Civic Center Bounces Bicoastal Ballet
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel was the site of a seemingly festive reception to unveil Gault-Millau’s The Best of Chicago, a $15.95 travel guide that should be arriving shortly in bookstores. But behind the scenes some tempers were flaring.
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The American versions of Gault-Millau (pronounced “Go Me-oh”) guides, which also include books for Los Angeles, New York, New England, and San Francisco, are based on a long-standing, acerbic, well-respected Paris restaurant guide produced by noted French food critics Henri Gault and Christian Millau. But the American guidebook division, under the direction of suave Andre Gayot, is an altogether different operation, with Messieurs Gault and Millau apparently having little or no input.
Bridge for Sale?
Kass, whose Kass/Meridian gallery represents Haring in Chicago, has seen the price of Haring prints skyrocket since the news appeared. Limited-edition prints that Kass could barely sell at auction last spring for $350 are now going–when they can be had–for $1,500 and more. Haring is holding back a lot of his work, Kass says, devising an overall strategy for it in light of his uncertain future.
Chalk up another failed effort to revive the old-fashioned supper-club format in Chicago. The Fairmont Hotel will shutter its ritzy Moulin Rouge after its New Year’s Eve dinner-show featuring the Platters. Doomsayers have been predicting the room’s demise almost from the day its doors opened. The hotel was finding it increasingly difficult to book the Tony Bennett-type talent it wanted for the kind of fees it could afford. And given stiff tabs for food, drink, and entertainment, customers were discouraged from sampling anything but the big names. As of January 1, the Moulin Rouge will be available for receptions, weddings, etc. Don’t expect to see its like in Chicago anytime soon, if ever.
