Restaurateur Jerry Kleiner is at it again, this time with Park 52, his first foray into Hyde Park. Open since April, the restaurant is located in a courtyard and shares a building with the New Checkerboard Lounge, a legendary South Side blues club. Kleiner's signature aesthetic—bold jewel tones, dramatic furniture and lighting, and various textures (think damask, velvet, leather)—are all in place in this new venture.
The 120-seat dining room is adjoined by a roomy lounge area that fills up at night. Red leather barstools line the green granite-topped bar, while glass shelves hold a display of bottles and decorative elements. A plasma TV is mounted on the back wall, and a single banquette and a smattering of café tables dot the space.
READ MORE RELATED TOPICSHyde Park,
Jerry Kleiner
On Wednesday, a face-painted man wearing a pink shirt and toting a green water gun wove his way through the stylish crowd assembled at the River East Art Center for Gen Art and Nokia's Art in Motion event. The colorful guest was part of one of three films that were shot on site, as emerging filmmakers commissioned by Gen Art made short movies using Nokia's N95 8GB device.
The moviemaking was only one of the ideas that Gen Art Chicago's regional event director, Laura Lachman, cooked up for the event, which was intended to showcase the cutting-edge capabilities of Nokia's N95 and N810 devices.
Guests had the option of ordering drinks the old-fashioned way (by bellying up to the bar) or by taking a more technological route: Nokia reps standing at three highboys held N810 Internet tablets that they used to type in guests' drink requests. The orders went electronically to a computer behind the bar, and a server brought the drink orders to the tables within a matter of minutes.
READ MORE RELATED TOPICSGen Art,
Nokia
Thelma S. Dietsch has been the assistant director of learning experiences at the Association Forum of Chicagoland for the last nine years. She is responsible for securing caterers and venues for 60 educational sessions throughout the year, in addition to an annual meeting, gala, and trade show. The annual gala is set for June 19 at Navy Pier.
Catering: “On May 5, we hosted the fifth annual Chicago PAC reception with Berghoff Catering. We use them for our after-hour receptions. The grapes rolled in goat cheese were a huge hit. Rōti Catering does our V.I.P. breakfast and lunches, and their homemade hummus is always a crowd-pleaser. We also use One North Kitchen and Bar for our educational sessions. In April we enlisted the services of One North for seven breakfasts. The fresh-baked muffins and fresh fruit platter keep us coming back for more."
READ MORE RELATED TOPICSAssociation Forum of Chicagoland
An array of Fabulous Stationery's offerings Photo: Courtesy of Fabulous Stationery
For stylish thank-you notes or invites on a budget, Fabulous Stationery has a wide range of cards that can be personalized. The Philadelphia-based company, owned by three advertising-agency veterans, offers more than 300 designs, including Pop Art prints, masculine stripes, and organic shapes. For bulk orders of 10 or more sets of 25 cards and envelopes, the designers can tailor both the text and the look of the cards and add a company logo. Corporate clients include Marie Claire and the Hyatt Regency Boston. Individual sets range from $35 to $55; bulk orders receive 15 percent off. The company ships worldwide. —Lisa Cericola
Potter's offers a clubby atmosphere and a retro cocktail list. Photo: Courtesy of Palmer House Hilton
Potter's, a clubby bar and lounge, opened in April in the Loop's Palmer House Hilton. Named for the hotel's legendary founder, Potter Palmer, the lounge is part of the historic hotel's ongoing $150 million renovation.
A few steps above the main seating area, Potter's features an expansive bar flanked by glass columns containing white feathers, a cheeky reference to fan dancer Sally Rand, who was a popular entertainer in Chicago in the 1930s. The space also pays homage to other Chicago icons with black-and-white portraits of the likes of Hugh Hefner, John Belushi, Walter Payton, Louis Prima, and Nat King Cole.
READ MORE RELATED TOPICSBusiness Entertaining
Krave KoolKarts Photo: Courtesy of Krave KoolKarts
Rachelle Ross's Krave KoolKart is a mobile dessert service that doles out retro treats like Creamsicles and strawberry-shortcake bars (and ice cream) for events. The mobile carts—Ross has four of them—can travel to picnics, meetings, fund-raisers, or in-office gatherings, and the menu boards can be customized with corporate logos or special messages. Ross recently served dessert to 700 guests at a black-tie benefit for the Children's Place. To add a surprise gift, carts positioned near exits can dole out frozen confections as an end-of-the-event treat. —Jenny Berg
May 10, the anniversary of the first transcontinental railroad, will be the first-ever National Train Day, an Amtrak-sponsored event taking place in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, D.C., according to USA Today. In order to highlight its recent success (1.5 million more travelers rode Amtrak in 2007 than in the previous year), the national passenger railroad is spending $2.2 million on the event, in addition to bringing on as its spokesman Al Roker, who will host the Washington events at Union Station with singer Sara Bareilles.
The Harlem Globetrotters will make an appearance at the New York events at Penn Station. In all of the cities, Amtrak will set up displays, offering visitors the opportunity to walk through actual trains, and feature sweepstakes, giveaways, and concerts. According to the event's Web site, Amtrak has partnered with MasterCard and Wheel of Fortune for National Train Day. The game show is sponsoring an Amtrak train wrapped in a Wheel of Fortune ad running between Chicago and Milwaukee through May 15. —Wendy Wollenberg
The Crown Royal Lounge Photo: Playboy/James Trevenen
Several big-name brands showed up in Louisville over the weekend to host events surrounding the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby. Dubbed the Run for the Roses, the horse race has become a breeding ground for tabloid-friendly celebrities—and where celebrities go, endorsement-seeking brands follow. (Ubiquitous types like The Hills' Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt, model Molly Sims, Entourage's Adrian Grenier, and former Miss USA Tara Conner were on the scene.)
"The Derby is one of our favorite events," said Hi-Fi Marketing Group partner Brian Gefter, who produced Friday's In Touch Weekly Parlor party with his partner Mike Satsky. "We do all of these parties around national event properties like Super Bowl, but the reason the Derby is appealing to us is that it’s very celebrity-driven but it’s less cluttered. There's a real chance to make a huge impact in an area where there aren’t as many events going on, as, say, the Super Bowl."
Playboy division vice president of creative services Donna Tavoso, who produced the Crown Royal Lounge on Friday night, said, "I think as more and more people realize that the Derby is a celebrity event and a great consumer event, they are drawn to the whole idea. It's not surprising that others want to throw a party [on the Friday night before the Derby]. That said, we know the level and quality of the party we throw, and we rest on that reputation."
READ MORE RELATED TOPICSKentucky Derby,
Barnstable Brown Gala,
Playboy,
In Touch Weekly,
Pama,
ProFlowers,
Crown Royal,
Grey Goose
With individual tickets priced at $1,500, Mayor Richard M. Daley as a dinner guest, and Gary Sinise on bass (more on that later), Saturday's Steppenwolf Theatre gala upheld the annual affair's reputation as one of the city's black-tie heavyweights. Aside from serving as a networking extravaganza and a fund-raiser for the local theater company (this year, the gala raked in $1.3 million), the event is "first and foremost, a celebration of our actors,” said Judith Kaufman, the theater’s director of special events.
Before dinner, a special gala performance, written and performed by the ensemble, took place on the theater’s main stage. Inside the dinner-and-dancing tent that spanned a neighboring parking lot, ensemble member Joan Allen acted as mistress of ceremonies. A live auction featured actor-centric packages like a backstage tour with John Malkovich, who has long been affiliated with the theater. Sinise (an ensemble member himself) provided the after-dinner entertainment with his Lt. Dan Band, covering everyone from Beyoncé to Evanescence as guests hit the dance floor.
READ MORE RELATED TOPICSSteppenwolf Theatre
As an alternative to the National Magazine Awards (which the American Society of Magazine Editors presented Thursday at Jazz at Lincoln Center), yesterday Advertising Age columnist Simon Dumenco announced the launch of his own prizes, "the American Magazine Vanguard Awards (AMVAs), which recognize both big and small innovators: magazines that are taking new, smart, necessary risks in extending their franchises off the page." His column lists examples of appropriate entries, including Dwell's Dwell on Design event in Los Angeles from June 5 to 8. Submissions are due (via email) September 29.
