What Happened to Zagat ’89?
Nobody ever said producing a dining guide was easy. And Tim Zagat has had plenty of problems getting out a new version of the Zagat Chicago Restaurant Survey. What was to have been a 1989 survey has turned into the 1990 edition, delayed by at least six months. Now Zagat is saying the new guide should be out by Thanksgiving (keep your fingers crossed).
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Just how current the new Chicago guide will be is debatable, however, given that most of the ratings forms for the upcoming edition were filled out and returned long ago in 1988. As everyone knows, restaurants frequently get new chefs, new menus, or even new owners, any or all of which may significantly affect the dining experience. But Zagat maintains that no professional restaurant reviewer could come up with a published guide any more current.
When it came to the fact checking required to produce the new Chicago guide, Zagat and his Chicago-based editor (Tribune associate travel editor Carolyn McGuire) encountered a major obstacle. To get nuts-and-bolts information such as phone numbers, hours, etc, questionnaires were sent to upward of 600 restaurants to be listed in the new guide. Owners were asked to fill in information about their establishments and return the forms. It seemed simple enough.
Harvey Plotnick Gets Romantic
Publisher Harvey Plotnick is keeping a close watch on the New York Times best-seller lists, hoping that Louisa Elliott, his first major foray into the often seamy world of romance fiction, will turn up there in the next few weeks.
What This City Needs Is a Luxury Hotel
Meet Severyn Ashkenazy, a decidedly outspoken west-coast hotelier looking to make his mark in Chicago. Ashkenazy operates seven superluxe hotels in star-filled Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, the best known of which is L’Ermitage, a 110-suite hotel near the center of action in Beverly Hills. L’Ermitage offers original artwork in every room, a chauffeured limousine at the guests’ disposal, and strawberries, sour cream, and brown sugar delivered to their suites each afternoon in season. Such luxuries don’t come cheap, of course; the common executive suite goes for $255 to $295 a night, and top-of-the-line suites with three bedrooms can hit $1,500.
