june-2011

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Ferris wheel at Navy Pier. You’ll hit
Millennium Park (3), where you’ll take
the requisite photo at Anish Kapoor’s
Cloud Gate, known to locals as simply
“the Bean.” Which reminds you: You’re
hungry. You duck into Aria (4) in the
Fairmont hotel. The Asian restaurant
looks out onto Millennium Park,
so you can watch the world go by as
you nibble on delicious tuna tartare
and short ribs.
Time for a little culture at the Art
Institute of Chicago Museum (5). You pay
respect to its best-known pieces, such as
Georges Seurat’s Sunday on La Grande
Jatte, Monet’s Water Lilies and Grant
Woods’ American Gothic, and then you
head to the new, Renzo Piano–designed
Modern Wing. This section opened in
2009 and made the Art Institute the
second-largest art museum in the U.S.
It seems as though everywhere you
look is a Picasso, a Matisse or another
bigwig’s work.
Like great food and great architecture,
Chicago has an abundance
of great art, and you’d be remiss if
you didn’t check out the up-and-comers
in Fulton Market (6). This working meat
market is also chock-full of lofts and
warehouses housing art and design
studios, galleries and boutiques where
the artists themselves greet you with
characteristic Midwestern friendliness.
Dinner’s an equally arty
endeavor at Moto (7), where
you splurge on Homaru
Cantu and Ben Roche’s
20-course tasting
menu, which starts
with an edible menu
(printed on waferthin
brioche with
cashew bu er and
reduced blueberry 7 6
syrup). Cantu and
Roche, stars of
Discovery Channel’s
Future Food,
serve unexpected
flavor-texture
combinations, like
puréed corn bread
and parsley powder,
and visual puns, like
JUNE 2011 • HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
N. Halsted St.
S. Halsted St.
THREE PERFECT DAYS
CHICAGO
PARK LIFE North Pond
in Lincoln Park
a Cuban sandwich made to look like a
cigar. Presentation incorporates dry ice
and fi re turning the two-plus-hour meal
into a magic show.
It’s been a full three days, so when
your cab deposits you at The James (8),
you’re ready to fall into bed. Original artwork
like the suitcase installation in the
lobby are in keeping with the day you’ve
had. Although modern and masculine-
W. Chicago Ave.
W. Ohio St.
W. Grand Ave.
W. Congress Pkwy.
W. Kinzie St.
1
N. Lasalle St.
N. State St.
W. Wacker Dr.
W. Randolph St.
S. State St.
N. Rush St.
8
N. Michigan Ave.
5
3
S. Michigan Ave.
4
N. Columbus Dr.
S. Columbus Dr.
N. Lake Shore Dr.
2
41
feeling, your king loft suite has cozy
touches like dark wood furniture and
shag carpeting that make you feel right
at home. You keep your eyes open just
long enough to watch a movie in the
mini projection room and fall asleep
dreaming of a city on a lake.
Senior editor LAYLA SCHLACK has taken to
topping all of her foods with a pickle spear.
DAY THREE
(1) Skydeck, Willis Tower 233 S.
Wacker Dr.; Tel: 312-875-0066
(2) Grant Park S. Michigan
Avenue at W. Congress
Parkway (3) Millennium Park
North Michigan Avenue at East
Randolph Street (4) Aria 200 N.
Columbus Dr.; Tel: 312-252-1359
(5) The Art Institute of Chicago
111 S. Michigan Ave.; Tel: 312-
443-3638 (6) Fulton Market
Fulton Street at N. Desplaines
Street
(7) Moto 945 W. Fulton Market;
Tel: 312-491-0058 (8) The James
55 E. Ontario; Tel: 312-337-1000
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF NORTH POND