I wonder if there's been a change of plan by the owners since we were at The Oak Tree on 6/19. The waiter sure wouldn't have made up the conversion-to-French-restaurant-called-Jacque's story out of thin air, so he got it from somewhere. And something about the authoritative way he delivered the information made me know it was more than just rumor. Perhaps it was true then, and wiser heads have prevailed since.

I hope Crain's is right; we like The Oak Tree the way it is. I have to admit we also like the decor the way it is--it's one of the pleasantest places to grab a bite in all of downtown Chicago--but an Oak Tree that keeps the menu the same and just goes through an interior design rehaul is better than an Oak Tree that becomes a French restaurant.

Although I wonder how smart it is for them to lose 50 seats to make room for a bakery. I don't see people going up to the 6th floor of the Bloomingdale's building for their baked goods. I predict a bakery that isn't doing business, and 50 fewer seats for patrons who might have sat and ate. But the owners must think they know what they're doing.

riddlemay wrote:I wonder if it's an outpost of the bar-with-back-patio called Rocks on Schubert and Lakewood. I had a burger there once that wasn't too bad.

I took another look at the sign, and it says something like, "Rocks Lakeview. A neighborhood restaurant for lunch and dinner." It's 2 blocks from my house, so I'll be interested in giving it a try.

ekreider wrote:... Also part of the group but with different themes were Biggs and Sea Gull.

If memory serves, the restaurant, at the top of the Outer Drive East, was named La Tour. Sea Gull was its bar.
The Castro-Dick restaurants, on the whole, were quite good for their time. L'Epuisette, at State and Goethe, served some nice seafood. Piccolo Mondo, on Dempster in Skokie, was one of my parents' favorites. And, I had my first (and possibly only) Turbot Veronique in Jacques' lovely courtyard. Heady stuff for a high school sophomore.

Cafe La Tour was on the top floor of Outer Drive East while Sea Gull was at the Randolph street level. The two seafood restaurants were a cut above the group's average. Better competitors for Continental/French included La Chaumier, Chez Paul and Jovan.

From the Tribune:

The master developer of Block 37 said it has leased an eclectic group of merchants for the Pedway level linking the project to the adjacent CTA Red and Blue subway lines.

"We are significantly upgrading the Pedway level of the project with a mix of restaurant and retail tenants," said Larry Freed, president of Joseph Freed and Associates LLC.

They include Au Bon Pain, Beard Papa's, a dual Dairy Queen-Orange Julius, the Gateway News and Freshii.

Beard Papa's, it goes on to explain, is a Japanese chain that sells cream puffs. I'm intrigued, if not a little turned off by their mascot's---see him at their website---resemblance to the Gorton's Fisherman. Does anyone have any expertise on Japanese cream puffs.

Taking the place of the shuttered Subway (extra points for having the balls to open a Subway across the street from Tony's Deli) on the corner of Northwest Highway and Oliphant in Edison Park is a branch of Caponie's Pizza. At least that's a better fit with the neighborhood.

A neighbor just alerted me that La Cucina Di Donatella has a for-rent sign in the window...

Mhays wrote:A neighbor just alerted me that La Cucina Di Donatella has a for-rent sign in the window...

You beat me to it, Mhays. I've driven by a few times recently and kept forgetting to post. Mr. X and I had it on our radar to try again, but never got around to it. I can't imagine the scaffolding that has been on the building helped business.

The Bagel on Broadway is closed for a remodeling (I think till July 18). Some would say a much-needed remodeling. I would say a much-unneeded remodeling. The embossed silver-foil 80s-meets-30s wallpaper and theatrical posters (which were always a non sequitur except for the sheer happenstance of the Broadway address, which never had anything to do with the other Broadway) will be much missed. Some things make more sense the less sense they make. Oh well. Maybe the new decor will make just as little sense. I can hope.

fj123 wrote:From the Tribune:

The master developer of Block 37 said it has leased an eclectic group of merchants for the Pedway level linking the project to the adjacent CTA Red and Blue subway lines.

"We are significantly upgrading the Pedway level of the project with a mix of restaurant and retail tenants," said Larry Freed, president of Joseph Freed and Associates LLC.

They include Au Bon Pain, Beard Papa's, a dual Dairy Queen-Orange Julius, the Gateway News and Freshii.

Beard Papa's, it goes on to explain, is a Japanese chain that sells cream puffs. I'm intrigued, if not a little turned off by their mascot's---see him at their website---resemblance to the Gorton's Fisherman. Does anyone have any expertise on Japanese cream puffs.

Mmmm...Beard Papa's! They take a light, fluffy shell and fill it with a lot of cream. I've only had the vanilla custard cream flavor, but it was good.


Mrs. Fujisan and Toddler Fujisan at Beard Papa's in Hollywood.

I am also a fan of Beard Papa's, and am excited to know that there will be a Chicago location soon. It's a must-stop whenever I'm near the West Village in NYC.

There's a new pizzeria going in across the street from Natalino's on Chicago Avenue. First Rockstar Dogs, then Natalino's and Mexique, now pizza . . . it's going to be impossible to park in my neighborhood pretty soon. Sorry I can't remember the name of the new joint - it wouldn't come up on a Google search, but it's two women's names, and I think one is Paula . . .

bollygrl wrote:There's a new pizzeria going in across the street from Natalino's on Chicago Avenue. First Rockstar Dogs, then Natalino's and Mexique, now pizza . . . it's going to be impossible to park in my neighborhood pretty soon. Sorry I can't remember the name of the new joint - it wouldn't come up on a Google search, but it's two women's names, and I think one is Paula . . .

I live about two blocks from Rock Star Dogs, and I can't believe the culinary explosion in West Town. When I moved there in 2001, there was no West Town Tavern, no Swim Cafe, no Five Star, no Relax, no Natalino's, no Mexique, no Green Zebra, and no Habana Libre (although that previously was a thoroughly mediocre Mexican seafood place). If you wanted to eat in the neighborhood, your choices were Cafe Central, the aforementioned Mexican place, Flo, Bialy Cafe or the precursor to Rock Star Dogs, Grubber's Cafe, with Flo and Cafe Central being the only viable options on the long stretch of Chicago Ave. between Ashland and Milwaukee.

Now, if you slightly expand the geographic area east of Ashland north and south (with Division and Grand as your respective North/South boundaries), you can add to the above list the La Pasaditas, as well as Podhalanka, Bari, D'Amato's, May Street Market, Coalfire and the local produce shop, Green Grocer. Thus, you could argue with a straight face that East Village/West Town has the highest concentration of depth, quality and variation in its eating than any other neighborhood in the city. [This partial list in the Reader highlights some of the Restaurants in East Village/West Town.]

[As an aside, several months ago I was complaining to some LTHers about the lack of more than 2 or 3 good restaurants in my neighborhood. That shows that you can't take my complaining too seriously because I really didn't have anything to complain back then, and I certainly don't now! (Wait - I'd still like some good Thai, though. )]

ZK Food on Milwaukee is no more. Too bad, I liked the build-your-own salads (and the free cupcakes they sometimes slipped me).

Mhays wrote:A neighbor just alerted me that La Cucina Di Donatella has a for-rent sign in the window...

From this week's Dish:

Donatella Majore, who recently closed La Cucina di Donatella (2221 W. Howard St.), has taken her knives up to Reverence (1840 Oak Ave., Evanston; 847-491-9080), a three-month-old organic breakfast/lunch spot.

Thanks for that, Steve! I'll have to check that out - we really did enjoy her food!

A Baladoche cafe has appeared on Devon just west Broadway. The Lakeview location, and the merits of its so-called zucker waffles, drew some chatter here a couple years ago.

Anyone know what's up with this new Rogers Park site? Doesn't appear to be open yet.

I saw the sign last week on Devon and did a double take..wondering if it had been there all this time..but I just ignored it.

The retail space from which the sign hung looked vacant.

stevez wrote:

Mhays wrote:A neighbor just alerted me that La Cucina Di Donatella has a for-rent sign in the window...

From this week's Dish:

Donatella Majore, who recently closed La Cucina di Donatella (2221 W. Howard St.), has taken her knives up to Reverence (1840 Oak Ave., Evanston; 847-491-9080), a three-month-old organic breakfast/lunch spot.

That seems like a strange combination.

Maybe Reverence is thinking of opening for dinner and offering a local grown organic Italian menu?

Dish wrote:“In mid-August I will start dinner there three times a week, and it will be absolutely the same as what I made at La Cucina,” Majore says. “I already have my tables and chairs there.”

Full article from Dish:



Donatella Majore, who recently closed La Cucina di Donatella (2221 W. Howard St.), has taken her knives up to Reverence (1840 Oak Ave., Evanston; 847-491-9080), a three-month-old organic breakfast/lunch spot. “In mid-August I will start dinner there three times a week, and it will be absolutely the same as what I made at La Cucina,” Majore says. “I already have my tables and chairs there.” La Cucina’s June 21st closing, on the restaurant’s fifth anniversary, got the tears flowing. “People were crying like it was a tragedy,” she says. “It’s a shame for Rogers Park. I worked so hard to build this little place. I love it with all my heart but my life was more important.” Meanwhile, she’s looking in Edgewater to open a tavola calda—basically an Italian version of “something like Trotter’s To Go.”

House Call

Thanks, looks like I will be giving Reverence a try for dinner in August.

The new (two-day old) Potbelly at Diversey and Sheffield, next door to the soon-to-be-opened new el station, is doing land-office business! (And handling it.) A nice addition to the neighborhood. Not least because they transformed an eyesore corner into an attractive one.

riddlemay wrote:The new (two-day old) Potbelly at Diversey and Sheffield, next door to the soon-to-be-opened new el station, is doing land-office business! (And handling it.) A nice addition to the neighborhood. Not least because they transformed an eyesore corner into an attractive one.

While it's certainly better than the blight that was there previously, it's a little perplexing that Potbelly's would open a location there, given that it's only 0.5 miles away from the other Potbelly's on Diversey (across from the Cingular store). I guess it's the new Starbucks

Ralph Wiggum wrote:While it's certainly better than the blight that was there previously, it's a little perplexing that Potbelly's would open a location there, given that it's only 0.5 miles away from the other Potbelly's on Diversey (across from the Cingular store). I guess it's the new Starbucks

I agree with you that it's surprising, and you didn't even mention the Potbelly that's barely more than a half mile south around 2300 N. on Lincoln! Yet the happy crowd filling the new Diversey/Sheffield location at lunchtime today attests that it is not a dumb location for them.

There was a cool jazz fiddler at work in the place, too.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:I guess it's the new Starbucks

Does that mean they'll be closing 600 stores in the near future?

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Ralph Wiggum wrote:I guess it's the new Starbucks

Does that mean they'll be closing 600 stores in the near future?

=R=

one can only hope thats the case.

jimswside wrote:one can only hope thats the case.

Well, I'm as susceptible to "hate the chain store" as anybody, but they make a decent sandwich. And, unlike Starbucks, they sell their product at a decent price. Every sandwich on the menu is $4.19. Add in that they seem to have hit on an ambience-and-attitude that makes people happy just to be there, and it's hard to hate them a whole lot.

riddlemay wrote:

jimswside wrote:one can only hope thats the case.

Well, I'm as susceptible to "hate the chain store" as anybody, but they make a decent sandwich. And, unlike Starbucks, they sell their product at a decent price. Every sandwich on the menu is $4.19. Add in that they seem to have hit on an ambience-and-attitude that makes people happy just to be there, and it's hard to hate them a whole lot.

its all good, I am just having some fun.

I found Potbelly to be just ok, I didnt like the lack of sanwdich size options, and the sandwiches being served warm. Im an Italian deli foot long sub type guy.

Last week, I noticed that Hana Super Market at Golf and Milwaukee in Niles had closed. No doubt they couldn't survive the one-two punch of the new Assi Plaza and H-Mart. Too bad, the store had a more personal and friendly ambience than either of the aforementioned behemoths, and a good pan-chan selection too.

jimswside wrote:its all good, I am just having some fun.

I found Potbelly to be just ok, I didn't like the lack of sandwich size options, and the sandwiches being served warm. I'm an Italian deli foot long sub type guy.

I'm probably just inordinately grateful for the transformation they effected on the POS property they took over. With some dough spent on exterior architectural elements (wooden cornice, paint, signage, etc.) they showed what can be done to change a neighborhood for the better. While this is undoubtedly in their own interest, it is also such an example of good Chicago citizenship that I have to commend them and wish them success--which, fortunately, it looks like they are already enjoying in the location.

In sharp contrast, there used to be a Subway in the "sister" building across Sheffield. They never did a thing to make their sad cinderblock building any less sad. Potbelly didn't have to either--but they did. In its way, it reminds me of what Julius Meinl did to make the exterior aesthetics of their new location in Lincoln Square so appealing, so neighborhood-enhancing. They didn't have to, either. But they're smart enough to know that good neighboring and good business go hand in hand.

Food counts. (And, while I fully respect the opinion that Potbelly's food isn't good enough, it's good enough for me.) But it's not the only thing that restaurants do.