cecilia VicuñaPALABRARMAS March 29–June 2 SATURDAY, APRIL 21 MORGAN MANUFACTURING 401 N. Morgan St. Chicago HONORING OUR 2018 CORPORATE PARTNER: Youth experiencing homelessness miss out on more than APRIL 2018 Newcity a place to stay at night — they don’t have opportunities to experience the feeling of wonderment that so many of us take for granted when we are young. Join Teen Living Programs for our annual gala to support Chicago youth who are experiencing homelessness, and the work TLP is doing to ensure these young people can be de ned by their potential, not their circumstances. Hear from young people who have participated in TLP, and enjoy premier auction packages, dancing, dinner and more. Purchase your tickets here: tlpchicago.org/events/2018gala Cocktails | 6:00 PM • Dinner & Program | 7:15 PM • Live & Silent Auction Black Tie Optional • Valet Parking Available 45

D&iDnirningking Photo: Max Braverman Photography My Favorite Restaurant DINING & DRINKING TOP 5 The Simple Pleasures of an Unsung Place 1 Sailing Winemaker By David Hammond Dinner. Geja’s Cafe. Thirteen selections from coastalNewcity APRIL 2018 At my favorite restaurant, they don’t cook people, the hair salon on the first floor might at wineries—offered at promotional a lot of food. There’s only a handful of first throw you off. Signage outside—an prices—poured to pair with big housemade dishes on the menu, and they’re old-timey glass rectangle—announces “wine steaming pots of cheese. April 9 very good, but select, focused. The rest of the bar” in light red lettering, looking faded with menu is a collection of carefully curated cheese time, which it can’t be because the place has 2 Fourth Annual Chicago and charcuterie. To my way of thinking, there been open for only a few months. The legal Rum Festival. Logan are no finer foods than milk and meat that have name, though stenciled in frosted glass on the Theatre. Dozens of rums, many gone through a process of controlled decay, front door, is not obvious. No problem, though, of which you haven’t tasted yet. letting nature make them more delicious. because most of the people filling the room are There’s more out there than from the neighborhood—over fifty percent of Bacardi. Yo-ho-ho. April 14 A major strength of this place is their broad the room is local, said general manager George selection of wines, many by the glass. They offer Saldez—and they know where they’re going. 3 Cocktail Class. beer and cocktails, if you must (and at many As chef Jeff Williams explains, this is “a Entente. Learn how to restaurant-bars, I usually do), but for cheese and neighborhood bar in the West Loop,” which is make syrups, bitters and three charcuterie, wine is best. The acidity slices an anomaly. to four cocktails, all to enhance through lushness, cleansing the palate for more your stature as undisputed flavors, again and again. The servers know a lot; It was snowy, slushy and shitty the first time we master of parties. April 22 you can ask them what goes with what, assured dropped by. Pools of dirty water created you’ll get informed guidance. impassable moats at every corner. The snow 4 Shuck Like a Chef. GT was stained with godknowswhat dank gunk, Fish & Oyster. Ever wonder This is not an easy place to find. It’s on the and the sidewalks impassable, blocked by how to pop open an oyster? All lowest level of a sturdy old building on the snow that had not been shoveled and heavy your wonderment will be outskirts of the Randolph Street restaurant row. construction equipment, building materials resolved by GT chefs. Price of It’s underground, so if you’re at street level spilling from behind wire fencing. The weather admission ($65) includes a scanning for bright lights and tables filled with and clutter can make this hard-to-find place dozen or so oysters, shucking tools, wine pairings. Good date night option. ( And you know what they say about oysters... April 25 5 Culinarium 2018: Powering the “She-Cago” Food Scene. Venue West. Les Dames d’Escoffier bring together chefs and bakers like Rinkavage, Dowling and Holl to prepare a multi-course dinner, with drinks from Violet Hour, as well as wine pairings, to support scholarship and other programs to enrich Chicago’s culinary and cultural community. Eat, drink, do good. April 3046

even harder to nd, which might generate atmosphere made us more alert, more attentive, We asked our server, Roberto, to pick wines tofrustration in the seeker. All that makes nally more alive. pair with what we’d ordered. We started with nding the place all the more satisfying and lesser-known Champagnes (Louis Nicaisecomforting. On a second, solo trip, I sat at the bar. A nice and Audoin de Dampierre), and when the bold- lady from the neighborhood engaged me in er foods arrived, we were ready for reds. WeDown the stairs, into the basement, you can see conversation. “I feel comfortable coming here both liked a pinot noir from Bourgogne, softersnow caking up against windows, set maybe alone,” she said. “It’s not like going to a bar on the palate, laid-back so as not to ght theeight feet above the oor. Religions began in alone.” Though that’s exactly what both of us avors.caves for a reason, and in this below-street-level were doing, although it didn’t feel that way. Itspot, you’re in a cloistered space, a cozy, friendly felt nicer, a little calmer, more civilized. Chef Williams prepares a focused menu ofplace where you’re welcome even if you’ve never warm foods, and to balance out our meal ofbeen there before. On cushioned seating along On our rst visit, Williams was in the open mostly fatty salted meat and rich cheese, wethe wall and a few long tables, everyone seems kitchen slicing sausage, portioning out the order carrots dressed in za’atar yogurt andto be sharing a good time. Sure, the wine helps, cheese, dressing the plates with either a la sprinkled with shattered hazelnuts, and theand there’s an overall feeling of being cocooned carte selections or building the Grande Board, Brussel sprouts, fried; the two vegetable sidesin a subterranean, homey pleasure dome, accurately described on the menu as a delivered both sweet and bitter vegetablewithout a hint of gaudiness or pretension, “bacchanalia of charcuterie and cheese.” We avors, which go a long way toward eveningblanketed in a vague sense of secrecy. You feel went with this option, the better to enable out the full-bodied mouthfuls of charcuteriealmost privileged to sit down. Williams to make the ideal selections of and cheese. Williams makes other tempting available meat and cheese, and we were items—including lamb meatballs and duckYou think to yourself, “Who do I love? I want to genuinely, totally thrilled with what we received. breast—and they’re all presented in small platebring them here.” Cheese (a goat’s milk gouda, a creamy and portions, a good encouragement (as if any lightly funky Delice de Bourgogne), sausage were needed) to try lots of tastes.On the day before Valentine’s Day, love was on (including nocchiona and Serrano ham), olivesat least some minds. There was a young couple scented with lavender, sugared nuts, mustard Near the front door, there’s a cozy privatesitting next to us who looked like they could have and other condiments. I devolved into room, with enough space for fteen to twentybeen on their rst date: they were excited to be two- sted gobbling, grabbing with both paws, patrons. A at screen sits over the bar, a nodtogether, giggly and enchanted with one another. chewing, mad with eating, with a focused, to the need to satisfy the sports urge of manyBrie y, an older man in a well-tailored and perhaps slightly hysterical grin on my face, kind who stop by now and again. In the main diningtasteful sport coat, open collar, no wedding ring, of like Bruce Lee when he delivers his area, our host told us the screens are usuallysat down, facing the wall, his back to the room. death-stomp. With the dozen or so items on turned off, another reason to make a trip toThis gentleman had only a glass of water, and the board, there are thousands of avor The Press Room.after fteen minutes of texting, he got up and left; combinations. With all that intensity on the plate,his date a no-show. We don’t usually pay much we were swimming in deliciousness, tangled in The Press Room, 1134 West Washingtonattention to those sitting around us, but the intoxicating tastes. It was good. (331)240.1914. 164 North State Street • Between Lake & Randolph ITZHAK APRIL 6 - 12 On the go with Itzhak Perlman! “Good music & good company make ITZHAK a pleasure.” — Variety ZAMA APRIL 2018 Newcity APRIL 13 - 19 47 WITH DIRECTOR LUCRECIA MARTEL IN PERSON 4/15 & 4/16 BUY TICKETS NOW at www.siskelfilmcenter.org

Film “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” FILM TOP 5 Division 1 Zama. Siskel. The Streak America Argentine master Lucrecia Martel will appear for some DOC10 Turns Three showing of her fourth feature, a kaleidoscopically expressionist By Ray Pride historical Western, with a possibility of screenings of Chicago Media Project’s third edition and, in the case of CMP’s efforts, financing her three earlier films as well. of the DOC10 spring event is not only the and support, too.” (Seven CMP-supported now-to-be-expected short, sharp berth for documentaries debuted at the Sundance Opens April 13 nonfiction work fresh off festival premieres Film Festival two years in a row.) from Sundance, Tribeca, Toronto and Berlin, 2 DOC10. Davis. The it also comes on the heels of the Best Still, the entire market for nonfiction is in the third edition of the spring Documentary Academy Award for Dan Cogan midst of upheaval and transformation with a Chicago premiere showcase for and Bryan Fogel’s “Icarus” (now on Netflix), wide range of distribution changes, from the topnotch docs fresh from the on which CMP is executive producer. “Icarus’” eight-billion dollars Netflix has to expend in winter festival circuit. April 5-8 too-timely story of Russian state indifference the coming year, and the overstock of worthy to international norms and rules meets CMP’s work available from other outlets as well. 3 The Rider. Music Box. expressed goal of “supporting great artists Kaufman is a keen observer of that aspect Chloé Zhao’s drenchingly telling stories (with impact) that have the of the scene, posting overviews of the fate of melancholy story of dashed power to influence the social and political documentaries after Sundance 2018, as well rodeo dreams in Pine Ridge, landscape and ignite change.” as the documentary box office in 2017. South Dakota. Opens April 27Newcity APRIL 2018 “I’d say the whole ethos behind DOC10 is “This is a big question, and probably goes 4 Lover For A Day. for it to also be intimate and have impact, beyond the scope of DOC10,” he tells First Chicago run of small but powerful,” says curator Anthony me, “but I’ve been sounding the alarm for Philippe Garrel’s latest Gallic Kaufman. “We’ve gone with ‘jewel’ or a theatrically released documentaries for the last heart-crusher, leading into ‘gem’ as a guiding visual metaphor for our year. I think the key quote comes from Dan a May retrospective of his materials. So yes, it’s a small event, but one Cogan, who just won the Oscar for ‘Icarus,’ brooding body of work. that we believe has large value and ripple a film which the Chicago Media Project effects—in cultivating and building the Chicago supported and which we recently hosted Opens April 27 audience for excellent, artistic and affective for its Chicago theatrical premiere. He said, nonfiction stories and empowering documen- ‘One of the reasons the doc marketplace is so 5 Ready Player One. tary filmmakers with supportive audiences robust is that they perform better on SVOD Music Box. 70mm engagement of Steven Spielberg’s “Tron”-on-Adderall virtual reality-as-nostalgic- branding tapestry… Or will it be a radically subversive takedown of all of the above? March 30-April 1948

[streaming/video-on-demand] than they ever beautiful ones are those that should most premiere of “The King,” his celebrity-filled did on TV. I don’t see any problem in the be seen on the big screen, but aren’t. At musical road trip in Elvis’ 1963 Rolls Royce documentary marketplace. Yes, we haven’t this year’s DOC10, we have some stunning, that covers Elvis’ rise to stardom but also had a film that made more than $5 million in cinematic docs. But I have concerns that provides an exploration of American dreams. theaters recently, but anecdotally, people people won’t experience them on the big “With films such as the ‘Trials of Henry appear to be watching more docs than ever.’ screen. And that’s why we created DOC10: Kissinger,’ ‘Why We Fight’ and ‘The House And I think that’s probably true.” to shine a spotlight on the theatrical and I Live In,’ Eugene Jarecki has consistently communal experience of watching works proven himself a vital and bold filmmaker, Cogan was also a producer on “Won’t You of art about real people—with the real people unafraid to take on big issues with the skill of a Be My Neighbor?” the roundly applauded involved at the screening. I think it makes a master essayist,” Kaufman writes. “We cannot feature chronicle of the life of Fred Rogers, huge difference in how we experience a film.” wait to talk with him about his work, American aka Mister Rogers, which opens this year’s politics and Elvis’ ‘Unchained Melody.’” DOC10. “If there’s any film that could revive While he wasn’t seeking a theme for the event, docs in theaters, it’s this one [opening in July],” Kaufman identifies a thematic undercurrent The local premiere of Bing Liu’s “Minding the Kaufman says, “and I’d also call out Eugene in the features on show. “Divisions—cultural, Gap,” produced by Kartemquin Films, should Jarecki’s Elvis Presley doc ‘The King,’ which national, political—but also a hope for prove an audience favorite, a longitudinal is closing this year’s event. They’re both reconciliation. It’s glaringly there in ‘Won’t portrait of three longtime friends, all from timely, political, well-crafted, and revolve You Be My Neighbor?’ and ‘The King,’ but precarious families, over the course of several around well-known figures.” Still, he hesitates. also in ‘The Other Side Of Everything’ [about years in Rockford. (From Sundance, Indiewire’s“But we won’t know until they’re released. secrets in a Belgrade family apartment], Eric Kohn dubbed it “the ‘Boyhood’ of skate So, while I think there’s some amazingly ‘Bisbee ‘17’ [Robert Greene’s recreation of videos.”) “Minding the Gap” also provides a successful docs that open in theaters—‘I Am the deportation of 1,200 immigrant miners sterling example of the approach to ground- Not Your Negro’ had its Chicago premiere at exactly a century ago, staged by locals], and breaking nonfiction work programmed by the Chicago International Film Festival, which ‘Devil’s Freedom’ [a portrait of violence in DOC10 as well as larger events like the annual I also program—most of the ‘successful’ Mexico from the perspective of abusers as True/False Fest in Columbia, Missouri: Find docs aren’t breaking out in theaters, but well as the abused].” Post-screening Q&As characters. Love them. Tell their story. Make it people are watching them at home in a big are accompanied by events including opening cinematic—find the movie it was meant to be. way. I think ‘RBG,’ the Ruth Bader Ginsburg night’s “Toast to Public Television” noting The latter-day label “nonfiction” is much finer doc [which opens in late spring], will also be the fiftieth anniversary of the “Mister Rogers as a moniker than “documentary”: none of seen by lots of people, but I’ll be curious to Neighborhood” program and thirty years these movies are stodgy, dodgy “documents” see if they catch it in movie theaters. of “P.O.V.,” television’s longest-running in any fashion. showcase for independent nonfiction film.“My big problem,” Kaufman continues, The third annual DOC10 film festival,“and this goes for docs as well as indie fiction Closing night features a special tribute to features, is that the very best and most filmmaker Eugene Jarecki with the Chicago presented by Chicago Media Project, plays April 5-8 at the Davis Theater. doc10.org APRIL 2018 Newcity 49

Lit LIT TOP 5 So Easy 1 Cecile Richards. to Love Nicholas Senn High School. President of Planned Mahogany L. Browne Parenthood Federation of discusses “Black Girl Magic” America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund By Toni Nealie discusses her memoir “Make Trouble” with Described as a “manual of glorious sorcery” include Thabisile Griffin, Rachel “Raych” Jackson, David Axelrod. April 14 by poet Patricia Smith in her foreword, “The Britteney Black Rose Kapri, Lin-Z, Ciara Darnise BreakBeat Poets Vol. 2: Black Girl Magic” speaks Miller, Aja Monet and Natalie Richardson. 2 Graphic! Chicago Humanities Festival. of love, gender, bodies, motherhood, hurt and Various venues. The CHF resilience, risk and danger. Editors Mahogany L. Written by and for black women, the poems Spring Festival explores disrupt myths and stereotypes and present visual culture and extreme Browne, Idrissa Simmonds and Jamila Woods expression. April 24, 28-29 expansive perspectives on black womanhood. “sought poems that were unafraid to look head 3 Nikki Giovanni. American Writers on… uncomfortable, intimate and striking.” The “Because we are seen as inherently dangerous, Museum. Recipient of seven NAACP Image awards and anthology, from Haymarket Books’ new imprint, there is a threat any time we dare to be truthful author of more than thirty about the abundance of our lives,” Idrissa books, Nikki Giovanni reads BreakBeat Publishing, features sixty-six poets from “A Good Cry.” April 26 ranging from established writers to relative Simmonds says. “To read the work of the women 4 Chicago Public Library Poetry Fest.Newcity APRIL 2018 newcomers, including Elizabeth Acevedo, Safia gathered in the pages of this anthology is to revel Harold Washington Library in and celebrate this abundance in spite of the Center. Safia Elhillo and Elhillo, Aracelis Girmay, Syreeta McFadden, sam sax read their poetry Morgan Parker and Angel Nafis. Editor, vocalist risk.” She highlights the dissonance black women in celebration of National Poetry Month. April 28 and writer Jamila Woods, featured in last year’s face. On one hand being sought out for panels 5 Amruta Patil. Newcity Lit 50 list, includes her poems “my and keynotes as leading writers, visual artists, Seminary Co-op Bookstores. Amruta Patil afropuffs,” “N” and “Waves” and Eve L. Ewing, academics, business and tech leaders, scientists discusses her graphic novels and athletes; on the other—“Rekia Boyd, Renisha “Kari,” “Adi Parva: Churning also featured on the list, has “why you cannot of the Ocean” and “Sauptik: touch my hair” and “What I Mean When I Say I’m McBride, Sandra Bland, Charleena Lyles, Korryn Blood and Flowers.” April 12 Sharpening My Oyster Knife.” Noname, another Gaines, Tarika Wilson and countless others whose well-known Chicagoan, includes “Bye Bye Baby.” names we will never know lose their lives to the Other poets and rappers connected to Chicago failure of the white imagination to police itself.”50