chicago

Elysian Hotel's Marc Jacobs Package

In 2008 my colleague Jared Paul Stern mentioned that Marc Jacobs would be opening his only Chicago boutique at the Elysian Hotel. Now the hotel has created a special package, the "Bed, Breakfast and Marc Jacobs" package for anyone wanting to make a pilgrimage to the boutique. The package is available through Labor Day and includes accommodations in an Elysian guestroom or suite, complimentary breakfast in bed, a Marc Jacob beach tote and a limited edition Marc Jacobs towel. Rates start at $415.

Tags: chicago, chicago hotels, elysian hotel, hotel deals, marc jacobs

Grant Achatz Announces New Restaurant With Video Trailer

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Video

Chicago-based chef Grant Achatz of Alinea has always done things a little differently. To announce his latest venture he and business partner Nick Kokonas created a video trailer for the Next Restaurant and a cocktail lounge called Aviary, both of which will open in Chicago this fall. The trailer evokes old fashioned news reels. A map emerges and a first stop, "Paris 1912" is revealed. Just when you start to imagine Achatz's version of classic French cuisine the video darts to a new destination, Hong Kong 2036. Yes, Next will be serving food from the future. A hovercraft takes off from 2036 and turns back into a plane zipping over to Sicily 1949. What on earth is going on here? Then the concept is revealed: four menus per year from great moments in culinary history - or the future.

The trailer ends with the curious message that "tickets (yes, tickets)" will go on sale soon. The NY Times Diners Journal blog resports that anyone who wants to eat at Next will buy their time slot in advance. Prices will be lower for off-peak hours and will vary depending on the menu. Prices will run $45 to $75 for a five- or six-course meal with wine and beverage pairings starting at $25. There will even be season tickets available. No tickets will be required at Aviary, the bar, which will mimic a bit of whatever is happening over at Next with cocktails that resonate with the theme of the moment.

Tags: alinea, chicago, fine dining, grant achatz, next restaurant

Playboy Mansion Chicago Condo,Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Her'es where it all began, the first Playboy mansion on Chicago's Gold Coast, where you can now buy a condo that is up for sale. The Victorian-style mansion was built back in 1903 and designed by James Gamble Rogers for surgeon George Snow Isham. Playboy founder Hugh Hefner turned the home into the first Playboy mansion and used it for parties and events from 1959 until the mid-1970s when he decamped for Los Angeles. The company later leased the mansion to the Art Institute for student housing and in 1989 it was donated to the museum. But as Hef has found with his Holmby Hills mansion, upkeep is expensive. Struggling under the burden, the Art Institute sold it to developer Bruce Abrams in 1993. Abrams gutted the home and renovated it into seven separate units. Today's home is the only unit in the building that leads out to the property's garden and it has a private patio. The three-bedroom 3,900-square-foot unit has beautiful architectural details like ornate moldings, built-in shelving and curved archways. This slice of Playboy history is listed at $2.9 million.

[via Chicago Tribune]

Gallery: Chicago's Playboy Mansion Condo

Tags: chicago, condo, estate of the day, gold coast, hugh hefner, playboy

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Alinea Choosen Best Chicago Restaurant of All Time

by Jonathon Ramsey (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Grant Achatz, the founding chef behind Chicago's Alinea, has gotten in the habit of taking home at least one big award and getting in the top ten of some big restaurant list every year. Now his gourmet establishment has taken home an award that we might say no one saw coming: Chicago magazine has named the six-year-old Alinea the best restaurant in Chicago, ever. That's right – ever.

For now we'll put that in the "Them's Big Words" file, but the award is out now and there's no taking it back. Second place went to a restaurant that closed three years ago, Le Francais, and third went to Charlie Trotter's. The breadth of the list, however, couldn't be better exemplified than by noting that Pizzeria Uno came in at number ten. Regardless, congratulations to Mr. Achatz and his molecular gastronomy team.

Source

Tags: alinea, chicago, chicago magazine, chicagos best restaurant ever, grant achatz, molecular gastronomy

The Drawing Room: Culinary Cocktails

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

The Drawing Room is nominated for a Luxist Award for Best Cocktail Lounge.

Adjoined to the well-lauded Chicago nightclub Le Passage is The Drawing Room, an exclusive dining and cocktail lounge and nominee for a Readers' Choice Award for Best Cocktail Lounge.

Pull up a chair to a rustic wooden table in the exquisite venue inspired by designer Hugh N'Cho-Allepot and order a small plate of contemporary, seasonal cuisine -- you'll need food in your stomach as you embark on a journey through the handcrafted liqueurs and innovative imbibables of The Drawing Room.

Gallery: The Drawing Room in Chicago

Tales of the Cocktail winner Charles Joly is the Chief Mixologist presiding over the impressive team of Master Bartenders at The Drawing Room, and together they hone delicious recipes and hand-make ingredients for both pre-Prohibition cocktails and cocktails of the future. Ask for table-side service, and someone will wheel a cart to your table with all the in-house brandied cherries, hand-squeezed fruit juices and bitters from scratch they need to create your consummate cocktail. Your mixologist will walk you through the process and let you smell and/or taste each delectable ingredient. Even the ice is special: The Drawing Room uses a one-of-a-kind, upside-down, horizontal evaporating ice machine to make each cube clear and perfect.

Drinks at The Drawing Room are constantly changing, but they've been known to make their "culinary cocktails" with ingredients like rose water, honey water, lemon oil, egg white, Canton ginger liqueur, torched bitters and Malort, among other unusual elixirs. Metromix recommends the "Secret Cocktail (Plymouth gin, Laird's AppleJack, pomegranate grenadine and fresh lemon-sour, $16), and A Perfect Poire (Bacardi Apple, Marie Brizard Poire liqueur, pear puree, cinnamon-pear maple syrup and a caramelized pear slice garnish, $16)."

Some readers seem perfectly willing to lay down in the street to get their hands on a table, describing the cocktails as "unbelievably well-balanced" and "the best drink I've ever had." Similar comments surround the food -- we highly recommend going there and checking out whatever they're doing with bacon this week.

Vote for the cocktail lounge that you believe is the best of breed. The voting period runs through April 30 and winners will be announced on May 1.

Tags: awards-main, bar, best bar, best cocktail lounge, chicago, cocktail lounge, cocktails, le passage, luxist-awards, the drawing room

Chicago Hotel Offers No-Tip Luxury

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Part of the hidden expense of staying at a luxury hotels is tipping but one hotel, the Elysian in Chicago has done away with it. USA Today's Hotel Check-In column reports that the hotel has adopted a no-tipping-necessary policy. David Pisor, the developer behind the 188 room hotel says that he finds thinking about tipping detracts from the luxury experience. The article points out that Pisor is also the nephew of Alice Waters whose Chez Panisse has had a service charge in lieu of tipping for years.

Customers can tip if they want to but are told when they book the room and check in that tipping is not necessary. The Elysian isn't the first hotel to have this property. Some resorts have adopted the policy to help contribute to the total relaxation of the customer. Other city hotels like the Seaport Hotel in Boston also have done away with tipping.

The Elysian is an ultra-luxury hotel where rooms cost around $350 per night. The hotel includes large residence-styled guest rooms and suites. The hotel has two restaurants, a bar and a health club and spa. It offers 24-hour room service and a 24-hour doorman and security. A private fleet of luxury automobiles are available for local transportation and airport transfers. The hotel is currently offering a special that provides three nights for the price of two.

Tags: chicago, elysian hotel, hotel chicago, no tipping hotel, no tipping policy

Sir Spa: A Chicago Spa with a Masculine Touch

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spas

Walk into Chicago's SIR Spa and one of the first things you'll find is a refrigerator stocked with beer. It's little things like this that make the establishment a Luxist nominee for best men's spa.

The 4,500 square-foot spa has a masculine feel to it, thanks to exposed brick walls and rich wood trim. Before and after treatments, guests can unwind in the relaxation lounge, complete with overstuffed leather recliners and a 50-inch plasma television. Many of the treatments are done in barbershop-style chairs along the lounge's wall.

Gallery: More from Sir Spa

At SIR, even the treatments themselves sound more like something you'd find in an auto repair shop than a spa – there's a "Hand and Foot Detail," code for manicure and pedicure. One of the most popular treatments is the "Tune-Up Massage," targeted at back, neck and shoulders to relieve chronic body pain (30 minutes: $55). The "Sports Massage" includes muscle stretching, compression and release therapy (60 minutes: $100; 90 minutes: $145; 120 minutes: $190).

The spa also offers a number of skin treatments for young and old. Freshen up your face with the "Face Firming Boost," which includes a collagen facial mask to fight wrinkles, or "Acne Treatment," which uses extractions and spot treatment to kill bacteria and heal scars. A variety of body hair trimming services are available as well. Ladies are allowed too – there's even a private treatment suite just for women.

Cast your vote for your favorite spa until March 31st. Winners will be announced on April 1.

Tags: awards-main, best mens spa, chicago, chicago spas, luxist-awards, mens spa, sir spa, spa, spa-main

Local Luxury: Pastoral, Artisan Cheese, Bread and Wine In Chicago

by Benjamin Haas (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

cheese If you're looking for the best local and international cheeses in Chicago, then Pastoral is the place. In fact aside from just an artisanal neighborhood cheese shop, Pastoral is also an amazing wine store, with the layout of the wines in line with the cheeses they compliment, full body wines are across from the aged cheddars and parmesans, medium wines are across from the semi-soft cheeses and light body are across from the young fresh cheeses. On top of all this, add a genuine Midwestern friendliness that takes the snobbishness out of fine cheese, and Pastoral accomplishes what it set out to be, an artisanal neighborhood cheese shop. In November, Pastoral was recognized as a nominee for a Luxist Awards Readers' Choice Award for Best Gourmet Cheese shop.

As with any specialty cheese store, Pastoral has the staples in big name and international cheese, such as Cypress Grove's Humboldt Fog of Arcata, California, Neal's Yard Dairy Cheddars from Britain, and Bucheron from the Loire Valley, France. What truly sets Pastoral apart is the amazing selection of Midwestern cheese. Local farmstead cheese highlights include Prairie Fruit Farms' goat cheese in Champaign, Illinois, Capriole goat cheese from Southern Indiana, and Marieke's Gouda from Thorp, Wisconsin to name a few. Pastoral's relationship with some of these farms is so close that employees from the store will sometimes double as employees representing the farms at Chicago's Green City Market. Aside from selling to the public, Pastoral also supplies top Chicago restaurants such as, avec, Blackbird, The Publican and Perennial with their artisanal cheeses.

In addition to cultivating its strong Midwestern roots, Pastoral aims to educate Chicagoans by offering a comprehensive schedule of classes every season. Topics range from the basic "Cheese 101" to the more specific "Celtic in Spirit – Cheese, Beers and Spirits of the British Isles and Beyond" and "Bubbles and Cheese," a class focusing on pairing champagne, cava and prosecco with cheese. Although the staff is fully knowledgeable in both cheese and wine, the shop does have its own resident sommelier so you can be sure the wines, as well as the cheeses, are top notch.

More from Pastoral Artisan Cheese, Bread & Wine

Pastoral Locations:
Lakeview: 2945 N Broadway, Chicago, IL 60657
Loop: 53 E Lake Street, Chicago, IL 60601Chicago French Market: 131 N Clinton, Chicago, IL 60661

This post was contributed via Seed.com, AOL's new platform for freelance writers.

Tags: bread, cheese, cheese shop, cheese shops, chicago, foodie, gourmet, local luxury, luxist-awards, pastoral, wine

Julius Peppers Wins Over His New Town With Pricey Champagne

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Sports

New Chicago Bears player Julius Peppers celebrated with his new town in a big way. Peppers signed a six-year, $91.5 million deal with the Bears last Friday. On Saturday at around 2:30 a.m. at the Crescendo nightclub, the DJ made an announcement and the staff brought out 25 bottles of Perrier Jouet Fleur de Champagne (at around $350 per bottle). The bottles were topped with sparklers making quite an impressive presentation. The DJ told the crowd that it was Peppers' way of saying thank you to the city. Peppers sat in a VIP area and ordered three bottles of Ace of Spades Rose for his own table. Check out video of the very happy crowd after the jump.

Tags: champagne, chicago, chicago bears, julius peppers

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Most Romantic Skyscraper Restaurants - Win their Hearts with These

by Sheryl Young (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Skyscraper restaurants are widely favored for a romantic evening like Valentine's Day, special anniversaries or on a honeymoon. Or, a skyscraper restaurant is a great way to get your first full view of the sights in a once-in-a-lifetime trip to any of these famous cities, even with a whole family.

When it comes to prices we're not talking Denny's. You're going to pay for the view, but these skyscraper restaurants are worth it. Most serve lunch and dinner and some serve breakfast or Sunday brunch. This price scale is based on dinner entrees (main courses):
$ = Reasonable for the View, entrees at $22-$40 per person.
$$ = Expensive, entrees at $30-55 per person.
$$$ = Very Expensive, entrees $55 and up per person.

Eiffel Tower Restaurant, Paris Hotel, Las Vegas, NV. $$
An 11th floor view of the famous Las Vegas Strip, inside this nearly life-size replica of the real Eiffel Tower. Ride the same kind of elevator up as in the real tower, too. French cuisine with accent on seafood and soufflés. (702) 948-6937. Best time for View:Nighttime.

Top of the World, Stratosphere Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, NV. $$
Competing with the Paris, this off-the-Strip hotel restaurant gives a skyscraper view from 800 feet above Las Vegas, and takes 80 minutes to revolve a full 360° circle. Las Vegas Review Journal has named it "Best Gourmet Room" in the past. Its signature dish is Chateaubriand. (702) 380-7777. Best time for View:Daytime.

The Signature Room at the 95th�, John Hancock Building, Chicago, IL. $$
(See a spectacular photo here at the website). A wide choice of popular American cuisine, and classic view of the Magnificent Mile in downtown Chicago. (312) 787-9596. Best time for View: Day or Night.

Sixteen, Trump International Hotel and Tower, Chicago, IL. $$$
Shows Lake Michigan, The Wrigley Building and the Tribune Building often seen in movies. This is a Four-Star rated skyscraper restaurant experience, with a large variety of favorite dishes, with seasonal specials added. (312) 588-8000. Sixteen is closed on Sundays unless it is Valentine's Day weekend. Best time for View: Daytime.

Tags: Boston, chicago, France, LasVegas, Prudential, romantic, romantic restaurants, RomanticRestaurants, skyscraper, Trump

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Fisker Sunset Shows Up At Chicago Auto Show in Black

by Jeremy Korzeniewski (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Green

Fisker Sunset in black – Click above for high-res image gallery

While walking the hallways at the Chicago Auto Show looking for interesting things to write about, we stumbled upon the Fisker booth and found a pair of extended-range plug-in hybrids to point our DSLR lenses at. We were especially attracted to the droptop Sunset model, in this case painted up in a beautiful coating of jet black paint. Equally as jaw-dropping was the brown leather interior, which had a worn-in baseball glove-like finish that looked awfully inviting.

Joining the Sunset was the expected four-door Karma, painted up in a familiar shade of gray. See them both in our high-res gallery of live images from the show floor in Chicago. Click here for coverage of the Chicago Auto Show from our sister site, Autoblog.com.

Gallery: Fisker Sunset at Chicago Auto Show

Tags: chicago, chicago 2010, Chicago Auto Show, Chicago2010, ChicagoAutoShow, fisker, Fisker Automotive, Fisker hybrid, Fisker Karma, fisker karma hybrid, Fisker Sunset, fisker sunset concept, FiskerAutomotive, FiskerHybrid, FiskerKarma, FiskerKarmaHybrid, FiskerSunset, FiskerSunsetConcept

Burling Palace, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Today's Chicago home offers over 7,400 square feet of space spread out over six levels. The townhome has five bedrooms, a large kitchen, four terraces and a roofdeck with great views of the Chicago skyline. The penthouse area also has an outdoor kitchen. Other features include an elevator, media room, library, white limestone foyer and a heated two garage. This home is listed at $4.95 million.

Gallery: Burling Palace

Tags: chicago, estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, illinois real estate, IllinoisRealEstate, townhouse

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Another O'Hare Hotel In Trouble

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

It seem to be tough going for hotels around Chicago O'Hare airport. Last August we reported on the troubles that have befallen the InterContinental Chicago O'Hare and the Westin O'Hare and now another hotel, the Four Points by Sheraton Chicago O'Hare Airport joins them in financial woes. Chicago Business reports that the Investcorp International , the owner of the 295-room hotel missed the $110,813 December payment on a $22.5-million loan. Investcorp paid $27.4 million for the hotel in 2006 then put another $6 million into the property. It's questionable if the hotel is even worth the loan amount at this point given the changes in real estate in the last couple of years.

Another hotel in the area, the 467-room Wyndham O'Hare closed at the end of last year. The O'Hare market has been hit especially hard. The Chicago Business article references a survey from Smith Travel Research that has revenue per available room at airport hotels falling by more than 30 percent in the bulk of 2009.

Tags: chicago, hotel debt, HotelDebt, hotels in trouble, HotelsInTrouble, ohare airport, OhareAirport, sheraton, sheraton hotels, SheratonHotels

Propose In A Hall Of Gems

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Events

It takes a man secure in his engagement ring choice to propose inside a jewelry exhibit. Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History recently renovated the spectacular Grainger Hall of Gems and has a new way for aspiring grooms to propose. For a fee of $350, a man can arrange to have his ring put into a case identical to others in the hall. The case will include the ring placed on a small cream colored stand lit to showcase the sparkle. A small placard with a personal message is included. The case is located near the entrance of the gallery and the Special Events department coordinates timing and the opening/closing of the case. The fee includes a champagne toast. The Chicago Tribune reported that since they installed the case last October there have already been seven proposals.

Even if you are not getting engaged, the Grainger Hall of Gems is a must see for jewelry lovers. The hall was recently renovated with a fresh interpretation of the gems, focusing on their origins and relationships by featuring stones in the matrix, as well as cut gems and jewelry pieces.The new expanded hall includes pieces created just for the exhibition by Tiffany & Co., Mish New York, Lester Lampert, Inc., and others.

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Tags: chicago, field museum, FieldMuseum, grainger hall of gems, GraingerHallOfGems

Will Construction Resume On The Chicago Spire?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Real Estate Developments

It could be said that the stalled construction of the Chicago Spire could be a symbol of what has happened in real estate construction in general over the past year or so--an ambitious project full of promise and hope, left lingering in a state of undoneness due to the economic shift. Construction on what would be North America's tallest building has been delayed since last fall when the architect, Santiago Calatrava, filed a lien against Shelbourne Development Group Inc,. the Irish developer of the 2,000-foot condominium tower, for $11.3 million. Perkins+Will, the Spire's architect of record and firm Thornton Tomasetti also filed liens. Now a group of union pension funds are in talks to loan $170 million to Shelbourne to get the project going again.

The loan would pay off the estimated $64 million loan made by Anglo Irish Bank and satisfy the various leans so that the project could be completed. The construction would provide jobs for many union workers but would also represent a bet that the Spire, when completed, will find buyers for its nearly 1,200 condos. Last I heard around 30 percent of the condos were spoken for but condos in general have been a hard sell in the current economic climate. The project would not be complete for several more years but the condos are some of the priciest the city has ever seen, most cost more than a million dollars. The penthouse, which was once priced at $40 million, was bought by Ty Warner, a man who has been facing his own economic woes recently.

Source

Tags: chicago, chicago spire, ChicagoSpire, construction, real estate, RealEstate

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