ILLINOIS: PRAIRIE STATE
BY CLAY
LARROY
Traveling can
be a great way to meet new people and experience other cultures. New friends
are waiting to meet you in places you have only dreamed of traveling. It can be
a wonderful way to see all that the world has to offer. Travel can be a hobby
and an adventure that will lead you to unexpected places. When you want to
plan a vacation contact me!
Look at the article below for an enthralling perspective on Chicago!
Wicker
Park: Where history meets haute
CHICAGO — Special to The Globe and Mail
Published
Last updated
Like so many of the best travel anecdotes, this one will start at
The Crotch. At least that's what some people are calling the six-corner
intersection (Milwaukee, Damen and North Avenues) of the Chicago neighborhood
Wicker Park. On a typical day, a throng of people who care about progressive
fashion, music, food and books, plus originality and Pabst Blue Ribbon, spill
forth from that intersection, which, in all seriousness, you should really just
call The Corners.
Along those three main
drags, you'll find a caffeinated, high- and low-end mash-up of DIY creativity,
$200 skinny jeans, $2 tacos, new and used books and respectable people
watching.
In 1870, Charles and Joel
Wicker (a pair of brothers-cum-developers) appropriated 80 acres of land and
called it, after themselves, Wicker Park. The devastation following the great
Chicago fire, one year later, inspired a real-state boom in their domain, as
German and Scandinavian brewery tycoons built their mansions along Hoyne and
Pierce Streets, a.k.a. "Beer Baron Row." (For more architectural eye
candy, add Caton Street to your walking tour.)
Poles arrived in the
1940s, adding a cultural imprint that remained strong for decades, even as the neighborhood
declined through the 1970s. (Division Street was known as the Polish Broadway.)
Attracted to the low rents and light-drenched warehouse space, artists came
next, setting up studios in the historic Flat Iron Arts Building and elsewhere.
Fast
forward to the nineties, when an infamous wave of gentrification displaced
lower-income residents and the artist pioneers who made the neighborhood
attractive to mainstreamers. Holdouts from those more bohemian days, include
Earwax Café and Reckless Records, both icons you shouldn't miss.
For
Chicagoans who were there when the neighborhood was fringe, and even some who
weren't, Wicker Park has become synonymous with Faustian-style gentrification.
The Wicker-Park-has-sold-its-soul conversation persists to this day, although
varied sources are adding nuances: Yes, the countercultural breeding ground is
now a, gulp, "destination," but Wicker Park has hardly gone Wal-Mart.
The truth is that the neighborhood’s early culture came in concentrated form.
So while the forces of urban renewal might have added water (and a Starbucks),
Wicker Park never lost its essence. Bottoms up.
Pretty
sweet At Mojo Spa, creator and co-owner Amanda
Kezios makes 250 all-natural skin-care products. "Call me the Willy Wonka
of beauty," she says, referencing her cupcake- and candy-shaped soaps.
Mani/pedis use her all-natural products, too. 1468 Milwaukee Ave.;
773-235-6656;www.mojospa.com
Batter up The Bongo Room turns the
humble pancake into a culinary movement with flavours like Lemon Ricotta and
Blueberry laced with gingersnap brown-sugar butter. Order them in stacks or
individually and expect a long to extremely long wait. 1470 N. Milwaukee Ave.;
773-489-0690; www.thebongoroom.com
Free association Reigning purveyor of
boho-chic apparel, Free People puts glamour and grunge in a blender and creates
something better than either alone. Price points are more chic than boho but
worth it. 1464 N. Milwaukee Ave.; 773-227-4871; www.freepeople.com
Starstruck Chef Paul Kahan has just the taco for you (fish, veggie, pork) at the
new, honky-tonk inspired Big Star. Other crowd favourites (crowd is an
understatement, go early): plantain fries and queso fundido. 1531 N. Damen
Ave.; 773-235-4039
South Asian invasion For a long time, Wicker Park had everything a young urbanite could
want/need except for Indian food. Enter Cumin, a new Indian and Nepalese
offering. Don't miss the signature drink: Fresh Jal Jeera, with cumin and mint.
1414 N. Milwaukee Ave.; 773-342-1414; www.cumin-chicago.com
Wax poetic Earwax Café's
vegan/vegetarian fare is about choices: chicken or seitan, vegan cheese or
cheddar. Enjoy it amidst the café's turn-of-the-century, three-ring circus
décor. Sword throwers! Fire eaters! Delicious. 1561 N. Milwaukee Ave.;
773-772-4019; earwax-cafe.com
Lenny for your thoughts Brilliant displays make this vintage home store feel like a
natural-history museum, only here the exhibits feature mid-century Americana.
Lenny & Me Home also has a sister store with vintage clothing across the
street. 459 N. Milwaukee Ave.; 773-489-5576
Robin's nest Robin Richman shops Paris
and New York to stock her eponymous boutique with haute, hard-to-find
selections: Marc Le Bihan's architectural garments, inimitable pieces from Japan's
Share Sprit and leather goods by Lebanon's Johnny Farah. 2108 N. Damen Ave.;
773-278-6150; www.robinrichman.com
Retail thera-p.45 P.45 has supported Chicago designers since it opened 13 years ago
(when 45 was Michael Jordan's jersey number). Among the more recent designers
to appear in the women's boutique: Abigail Glaum-Lathbury, whose sculptural
clothing (intricate pleats, origami-like folds) is museum-worthy.1643 N. Damen
Ave.; 773-862-4523; www.p45.com
Una Mae I help you? If the gang from the seventies sitcom Rhoda had the chance to
stock a 21st-century boutique, they might come up with something like Una
Mae's, which mixes incredible vintage finds (with 1970s leanings) and brands on
the vanguard, like BB Dakota for women and Free Gold Watch for men. 1528 N.
Milwaukee Ave.; 773-276-7002
Cusack muzak Nick Hornby's 1995 novel
High Fidelity took place in London's Reckless Records, but when the movie's
script migrated to Chicago (and starred native John Cusack), the beloved Wicker
Park branch of the new-and-used music store served as inspiration. 1532 N.
Milwaukee Ave.; 773-235-3727; www.reckless.com
Local letters Myopic Books, neighborhood
institution, buys and sells the tomes Wicker Parkians digest. Lose yourself in
stacks labelled art, music, film, philosophy, "geek" (comic books)
and more. 1564 N. Milwaukee Ave.; 773-862-4882; www.myopicbookstore.com
Drink in the atmosphere Filter's exit from the Flat Iron Arts Building in 2007, when a
bank took the spot, caused a period of mourning. Three years later, the coffee
shop and all it represented (i.e., the neighborhood's alternative spirit) is
back. Drape yourself across a piece of vintage furniture and stay all day.
Everyone else does. 1373-75 N. Milwaukee Ave.; 773-904-7819
Triple threat AKIRA, Chicago's newest
fashion empire, has three Wicker Park storefronts: men, women and shoes. The
vibe is Forever 21-ish, only you won't see everyone and their sister in your
new dress. 1814 W. North Ave., 773-489-0818 (women); 1910 W. North Ave. (men);
1849 W. North Ave. (shoes). www.asraigarden.com
Neighborhood perennial Breathe in the dewy air at Asrai Garden and your whole body
smiles. The florist offers hand-tied bouquets to swoon by, plus home goods and
fragrant lotions and potions - such as from Florentine perfumery Santa Maria
Novella. 1935 W. North Ave.; 773-782-0680;www.asraigarden.com
On a foodie's bucket list No waiters, no hostess, no wine list. It's just chef Michael
Carlson at Schwa, plus his kitchen staff and eight tables. The food (and
experience) is legendary, challenging and unforgettable to the few who get
reservations. Most talked about: quail egg raviolo with truffle butter. Carlson
mans the phone. 1466 N. Ashland Ave.; 773-252-1466;www.schwarestaurant.com
WHERE TO STAY
Wicker
Park is close to downtown Chicago, where hotels abound. But the neighborhood
has some of its own options, too.
The Ruby Room Adjacent to her holistic
spa, salon and boutique, Ruby Room owner Kate Leydon offers eight guest rooms
stocked with Aveda products, spa robes and REM-inducing pillow-top mattresses.
Guests can also bliss out in a healing garden in the back. Rates from $159 per
night. 1743-45 W. Division St.; 773-235-2323; www.rubyroom.com.
The Wicker Park Inn Five guest rooms offer a bed and breakfast experience (private
bathrooms, mind), while three apartments suit the longer-term traveler. The
Provence Room is bathed in golden hues, while the Wicker Park Room offers the neighborhood’s
signature exposed brick. Rates: $143 (rooms) to $204 (apartments) per night.
1329 N. Wicker Park Ave.; 773-645-9827; www.wickerparkinn.com.
REFERENCE SITES:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/travel/destinations/wicker-park-where-history-meets-haute/article571631/
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