Millennium Park Your guide to the city’s hottest new hangout

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A brief history A guide to major donors Crown Fountain Millennium Monument at Wrigley Square Ice-skating rink and Park Grill at McCormick Tribune Plaza The Anish Kapoor sculpture at SBC Plaza Jay Pritzker Pavilion Four questions for Frank Gehry Lurie Garden Picnic possibilities Harris Theater for Music and Dance BP Pedestrian Bridge Neighborhood bars and restaurants Millennium Park map

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This guide is just a taste of our new magazine, to be published weekly starting in early 2005. Our experts dig deep into the city’s arts, dining and shopping scenes, so you don’t waste a bit of your own precious time and money. To subscribe, call 1-877-U-GET-TOC. Cover top, Scott McDonald © Hedrich Blessing bottom, Don Farrall.

Millennium moolah The quickie guide to the park’s big donors T H E C R O W N FA M I LY

All aboard for the people’s park! How an old railyard finally got on the right track illennium Park may have missed the turn of the century by a few years, but it was worth the wait. What was once a gritty, woefully underused corner of Grant Park has been transformed into a world-class public space that clinches Chicago’s reputation for humanistic urban planning and unparalleled quality of life. Not since the White City built for the 1893 Columbian Exposition has Chicago undertaken such an ambitious public work. Needless to say, the park did not come cheap. Planners enlisted the world’s most sought-after artists, including architect Frank Gehry and sculptor Anish Kapoor, to ensure that the 24.5-acre park lived up to its majestic moniker. The price for this feat of urban renewal: $475 million. In the 1850s, the spot now occupied by the park lay under water, and the Illinois Central Railroad tracks ran on an elevated trestle 400 feet offshore. After the Chicago Fire of 1871, debris was dumped into the lake, surrounding the tracks with landfill, at what is now Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street. Millennium Park was first dreamt up in 1997 as a way to return a chunk of prize real estate to the people. Mayor Richard Daley enlisted local businesses and private donors to raise $150 million—but the intial design was prim and unremarkable. Its bandshell was to honor Jay Pritzker, whose family foundation was one of the park’s biggest benefactors. Unimpressed by the plans, local philanthropist Cindy Pritzker used her pull to recruit her friend (and Pritzker Prize recipient) Gehry to design a new pavilion, but not in time for the park’s intended 2000 dedication. The opening date was pushed back to accommodate his schedule. Gehry’s involvement took the project to a new level. Realizing the park’s potential, planners approved a slew of costly upgrades. Ultimately, the city contributed $270 million; private donors and businesses kicked in the remaining $205 million. But hey, a few years from now, when Millennium Park’s attractions are considered icons of Chicago, it just may seem like a bargain.

COURTESY OF CHICAGO PARK DISTRICT SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

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The Crowns are shareholders in defense contractor General Dynamics, and founders of the Material Ser vice Corp., suppliers of stone, sand and gravel. Their gift of $10 million helped Jaume Plensa’s fountain burble to life. THE IRVING B. HARRIS F O U N D AT I O N

Irving and brother Niesen invented the Toni home perm, then sold it to Gillette. (Remember “Which twin has the Toni?”) The family anted up $15 million of the $52.7 million total cost for the Harris Theater, of which Irving’s wife, Joan, is president. THE ANNE AND ROBERT H . L U R I E F O U N D AT I O N

Rober t made a for tune in real estate. His widow, Anne, a trained nurse, is the president of Africa Infectious Disease Village Clinics. The $10 million endowment they created for the upkeep of the garden should pay for a lot of petunias. THE ROBERT R. McCORMICK T R I B U N E F O U N D AT I O N

Last year, the foundation named for the eccentric right-wing publisher and editor of the Trib (1925–1955) doled out more than $83 million to charity. The foundation contributed $5 million for the McCormick Tribune Plaza and ice rink. T H E P R I T Z K E R FA M I LY

The family whose holdings include Hyatt hotels and the Royal Caribbean cruise line used its pull with Frank Gehr y (and $60 million) to build the Jay Pritzker Pavilion. THE WILLIAM WRIGLEY F O U N D AT I O N

The charitable organization named in honor of the chewing gum mogul kicked in $15 million for Wrigley Square and its classical peristyle.

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Crown Fountain ll of the artists tapped to contribute to Millennium Park say they tried to honor the green’s historic context while also acknowledging Chicago’s reputation for innovation. That balance of tradition and trail-blazing is perhaps best exemplified by Jaume Plensa’s Crown Fountain, located in the southwest corner of the park. Plensa, a sculptor based in Barcelona, has taken the fountain, a traditional park fixture, and reinvented it for the 21st century—complete with special effects. The design is anchored by two 50-foot glass-brick towers, facing each other Notable number across a black granite plaza, with water cascading down their GALLONS OF WATER sides. At regular interCYCLE THROUGH vals, the flow of water CROWN FOUNTAIN DAILY over the inside face of

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each tower is interrupted, as a giant LED screen behind the glass brick displays the face of one of 1,000 Chicagoans filmed for the installation. Each face appears for about 15 minutes; periodically, the person appearing on the screen purses his or her lips as water pours from a spout in the lower part of the screen, creating the illusion that the person is spitting water onto the plaza below. The space between the towers is bathed in an eighth of an inch of water—deep enough to reflect the images appearing on the fountain, but shallow enough to allow viewers to walk across the plaza and and interact with the reflections or, if they choose, to take a soaking from one of the “digital gargoyles.” The screens will also show wildlife scenes. After two years, video artists will be invited to submit their own work for display. Just imagine what they could dream up to douse the visitors.…

COURTESY OF JAUME PLENSA STUDIOS

Hey, watch it! That woman is going to spew!

Wrigley Square A born-again colonnade gives you some history to chew on Anyone old enough to have visited what was the northwest corner of Grant Park prior to the early 1950s may have a sense of déjà vu when they see the Millennium Monument at Wrigley Square. The classical Greek peristyle, a semicircular colonnade comprising 24 Doric columns, is a replica of the one erected in the same location in 1917. The original was designed by Chicago architect Edward Bennett, a former partner of Daniel Burnham and the collaborator on the architect’s 1909 Plan of Chicago. It was destroyed in 1953 to make way for the construction of the underground Grant Park garage. While the original was constructed from precast concrete, the new monument is made from limestone quarried in Indiana and France. At just under 40 feet tall, it is 20 percent smaller than the original, in order to reduce the load on the ceiling of the parking structure beneath. The monument’s circular fountain—slightly altered from the original—features a brass spout made from a mold of a terra cotta finial on the nearby Wrigley Building. A plaque at the base of the peristyle will bear the names of donors who gave at least $1 million to the park project.

McCormick Tribune Plaza Stage your own ice capades, then thaw out over dinner and drinks ost Chicagoans got their first peek at Millennium Park when McCormick Tribune Plaza unveiled its 16,000-square-foot ice-skating rink in December 2001. Open November through March (weather permitting), the free rink features skate rentals ($5), a warming lobby and lockers. Park Grill, the eatery overlooking the rink, opened in November 2003. It could have coasted on its fortuitous location, but Park Grill really cooks. Chef Bernard Laskowski, formerly of Bin 36, offers an eclectic menu ranging from spring rolls to pasta carbonara (lunch entrées are $10 to $16; dinner, $17 to $28). In summer, an international tapa menu is served on the 150-seat terrace, and there’s live music Thursday nights through Labor Day. Next door, Park Café offers take-out salads and sandwiches, so you can grab and go. Park Grill, 11 N Michigan Ave between Madison and Washington Sts (312-521-7275). 11am to 10:30pm. www.parkgrillchicago.com.

BOTTOM, COURTESY OF CITY OF CHICAGO

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The Anish Kapoor sculpture This piece of art gives you something to reflect on

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Most people refer to it as “the jellybean.” Other, less-than-kind observers liken it to an upside-down bedpan. But it’s best not to get hung up on the shape of Anish Kapoor’s stunning steel sculpture. Essentially a gigantic 3-D mirror, this work is defined, not by its own outward form, but rather by what surrounds it. Standing 33 feet tall and stretching 66 feet from end to end, the corpuscular structure is constructed of quarter-inch polished stainless steel plates on a steel support skeleton. From a distance, it’s sleek, ultramodern and even chilly, but when approached, it takes on a kinetic intensity, swimming with reflections of the skyline, shifting clouds, trees and…you, the viewer. If you stand beneath the structure and gaze up at its concave underside, the polished surfaces create endless reflections—mirrors of mirrors. The London-based Kapoor selected Performance Structures, a shipbuilder in Oakland, California, to build the piece; the firm’s ability to produce an invisible weld between each of the plates creates the work’s signature fluid effect. Originally, the 110-ton sculpture was to be constructed in California and delivered by cargo ship to the lakefront, but planners later decided it was safer to assemble the piece on-site in SBC Plaza. The Millennium Park commission is the first site-specific installation in the U.S. for Kapoor, who was born in Bombay. Other works of his can be found in the collections of the Hirshhorn in Washington, D.C.; the Reina Sofia in Madrid; and the Tate Modern in London. Note: For another art fix, walk east of the sculpture and you’ll hit Bank One Promenade, an all-weather venue for festivals and exhibitions. 6

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DAVID MORGAN

TREES IN THE ENTIRE PARK

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15 MINUTES FOR THE PAVILION LAWN TO BE DRY ENOUGH TO SIT ON AFTER A HARD RAIN

Jay Pritzker Pavilion rowned with rippling stainless steel, the Frank Gehry–designed Jay Pritzker Pavilion is the undisputed centerpiece of Millennium Park. But it almost wasn’t so. In accordance with a 1909 law banning buildings in Grant Park, original plans for the pavilion featured a humble sunken bandshell and seating area. Then park planners hit on the idea of commissioning a structure they could pass off as a sculpture rather than a building. Naturally, they thought of Gehry. Cindy Pritzker, whose family is one of the park’s biggest benefactors, had gotten to know the architect after he was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1989. When

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Gehry heard his friend was involved, he signed on. “Whatever Cindy asks me to do, I do,” he says simply. His only guiding principle was that the structure should be inspiring and upbeat. “I’ve always been for optimism in architecture,” Gehry admits. “That’s why I don’t like doing memorials. A building for music and performance should be joyful.” He brought several models to Chicago to show to park planners. “I did one that was very flat, very Miesian,” he recalls. “People were horrified. They didn’t want that.” Judging by the final product, what the park funders did want was a structure instantly recognizable as a Gehry, preferably

ALEX LIPOWEC

Frank Gehry’s bandshell offers splendor on the grass

ALEX LIPOWEC

one incorporating the billowing sheets of metal that adorn his Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, Spain, and the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. But that was okay with him. “I can’t escape my language,” he says. “So you recognize my work, I guess. I think everyone is pretty much stuck with themselves.” Gehry had never designed a bandshell before, but his renovation of the Depressionera Hollywood Bowl in the 1970s and ’80s made him realize the project’s unique challenges. Thus the new home of the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus benefits from lessons learned in Los Angeles: Here, Gehry’s signature steel ribbons aren’t just for show; they improve acoustics by directing sound down toward the audience below. Now for the stats: The Douglas fir– paneled stage can accommodate a full orchestra and a 150-person chorus. Two 50foot sliding steel-and-glass doors flank the proscenium. There are 4,000 fixed seats, and the 95,000-square-foot lawn can accommodate 7,000. The stage is extra-wide, in hopes that even those seated way out on the grass will feel drawn into the performance. The most innovative design element is the stainless steel trellis over the lawn. It provides a place to hang speakers, allowing for optimal sound without obstructing the audience’s view. Gehry says he would like to have outfitted the bandshell with a retractable roof, but the $2 million to $3 million cost was not in the budget. It can, of course, be retrofitted, he notes wryly. The trellis performs another subtle but important function: It defines the space over the lawn, so audience members feel connected to what’s going on onstage and sheltered from the buildings looming at the edge of the park. But what if it rains? Well, beneath the lawn is a layer of sand that promotes quick drainage. In the event of a pre-show shower, the grass should be dry enough to sit on within 15 minutes. Gehry says he hopes that catching a concert at the pavilion makes Chicagoans feel special, “like it’s their own thing—that no one else has one like this. Nor will they ever have one like this. ’Cause I ain’t gonna do another one like this.” For a performance schedule, go to www.grantparkmusicfestival.com (312-742-4763).

Four questions for Frank Gehry, architect

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Besides your own, what is your favorite building or public art work in Chicago? I like the [Marina City] corn cobs by Bertrand [Goldberg]…. I love [Mies van der Rohe’s] Lake Shore Towers [860–880 N Lake Shore Drive]. They’re really extraordinar y buildings, the way they come to the ground on a 17⁄8 piece of travertine [marble]. Chicago’s a city that did well with its lakefront. And I think the mayor is doing an incredible job with the small parks he’s building all over the place.

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Many of your initial drawings of the Pritzker Pavilion were rejected by park planners. People seem to have a very clear idea of what a Gehry building should look like. Do you find those expectations confining? Yeah, I think there’s a problem there. I was having trouble in Toronto at the Art Galler y of Ontario, because they thought it was not enough Gehr y. Then, when they heard I was coming, it was too much Gehr y.

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What’s your favorite part of the pavilion? The trellis. I love it. I’d had the idea of hanging speakers before, and I wanted to do it on a cable structure at the Hollywood Bowl, and they never would do it. I was really happy to get to do it, because I wanted to show them what they should have had.

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What were the biggest challenges during the design and construction of the pavilion? It was all a challenge. We built a model and put it in a wind tunnel. It was scar y. I was ner vous about [the wind], though it is designed to take it. But if it flies away, gimme a call.

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Lurie Garden ocated in the southeast corner of the park, the Lurie Garden is the result of a collaboration between three leaders in their fields: landscape architect Kathryn Gustafson, theatrical-set designer Robert Israel and perennial-plant designer Piet Oudolf. Project leader Gustafson, whose other recent commissions include the Diana Princess of Wales memorial in London, says the Millennium Park project was inspired Notable number by the city around it: “The project emerges from the site, from the VARIETIES OF NATIVE area’s cultural history PERENNIAL PLANTS IN and the natural histoTHE LURIE GARDEN ry,” she explains.

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To that end, the garden is divided into two “plates.” The Dark Plate recreates the lakefront’s natural topography of rolling prairie, shade trees and lush, muted vegetation. To the west, the Light Plate represents the city that rose from the ashes of the Chicago Fire, featuring orderly beds of perennials with carefully orchestrated color progressions and bloom times. None of the plants will grow taller than two feet, and many are rigid enough that they will look striking when covered with snow. The entire Light Plate slopes toward the south, creating an impressive vista when viewed from the upper floors of the new Renzo Piano–designed addition to the Art Institute of Chicago, scheduled for completion in 2008.

COURTESY OF GUSTAFSON GUTHRIE NICHOL LTD.

Catch your breath in this calm oasis, nurtured by nature

The garden’s plates are separated by the Seam, a wooden boardwalk running alongside a simulated river of seven shallow pools punctuated by copper “dams.” At night, lighting resets the mood. While the Light Plate is evenly bathed in crisp, neutral light, the Dark Plate features blue-tinted pole-mounted fixtures that simulate moonlight; trees are lit by pink and yellow inground lamps. Israel’s set-design background is clearly apparent in his contributions to the garden.

From the moment visitors enter through the Shoulder Hedge, a 14-foot evergreen wall, they experience a gradual process of “initiation, surprise and discovery” that Gustafson likens to entering a dark theater from a noisy, brightly lit lobby. Gustafson freely admits that the garden’s charms are more subtle than the park’s other attractions. “The Gehry piece is very much a frontal piece,” she notes. “A garden is something you’re in. It’s your body inside of a space. It’s much more of an environment.”

Pack a snack Hit these prime spots near the park to pick up your picnic BERGHOFF CAFÉ

17 W Adams St between State and Dearborn Sts (312-427-3170). El: Blue, Red Lines to Monroe; Brown, Orange, Green Lines to Adams/Wabash. Bus: 1, 7, 60, 126, 151. Lunch, dinner (closed Sun). Average sandwich: $4.50. If your insides are in the mood for a little oompah, step into this scene from Chicago’s histor y: a triple-threat German restaurant/bar/café that holds the city’s first post-Prohibition liquor license. Almost a centur y later, the café’s mile-high hot corned and roast beef sandwiches rule the carr yout line. Get yours with a side of German potato salad and the signature Berghoff root beer.

TIM TURNER

PERRY’S

174 N Franklin Ave between Randolph St and Couch Pl (312372-7557). El: Blue, Brown, Green, Orange Lines to Clark/Lake. Breakfast, lunch (closed Sat, Sun). Bus: 37. Average sandwich: $6. The closest thing the Windy City has to the “Soup Nazi,” Perr y’s is a lunchtime institution, with lines snaking out the door, random trivia questions barked over a loudspeaker and a fiercely enforced no-cell-phone policy. The wait is rewarded with giant deli classics like egg salad, roast beef and “Perr y’s Favorite”—corned beef, Jack cheese, cole slaw and Russian dressing on fresh r ye.

Wow Bao TO PHO CAFÉ

WOW BAO

19 N Wabash Ave between Madison and Washington Sts (312-346-7216). El: Brown, Green, Orange Lines to Madison. Bus: 70. Lunch, dinner (closed Sun). Average main course: $7. Head straight for the selfser ve counter at this Vietnamese joint. Our favorites: warm, crusty banh mi sandwiches, piled with garlic chicken; and the grilled shrimp noodle salad with crisp greens.

835 N Michigan Ave between Pearson and Chestnut Sts (312642-5888). El: Red Line to Chicago. Bus: 3, 145, 146, 147, 151. Lunch, dinner. Average main course: $5. At this counter just inside the entrance to Water Tower Place, the namesake baos (steamed Chinese buns, $1.19 each) are stuffed with savor y fillings such as Kung Pao chicken, spicy Mongolian beef and barbecued pork. Pad Thai salad and the pepper y house-made ginger ale complete your repast.

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Harris Theater for Music and Dance he sleek, minimalist theater at the northern edge of Millennium Park was one of the first attractions to be completed, back in November 2003. In the planning stages for 15 years, the Harris Theater was invited to join the Millennium Park development when theater fundraisers were unable to find another suitable location downtown. In deference to a 1909 court ruling banning buildings in Grant Park (and because space was tight), the plans were revised to move most of the theater underground, with only the main lobby located at street level. To make the plan fly, the theater needed the unanimous consent of all owners of adjacent property. By 1999, the required signatures had been collected and construction began. The result is a decidedly modern 1,525seat facility devoid of typical theatrical embellishments. It’s also the only venue in town—if not the country—where ticketholders must descend a flight of stairs to reach the upper balcony. The gleaming white Randolph Drive

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lobby is almost sterile in its minimalism. Apart from a few corrugated steel benches, the only decor is a wooden backdrop created by sculptor Louise Nevelson for the Opera Theatre of St. Louis’s 1984 production of Orfeo and Euridice. The Nevelson piece was purchased by the Harris family in 1985. Inside the auditorium, an industrial feel prevails. Architect Tom Beeby, who also designed the Harold Washington Library, employs a palette of muted black and gray, as if urging the audience to focus on the 45square-foot stage rather than on their surroundings. Exposed ductwork and pipes crisscross overhead, and the poured-concrete walls are marked with grooves and ridges to improve acoustics. The Harris shares its backstage with the Pritzker Pavilion, located just south of the theater. The main curtain, created by local textile artist Maya Romanoff, is sheer polyester, hand-woven with colored metal threads that reflect stage lights. The theater’s commitment to showcasing diverse acts is evident in its 12 founding

JON MILLER © HEDRICH BLESSING

There’s more to this venue than meets the eye (the rest is underground)

member companies, which include Chicago Opera Theater, the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, Muntu Dance Theatre and the Old Town School of Folk Music. The theater management’s zeal for inclusive programming is matched only by its aversion to bathroom lines—there are 40 bathroom stalls in the orchestra-level women’s restroom alone. It’s also easy to skedaddle when the show is over. Owing to the subterranean setup of the theater, audiences have direct access to their cars, parked right next door in the Millennium Park Garage. 205 E Randolph Dr (312-334-7777); www.musicanddancetheaterchicago.com.

IT HAPPENED HERE…

BP Pedestrian Bridge Stroll Gehry’s singular walkway

ong before the Cubs set up shop in the Friendly Confines, the team— then known as the Chicago White Stockings—played at a 10,000-capacity ballpark at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street, in what’s now the northwest corner of Millennium Park. Known as Lakefront Park, it was considered among the finest of its day, complete with a wooden grandstand topped with luxury skyboxes. The White Stockings called the park home from 1878 to 1884, when, citing a law banning commercial use of federal land, the city ordered the club to dismantle the stadium. (“And y’er out!”) The timber was used to build the White Stockings’ next home, Congress Street Park at Congress and Loomis Streets.

LEFT, RUDER FINN; RIGHT, PETER J. SCHULZ

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The only Frank Gehry–designed bridge in existence, the BP Pedestrian Bridge spans Columbus Drive, connecting Millennium Park with Grant Park’s Daley Bicentennial Plaza and the lakefront to the east. Not surprisingly, it bears more than a passing resemblance to the elaborate bandshell that lies to the west. But while Gehry’s Pritzker Pavilion billows upward, his sleek bridge Notable number is low-slung, undulating through the green RATIO OF MEN’S space like a TO WOMEN’S TOILETS snake. The IN THE PARK reptilian effect is heightened by the bridge’s serpentine cladding—brushed stainless steel plates that overlap like so many scales. The gently sloping deck is made from ipé, a durable wood from Brazil. A relatively small part of the 925-footlong structure actually spans the street; the rest slithers south through Millennium Park along the eastern edge of the pavilion lawn, baffling sound from the busy fourlane street beyond.

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After the Millennium… Unwind inside at these nearby bars and restaurants Bars Cal’s Liquors 400 S Wells St between Van Buren and Congress Sts (312-922-6392). Mon–Thu 9am–8pm; Fri 9am–2am; Sat 7pm–3am. Cal himself slings insults and Old Style at this dive bar, where a handful of stools are warmed by bike messengers and grit-hipsters. Posters plug upcoming gigs by punk bands like Urinal Mints and Twat Vibe. The Grillroom 33 W Monroe St between State and Dearborn Sts (312-960-0000). Mon– Fri 11:30am–midnight; Sat 5pm– midnight; Sun 5–11pm. If Sinatra and steakhouses are your scene, try the wine bar here. Poised

PARK HOURS 6am–11pm GENERAL INFO 312-742-1168 EVENT SCHEDULE www.millenniumpark.org PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION CTA El stations near the park include: the Washington stop on the Blue Line; the Lake, Washington and Monroe stops on the Red Line; and the Randolph, Madison and Adams/ Wabash stops on the Brown, Green, Orange and Purple Lines. Northern Indiana’s South Shore Line stops directly beneath the park. For directions, including bus, Metra and South Shore Line info, call 312-836-7000 or visit www.rtachicago.com. BY BICYCLE A 300-space heated bike garage at Columbus and Randolph Drives features lockers, showers and repairs. BY CAR Four parking garages ser ve Millennium Park. Rates vary, but expect to pay from $10 to $20 for one to 24 hours. Grant Park North: Enter on Michigan Avenue at Madison or Randolph Streets. Millennium Park: Enter on Columbus Drive at Monroe or Randolph Drives. East Monroe Street: Enter on Columbus Drive at Monroe or Randolph Drives. Grant Park South: Enter on Michigan Avenue at Van Buren Street.

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HotHouse professionals line the mahogany bar, quaffing one of 40 wines by the glass. HotHouse 31 E Balbo St between State St and Wabash Ave (312-362-9707). Mon– Thu 6pm–1am; Fri 6pm–2am; Sat 6pm–3am; Sun 6pm–midnight. A diverse multigenerational crowd sips cocktails to hip-hop, AfroCaribbean drums, jazz and blues at this nonprofit performing-arts club. Manhattan’s 415 S Dearborn St between Van Buren and Congress Sts (312-9570460). Mon–Fri 3pm–2am; Sat 5pm–3am. Expect lawyers with loosened ties at happy hour, and the college crowd later. Outkast and Black Eyed Peas spin side by side with the White Stripes and Johnny Cash. Monk’s Pub 205 W Lake St between Wells and Franklin Sts (312-357-6665). Mon– Fri 9am–2am. For more than 30 years, this cavernous tavern has cornered the market on the Middle Ages–themed dive. An equal mix of suits and shorts down beer and add to the piles of peanut shells littering the floor. Whiskey Blue W Hotel–City Center, 172 W Adams St between La Salle and Wells Sts (312-782-4933). 4pm–2am. The bar at the downtown W is the Loop’s hottest see-and-be-seen spot. Cruise among models moonlighting as waitresses and sexed-up singles looking to clink Cosmos.

Restaurants Exchequer Pub & Restaurant 226 S Wabash Ave between Adams St and Jackson Blvd (312-939-5633).

MILLENNIUM PARK

Lunch, dinner. Average main course: $10. If your idea of atmosphere is Bears memorabilia and ballgames on TV, this joint’s for you. Regulars swear by the ribs, pan pizza and Greek-style grilled pork chops (weekends only). Fuse Hotel 71, 71 E Wacker Dr between Wabash and Michigan Aves (312462-7071). Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Average main course: $25. French wunderkind Eric Aubriot is back in the kitchen at Hotel 71; signature dishes include foie gras with bittersweet chocolate sauce. Nancy Warren’s glittery mosaic-tile decor is as chic as the food. Russian Tea Time 77 E Adams St between Wabash and Michigan Aves (312-360-0000). Lunch, dinner. Average main course: $20. At this opulent spot, slide into a cozy booth and dive into sour cream–slathered dumplings, caviar blinis, creamy beef Stroganoff and farmer’s cheese blintzes. Skip the wine and order a flight of houseinfused vodkas with dinner. Flavors include pepper, pineapple, ginger and coriander. Vivere 71 W Monroe St between Dearborn and Clark Sts (312-332-4040). Lunch, dinner (closed Sun). Average main course: $20. The sassiest and most upscale of the three restaurants that make up the multilevel Italian Village, Vivere looks like an Italian-baroque version of Alice’s Wonderland. The chef tweaks the menu depending on what’s fresh at the market, so expect interesting twists on the house-made pastas, fragrant seafood stews and grilled game.

ERIK UNGER; OPPOSITE, COURTESY OF OWP/P

PARK POINTERS

RANDOLPH DRIVE

HARRIS THEATER BIKE PARKING

WRIGLEY SQUARE

PRITZKER PAVILION KAPOOR SCULPTURE MICHIGAN AVENUE

McCORMICK TRIBUNE PLAZA ICE RINK

BANK ONE PROMENADE BP PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE

LURIE GARDEN

COLUMBUS DRIVE

CROWN FOUNTAIN

N MONROE DRIVE

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