Art Institute of Chicago | MUSEUM OF SCIENCE | Como Inn | Al Capone | food
Dennis Franz's Chicago
by
Mark Seal"The
Art Institute of Chicago always has wonderful displays, which
they change on a fairly regular basis. So you can be assured of
stopping in most any time and seeing something new and different. I
love the Seurat painting A Sunday on La Grande Jatte - 1884, which
inspired the Stephen Sondheim musical Sunday in the Park with
George. I remember standing in front of it many times, just
imagining how it was done with all of these dots. The Museum of
Science and Industry always has an attraction. They keep bringing
it up-to-date with the latest in technology. It's good for families
and adults as well. You learn things that you didn't know about,
and the kids always love the rides. They take you down into a
[simulated] coal mine to see how a real mine works."
Dinner
"The Como Inn [currently closed for renovation, but reopening in
spring 2002] is just on the outskirts of the downtown area. You
feel like you're going into where
Al Capone had dinner a few times.
It has a wonderful old Italian feel. There are grape leaves and
vines and hidden covered places, little booths that are private and
drapes behind drapes. You can have a nice quiet meal and be very
private, and yet there's an open dining area where you can visit
with other people. Good pastas and sauces. For Mexican, there's El
Jardin. That was a good hangout for us when we were doing theater.
Wonderful Mexican
food and great margaritas."
Nightlife
"There's a lot going on at the
Navy Pier. There are restaurants,
shops, clubs, even a Ferris wheel.
Rush Street is always the spot
to go to listen to music, especially the blues. You'll find live
music all over
Chicago, which is a great city for music. A lot of
entertainers start out in these little clubs - sometimes
coffeehouses - playing guitars and singing their songs or at the
piano. Yak-Zies is like an underground bar. You step down into what
looks to be the basement of a brownstone. There's a nice big bar in
the middle and stand-up booths around the sides of it. That's a
good place to meet people. The bar scene is very active in Chicago.
It goes until 4 in the morning on weekdays and till 5 a.m. on
weekends."
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