Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2025 i Chicago magazine

FOR THIS MONTH’S COVER STORY (PAGE 52), WRITER TAL Rosenberg immersed himself in all things L. “I came into this as a novice, so I talked to so many people,” he says. “I was reading about transit every day, refreshing blogs. I opted to take the L instead of drive whenever I could. I was living and breathing local transportation for the last five months.” He did have to take a break, though, for emergency surgery following a gallstone attack a few days before his deadline — but was back to work a week later. Rosenberg came away from his reporting feeling optimistic about the future of the city’s train system, despite the serious troubles it’s facing. “I was impressed by what advocacy groups have done in the last three…

Yes. In fact, it’s happened twice. The first murdered mayor was Carter Harrison. On October 28, 1893, two days before the closing of the World’s Columbian Exposition, the 68-year-old former lawyer and real estate baron was relaxing in his mansion on South Ashland Avenue. Harrison, who was midway through his fifth term, always made himself available to the public, and that night, he was visited by Patrick Eugene Prendergast, an Irish immigrant who was angry with the mayor for not appointing him city attorney. Prendergast shot Harrison three times. Despite a defense by the great Clarence Darrow, the assassin was hanged. The other victim was Anton Cermak, though he wasn’t the intended target. On February 15, 1933, the first-term mayor, 59, was in Miami to meet with Presidentelect Franklin D.…

IN CHICAGO, AS IN so many Americancities, it’s hard to imagine a more intractable public policy problem than gun violence. But University of Chicago Professor Jens Ludwig, 56, cofounder and director of the school’s Crime Lab, delivers some hope in his groundbreaking new book, Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence. Based on a wealth of scientific data on decision making by violent criminals and his own fieldwork in Chicago, he offers social policy strategies for transforming neighborhoods into safer spaces. Q: What gave you the idea in 2007 to start the Crime Lab? A: There was a doctoral student in chemistry at the University of Chicago named Amadou Cisse. That fall, about two weeks after he defended his dissertation, he was shot and killed about a block…

BRASS ACTS Get your oompah on when Chicago’s own marching band/spectacle theater collective Mucca Pazza celebrates International Tuba Day at Martyrs’. May 2. muccapazza.com ECCE HOMO Curated by historian Jonathan D. Katz, The First Homosexuals: The Birth of a New Identity, 1869–1939 uses art from 40 countries to illustrate how coining a label for same-sex desire shaped cultural perceptions of sexuality. May 2–July 26. wrightwood659.org SPRITE OF SPRING Winding down its eighth season with a flourish, the buzzy South Chicago Dance Theatre presents In/Within, a world premiere choreographed by Kia S. Smith. May 3. auditoriumtheatre.org MODERN-DAY MAESTRO Contemporary composer Max Richter performs with a string quartet at Symphony Center. The program includes his Blue Notebooks, containing the evocative and haunting “On the Nature of Daylight.” May 6. cso.org THEY’RE GONNA…

CONSIDER THE ROTI QUESADILLA, A GRID-dled flatbread stuffed with cheesy mushrooms and topped with lush Chettinad masala, an edible charter statement for Mirra, the restaurant where Top Chef season 22 competitor Zubair Mohajir and Rishi Manoj Kumar cook at the intersection of Indian and Mexican culinary traditions. A mainstay since Mirra launched, it pays homage to a signature dish at Rasul’s El Ranchero, a now-closed Northern California restaurant that broke new ground by bringing together the foodways of the area’s Punjabi and Mexican immigrant communities. While Mohajir and Kumar make each of the dish’s components in-house, our home-cook-friendly riff subs in store-bought rotis and masala mix. MIRRA’S ROTI QUESADILLA Makes 4 quesadillas  Time 1 hour 30 minutes ½ cup canola oil2 medium Spanish onions, quartered2 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. minced…

THE LITERARY EVENT OF LAST FALL IN CHICAGO WAS not a reading or a book signing or an awards ceremony but the wedding of two beloved booksellers. In attendance: a slew of notable authors, the editors of independent presses, publicists, other bookstore owners. Literary thriller writer Gillian Flynn performed the ceremony. “If an apocalypse happened out there,” someone said to me that night, “we could reconstruct the entire American literary world just from this party.” When the venue, the Exchange on Michigan Avenue, closed for the night, much of the group trooped a block south to the second floor of the Fine Arts Building and karaoked till dawn at Exile in Bookville, owned by the newlyweds, Javier Ramirez and Kristin Gilbert Ramirez. Maybe you’ve only walked past and noticed the…

“I USED TO RIDE THE TRAIN AT NIGHT ALL the time. Now I don’t as much,” says photographer Clarissa Bonet, sounding like a lot of Chicagoans. She rides less often partly because she moved to Bridgeport but also because after COVID it was “so uncomfortable to be on the train,” she says. “And I’ve experienced where you have to wait 15 minutes or more.” But in photographing the L for this month’s cover story (page 52), Bonet made up for lost time: She spent four days photographing its cars, stations, and riders. Despite some challenges, not the least of which were long wait times on weekends (“I would get like four shots an hour, the trains were coming so slow”), the assignment reminded her of what she’d been missing. “It…

1 Five years after being disbarred by the Illinois Supreme Court, Rod Blagojevich is eligible to apply to get his law license back. His presidential pardon may not help, since reinstatement requires he demonstrate “good character.” 2 Kevin M. Schultz, chair of UIC’s history department, is out May 2 with the provocatively titled Why Everyone Hates White Liberals (Including White Liberals). Readers in Hyde Park will hate it. 3 Beginning May 7, your old driver’s license will no longer get you on a domestic flight. You’ll need a passport or Real ID, which can be obtained by appointment at a DMV or by walking in at the Real ID (only!) “supercenter” at 191 North Clark Street. 4 Farmers’ market season starts this month. Division Street’s opens May 17; Daley Plaza’s,…

1 The Wrigley Building put the “magnificent” in the Magnificent Mile. That moniker for North Michigan Avenue wouldn’t be coined until the 1940s, but the glitzy corridor began taking shape with the completion in 1921 of the building’s south tower, the stretch’s first major structure, a year after the Michigan Avenue Bridge opened. “As the first person to erect a new building on the north side of the river, [Wrigley Company founder William Wrigley Jr.] got the best site at the lowest cost,” Chicago architectural author Robert Sharoff writes in The Wrigley Building: The Making of an Icon. 2 People compared the new building to a castle and a ship. Architect Charles Gerhard Beersman’s trapezoidal Beaux-Arts south tower, Chicago’s tallest building when it was completed, “functions almost as a prism,…

AS HOST OF HGTV’S HIT interior design show Windy City Rehab, Alison Victoria has a busy shooting schedule, so she keeps her workouts tight. To that end, she invested in her own Lagree M3 Megaformers for her homes here and in Las Vegas, allowing her to do Pilates-inspired high-intensity workouts at her convenience. Victoria, 44, studied interior architecture and psychology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. That combination comes in handy when rehabbing homes, a job that sometimes requires playing therapist with clients. Her Logan Square home is a warehouse she converted and documented on HGTV. Later this year, she’ll host the spinoff series Sin City Rehab, letting the world in on what happens in Vegas. LAGREET THE DAY “I wake up at 8 a.m. and go right into…

CLASSICS ARE CLASSICS FOR a reason. But at Gus’ Sip & Dip, the new River North cocktail bar from beverage director Kevin Beary and bar manager Scott Kitsmiller, classic cocktails are rethought with such a laser focus that they can make you think about a drink you’ve imbibed for years in a whole new way. Take the gin gimlet. Typically made with equal parts Rose’s lime juice and gin, here it’s made with gin, housemade lime cordial, and a drop of absinthe that fully opens the drink up. “The gin gimlet is a staff favorite,” Kitsmiller says. The menu at Gus’, located at 51 West Hubbard Street, offers 30 cocktails, and while you’ll find well-known drinks like White Russians and Cosmopolitans, other classics will be new to many, like a…

IF YOU ORDER THE RIGATONI alla amatriciana at Il Carciofo, the cook starts with a handful of diced guanciale, cured pork jowl that looks like bacon but has a far denser texture. Over a flame it renders quickly — the fat liquefies while the flesh shrinks into porky pebbles. The cook tips white wine into the pan, and as it all simmers, the guanciale turns toothsome. Tomato purée goes in next, along with a pinch of red pepper, a splash of cooking water, and the rigatoni. It all comes together in a glossy, depth-charged sauce that doesn’t so much coat the pasta as meld with it. The dish is a triumph. This is the kind of cooking Il Carciofo’s chef-owner, Joe Flamm, does so well. He takes a familiar…

■ Under the banner of their brand Unison, Robert and Alicia Segal offer a platform for small makers that veers timeless instead of trendy. This summer, the husbandand-wife team is entering bolder territory with a colorful array of modern entertaining items. Prepare your patio for eyecatchers like sturdy but design-forward Falcon enamelware tumblers and pitchers, Empreinte French linen napkins, and Rosendahl solar-powered circular lanterns. “It’s really all about things that make you comfortable and happy,” says Alicia. unisonhome.com…

VS. Altar Home 1858 W. CHICAGO AVE., EAST UKRAINIAN VILLAGE A new corner storefront where style makers go for Tulum vibes and specialty coffee Space 519 200 E. CHESTNUT ST., STREETERVILLE A next-gen version of the Walnut Room for ladies who lunch and have luxe taste Origin story Couple and coowners Lance Lawson and Jim Wetzel parlayed their love of travel and fashion into this mini department store. Opened in 2018, it packs surprises with apparel, accessories, and decor from New York, Europe, and beyond.…

INDIANA HAS AN INFERIORITY COMPLEX. AND FOR GOOD REASON. FITTING FOR A state known for doing things second best, its main claim to fame is that it’s been home to the second-most vice presidents (six, behind New York’s 11). It has a sort of big city, whose nickname is India-no-place, but the rest of the state is composed of small towns with little opportunity. “Hoosiers struggle desperately to prove to themselves and the world that they have a higher function than simply filling up the space between Chicago and Cincinnati,” wrote Andrew Ferguson in his book Land of Lincoln. In this attempt to stay relevant, Indiana has a long history of trying to poach businesses from Illinois. In the early 2010s, when Mike Pence was governor, the state placed a series…

> SUMMER HOUSE SANTA MONICA “I am a summer girl, but this restaurant makes me happy whether it’s January or July. I basically have a permanent table. I love their red wine selection and the Brussels sprouts salad with chicken.” 1954 N. Halsted St. > CALVIN TRAN “I discovered this designer’s clothes in New York, but he’s got a store right in my neighborhood. He was on Bravo’s The Fashion Show: Ultimate Collection and has this modern, minimalist style. If I walk in, I’m walking out with five things.” 2120 N. Halsted St. > OZ PARK “I raised my kids at this park. It’s got great shady spots, a nice playground, tennis courts. If it’s over 55 degrees, I’m walking here while doing phone coaching sessions. It’s where I have…

HISTORY TELLS US THAT great artistic movements beget great artists, but Intuit Art Museum has been challenging this idea for decades by asking, “Who gets to make great art?” Formerly known as the Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, the River West institution reopens May 23 after a 20-month, $10 million renovation, with the pithier name, triple the space, and an intriguing exhibition, Catalyst: Im/migration and Self-Taught Art in Chicago. Running through early next year, it showcases 92 works by 22 Chicago artists from 1930 to the present — an apt homage to the city’s early championing of outsider art, a genre that is approachable yet difficult to define. Museum president and CEO Debra Kerr describes it simply as work by “untrained creators.” It’s a movement that declares, audaciously, that…

THE MENU AT ETC., THE NEW LOOP PLACE FROM LAMAR MOORE, SERVES as an archive of the celebrated chef’s culinary life experiences. Seasoned fried chicken skins, served with steak tartare, nod to the Southern gas station snacks he used to eat while traveling as a chef for the Bears. A whole fish, dressed with a sauce that includes soy sauce, ginger, and Thai chiles, reflects the time he spent cooking at the Peruvian restaurant Tanta and the seafood giant McCormick & Schmick’s. His deviled eggs are based on the relish-loaded versions his mother and grandmother made when he was a kid, but with twists: cornichons, truffle oil, and caviar, which, he says, “flex on my steakhouse background.” The longtime Chicago chef (most recently at Bronzeville Winery), who has also worked…

TAQUIZAS VALDEZ 3038 W. Irving Park Rd., Albany Park ■ Perfect order Pambazo de hongos ($19), wings ($13) ■ Chicago’s Mexican sandwich scene is strong, but Taquizas Valdez, which chef-owner Ivan Valdez opened in December, is raising the bar. Take the pambazo de hongos, which consists of bread dipped in chile sauce, toasted, then stuffed with sautéed mushrooms, refried black beans, crispy fries, lettuce, tomato, onion, avocado, lime crema, queso fresco, and salsa macha. It’s a beast that could feed two. And dare I say it’s the best Mexican sandwich in the city right now? Taquizas Valdez also offers tacos and wings for lunch and dinner, and chilaquiles and a Nutella and cream cheese Danish for breakfast. It’s a menu that combines homey fare with refined techniques and speaks to…

1 CHARIS LISTENING BAR What A music-focused cocktail bar with a beverage director nabbed from New Orleans’s celebrated Cure Why Sip Malört Palomas while taking in the vibe. Where 3317 S. Morgan St., Bridgeport 2 HOLY BAGELS What The bagel boom won’t stop. Why For a fiery start, try a jalapeño one with a jalapeño schmear. Where 2566 N. Clark St., Lincoln Park 3 SANCTUARY What Rohini Dey closed longtime Indian restaurant Vermilion to make room for this new bar. Why Head in for global snacks like lomo saltado and and drinks like mango mojitos. Where 10 W. Hubbard St., River North 4 SHARPIES What Detroit-style pizza and wings from the team behind Ada Street Why Located by the Salt Shed, it’s a quick go-to for a pie topped with Italian beef and…

AS A SMALL-BUSINESS OWNER and mother of two young kids, Szewai Lee can’t indulge like she once did. “When I go shopping, it’s a special treat — some me time,” says the 41-year-old founder of Duet Dance Studio, the Bucktown ballroom dance school. This June, she and her husband will open Winnie’s Playroom, a children’s play café and event space in Brookfield, not far from their home in Western Springs. But Lee still frequents her city stomping ground, which offers many of her favorite boutiques: “Growing up in Hong Kong, you could find everything right there on the street — all the restaurants and shops you need. North Avenue is like that.” CHICAGO PLANTS 2321 W. North Ave., Wicker Park “I love plants, but sometimes I kill them because I’m…

■ When I was signing with my agent, I remember having a brief conversation with my husband: Should I use my real name or should I use a pen name? I truly had this very flawed idea that you just write a book and it goes out there and no one really cares who the person is behind it. And that’s absolutely not true. People care a lot. That’s been a surprising thingto navigate. ■ It’s a very common fearwhen you write fiction that you’re going out naked into the world with your whole self on display, because everyone’s going to assume it must be autobiographical. With Remarkably Bright Creatures, I almost deliberately avoided having a character who looked like me. But the joke’s on me, because even if the…