Day two
10:00 a.m. Check in at Hotel Felix (shown), recently opened in the 1926 building that was formerly home to the Hotel Wacker. The $50-million redevelopment features modern, enviro-conscious touches like motion-sensor thermostats (so consumption is minimized when you’re out on the town), designed to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design silver rating standards. Skip the cab—the chic shopping row that is Magnificent Mile is just a five-minute walk away, so you can lower your carbon footprint outside too. (111 W. Huron St., 877-848-4040, hotelfelixchicago.com)
11:13 a.m. Just north of Hotel Felix is Yolk, a cheerful breakfast eatery offering unpretentious fare in Midwest-sized portions till 3 p.m. Feeling chaste? Opt for an egg-white skillet or Iron Man omelette. Feeling naughty? Well, there’s only one way to be bad: cinnamon-roll french toast. (747 N. Wells St., 312-787-2277, yolk-online.com)
1:00 p.m. Shoppers looking for a serious find will have plenty of luck in Bucktown and its neighbour Wicker Park, both a quick ride from the downtown Loop on Chicago’s easy-to-navigate El train. Browse cult designers like Boy by Band of Outsiders, Humanoid and Surface to Air at the Colette-ish Hejfina (1529 N. Milwaukee Ave., 773-772-0002, hejfina.com). Also on your must-shop list is P.45 (1643 N. Damen Ave., 773-862-4523, p45.com), where frocks by local labels mingle with fall must-haves like black leather leggings by Mason. Let your credit card cool down at alterna coffee joint Caffe De Luca (1721 N. Damen Ave., 773-342-6000, caffedeluca.com), before heading across the street to Marc by Marc Jacobs to stock up on cutesy accessories.
3:00 p.m. You may know Lincoln Park by a certain After Dark hue, but there’s nothing shady about the area by day. Cheerful boutiques abound—shoe emporium Lori’s (824 W. Armitage Ave., 773-281-5655, lorishoes.com) offers so many styles that boxes are stacked in tall towers all over the store, making you feel like Godzilla happily plundering away. Around the corner is Barney’s Co-op (2209-11 N. Halsted St., 773-248-0426, barneys.com), with its coterie of hip brands like Alexander Wang and Acne. Between stores, stop at Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! (2024 N. Halsted St., 773-935-5000, cafebabareeba.com) for a pitcher of sangria (choose from six kinds) and some Spanish tapas.
9:57 p.m. Reminiscent of Chicago’s Jazz Age heyday, Pops for Champagne offers a vast list of bubblies. The well-heeled flock here to titter over flutes filled with one of 125 varieties of champagne and sparkling wine. No need to commit to a bottle—the by-the-glass selection often features rare vintages at a steal. We won’t tell you how many we tried. (601 N. State St., 312-266-7677, popsforchampagne.com)
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First published in FASHION Magazine October 2009
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joni writes:
i am going to chi-town this weekend and it was really fun to read this article. I am inspired to visit some if these places.
—posted January 11, 2010 at 9:41 p.m.
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