Sushi at Tokyo Hotel...

Sushi at Tokyo Hotel..and the folks you might find there

I was researching the sushi bar in the Tokyo Hotel when I came across the disturbing Wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Hotel_%28Chicago%29

Note in particular that the "an hourly hotel enthusiast...has vowed to continue his research by conducting more encounters in
the future"

AND

"Thomas Richterson and Emilio Villanobo expressed interest in contributing their talents to the project, but have so far been reluctant to make a commitment."

Is there, indeed, a "deeper story" here?

Wikipedia is, well, interesting sometimes...

My father had an employee who resided at the Tokyo for as many years as I can remember, easily 25. Perhaps backpackers stay there these days (as they appear to now do at the Cass, which has managed to upgrade itself to the point of appealing to unsuspecting Europeans who shop on sites such as Expedia.com), but back in the day it was very much a residential facility.

Regarding the sushi.... just the thought of actually consuming food in that building gives me the creeps.

At first glance, I'd say that "Mr. Jimhenriksen-Tarkington" is the guy that wrote the wiki. Just a hunch.

Ginza Fish is a perfectly fine place to dine in that area. Go with the salt-broiled fish and some natto if sushi sounds risky. On a related note, although I really like the Hancock building, I'm creeped out by the restaurant on the ground floor. Maybe there's an inverse relationship there.

The s/o n I have a close friend(no longer in Chicago) who "resided" in the Hotel Tokyo for a scosh...um...the one time we visited was enough to put me off iconic SRO's for life: dusk-lit plywood warrens on and on...bum fights...pathos oozing up, sticking to yr shoes...squelch squelch...

I was really glad when our friend got the fuck outta there.

He's on...to much better things...which is to say that not everyone who bides time in such purgatories is destined there by bad behavior, tough luck, or...um...diet...

our one visit was enough to "scare me str8" ...so to speak

...tho' I'm still intrigued by Ginza Fish and the people who stay at the Best Western "next door."

oh...and the "jimhenrikson" thing...on the off-chance that he peruses LTH...can I say...get a life? Braindead collegiates in search of "irony" are a dime a dozen.

The best part about that page is that almost all of the edits, and all of the ones adding the.. interesting.. material came from various hosts on the network of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

Some bored interns, maybe? A nickel says Andrew Tarkington, Thomas Richterson and Emilio Villanobo all work there.

Or are just made up names. I still bet they're real or based on someone real, though.

edit:

Whaddaya think, Department of Operations and Data Analysis, a data coordinator named Emilio Villaxxxx (do I really want his name to turn up in a google search leading here?) and a systems manager named Thomas Richtxx.

although I really like the Hancock building, I'm creeped out by the restaurant on the ground floor

Cheesecake Factory?

Christopher Gordon wrote:dusk-lit plywood warrens on and on...bum fights...pathos oozing up, sticking to yr shoes...squelch squelch...

Oh, come now, I heard it had its good qualities, too...

"I hope not. I lived in that building in the late 90s for 7 months while between apartments. It was an SRO by that time but they kindly gave me a (still very dingy: cockroaches etc) room on the topmost floor. I was the only resident up on that floor and used to slipped out the fire escape and climb the iron stepladder up to the water tower to enjoy the bright lights of the big city. I have very fond memories of that hotel."



E.M.

I know a guy(who is a bit of a Chicago personality in his own right) that ran the elevator for some years, and also lived there. His stories are indeed bummy, sticky, oozy, boozy, squelchy, along with pukey and stenchy. Or am I naming the 7 dwarfs that live in the lobby...

If you ever get a chance, check out the mid-90's WTTW documentary (Vanishing Act?) about Chicago's Vaudevillians. A central character is Roland Low, a song-and-dance-and-joke guy, then 95 with massive spectacles, living in the Tokyo Hotel. Great stuff. If the Tokyo Hotel were in SF, there'd be a law to protect it, as is. That's good and bad, I suppose.