Chicago magazine March 2022

I AM NEW TO THIS PAGE, BUT NOT TO THIS MAGAZINE. I WAS executive editor at Chicago for more than seven years before briefly stepping away. I couldn’t be happier to be back, as editor in chief this time, working with an extremely talented staff. Our goal: to continue to bring you stories that will make you laugh, cry, and think. Speaking of that last one, you’ll find in this issue (page 70) a compilation of the most enlightening ruminations from our back-page interview, Backroom. The celebrated magazine writer Bill Zehme started the monthly feature more than five years ago. He had pitched me on a simple concept: He wanted to download wisdom and life stories from notable Chicagoans. These days, Mike Thomas handles the interviewing for Backroom, and I asked him…

WHEN PHOTOGRAPHER POWELL JORDANO was brainstorming ideas for this month’s piece on the combat-style boots from the men’s footwear brand Marc Nolan (page 81), one idea stuck. Literally. He decided to shoot the boots stepping on gum — or rather, imitation gum, to avoid ruining them. To make an authentic-looking concoction, Jordano thought back to the commercials for Gak he’d seen on Nickelodeon as a kid. He looked up recipes online and settled on using glue, soap, and Borax. From there, it was trial and error to find the right balance of elasticity from the soap and stickiness from the glue. For Jordano, conjuring this geeky trick was a joy: “I was always a science kid.” Stanley Kay joins the Chicago team as deputy editor. “I’m really excited to work on…

@anthonyfast via Instagram This is the correct take [“The Enviable Weather”]. Chicago’s weather is genuinely tops in the country. @chicago_stan5 via Twitter 75th Street on the South Side is such a foodie mecca [“Smoked Rib Tips From Lem’s. Need We Say More?”]. I am glad Chicago showcased Lem’s! Edwin Perry via Facebook We’ll also take thin cracker crust cut into squares [“Let Tourists Eat Deep Dish. We’ll Take a Pizza Puff”]! Jason E. Jones via Facebook I am literally ordering Le Bouchon [“The Perfect Neighborhood Spot”] as we speak because of this. @niczka.co via Instagram NEIGHBORHOOD HISTORIAN [Shermann] “Dilla” Thomas is an amazing resource for all things Chicago [“Where It’s @,” January]. His love for and knowledge of the city and his willingness to share both is a gift. @archaeojoe via Twitter He is making a subject that for many is boring…

@digitalsegami When Mike Robinson is not drinking a caffè americano, he relishes in being a self-proclaimed hot chocolate snob. “I don’t fool with the powdered stuff,” sniffs the Beverly resident, an information technology manager and professional photographer. He prefers milk to water, and the marshmallows must be small. His favorite recipe? It starts with melted milk chocolate bars and comes decked out with toasted marshmallows, toffee crumble, and, finally, a drizzle of caramel and chocolate. “My grandma used to make it just like that,” he says. The shot he took above shows the concoction but with “an extra touch,” he says. The large marshmallows, perhaps? Robinson’s wife, Andrea, serves hot chocolate at AndySunflower Café, her coffee stand in Ain’t She Sweet Cafe in Beverly. But alas, it’s not the version Grandma used to…

1 Chicago’s first St. Patrick’s Day Parade in three years will happen March 12. It’s no post-COVID celebration, though: Attendees will need to show proof of vaccination. 2 Akiem Hicks. Deon Bush. Allen Robinson. Patrick Scales. They’re among the 20 Bears who become unrestricted free agents March 16. After a 6–11 season, maybe it’s best if, you know, not all of those 20 re-sign. 3 The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is coming to the United Center, with the Sweet 16 games March 25 and the Elite Eight March 27. Among in-state teams, Illinois and Loyola are contenders for a tourney run. 4 Chicago’s first-ever school board elections won’t happen until 2024. In the meantime, we have Local School Council races. Intrigued? Applications to run for your neighborhood school’s council are due March 4.…

IT’S A WONDER WHAT CAN HAPPEN IN A 53-BY-8-FOOT TRAILER. UNIVERSITY OF Illinois mobile labs scattered across the country can process up to 10,000 COVID-19 tests a day, with a turnaround of often under 12 hours. The testing medium? Not nasal swabs, but vials of spittle. The university has been selling the rapid test to companies, schools, and other organizations around the world. It’s proving to be a fruitful business model, one that wouldn’t have been possible without the work of university researchers in Urbana-Champaign during the early days of the COVID crisis. In the spring of 2020, they started developing a test-and-trace system called Shield that features a saliva-based PCR test and data infrastructure to track results and watch for outbreaks. They had the test ready in six weeks, in…