Last Girl Standing no longer standing alone

(Photo: Chicago magazine)


Chicago magazine's Last Girl Standing Sarah Preston—one of my partners in crime on the nightlife scene—is getting hitched (!!!), and somehow during all that engagement madness she managed to post this on all the places you need to go to watch March Madness.

'Check, Please!' . . . Pu-Leeze!

Can I get something off my mind?! Really?!

I dig what NBC-5 is trying to do by allowing more so-called "regular" people to voice their opinion (yeah, not reviews) on their favorite restaurants on "Check, Please!," but if I hear one more person say something like "It's my favorite (insert cuisine here) restaurant in the city . . .," "They give you the biggest portions . . ." or—the one that really drives me nuts—"You can order anything off the menu and you can't go wrong . . ." I am really going to scream. I mean let's get some variety in there, can we?!

Wine bars and nightclubs at the mall?!

Consumers are going to be soon swapping shopping for sipping at malls, says CNNMoney.com.

Deal(s) of the day . . .

If you're going out after work this evening, then you probably already know that you can find all sorts of deals and specials on food and drinks:

Check out the new bar menu at A Mano (335 N. Dearborn St., 312-629-3500) that's $5 every day. Guests can order house-cured mixed olives, a bruschetta trio or an Artisan cheese plate. Or go for the $5 pizza special every night between 5-7pm for selections like the traditional Margherita, fennel sausage Fatto A Mano or wild mushroom & caramelized onion.

Make your way to offbeat, yet trendy pizza parlor Il Fiasco (5101 N. Clark St., 773-769-9700) for half-price bottles of wine. And if you come back Thursday-Saturday, you'll get free pizza at the bar between 5-7pm.

Torch Tuesdays happens every week at Martini Park (151 W. Erie St., 312-640-0577), where guests may nosh on free passed appetizers between 5-8pm during sets of standards and classic live music.

Selections from the new bar menu at Room21 (2110 S. Wabash Ave., 312-328-1198) are offered for only $2.10 every Monday-Thursday from 5-6pm. Indulge in fun foods like spicy fried calamari, fried shrimp cocktail, the Kleiner-style Caesar salad and blue cheese housemade chips.

And go for the exotic spread at Tizi Melloul (531 N. Wells St., 312-670-4338), which features cocktails, appetizers and a hookah session for only $10 every Tuesday.

More buzzzzzzz . . .

Park 52 (5201 S. Harper Court), that delightful Hyde Park eatery that's the latest creation from Jerry Kleiner (Gioco, Marche, Carnivale, Room21, etc.), is really trying to open on April 8. That's the goal, their publicist tells us, but you know how these things go.

Perennial (1800 N. Lincoln Ave.), a contemporary American restaurant from the dream team of Kevin Boehm and Rob Katz (Boka, Landmark), is set to open in early May now.

And Texas de Brazil (51 E. Ohio St.) brings South American flair to the Mag Mile when it also opens sometime in May. It's going into the old Virgin Megastore space, so you know this will be a massive project. They'll be doing Churrascuria-style serving here at this Brazilian steakhouse.

Local Beard nominees announced

Drive Thru has the Chicago nominees for the 2008 James Beard Awards, including Bin 36's Brian Duncan, Lettuce Entertain You's Rich Melman and Naha's Carrie Nahabedian. Good luck, all!

An Ultimate Insider tells me . . .

. . . that the hottest chick in the music game right now—Rhianna—will perform during an exclusive concert at Vision (640 N. Dearborn St., 312-266-1944) on Wednesday. The Girls Night Out! event benefits a local charity and Rhianna's Believe Foundation, which provides everything from medical attention to clothing for terminally ill and low-income kids.

Hot new fragrance Escada Moon Sparkle has teamed up with her label Island Def Jam in support of her latest album, Good Girl Gone Bad, for a three-city tour of this exclusive Girls Night Out! event that comes to Chicago first (!!!), then Los Angeles and finally New York.

Tickets are probably sold out, but you should call the club to see if anything is available.

More on VIAGGIO

Earlier today, we broke the news that Jay's Amore Ristorante & Lounge (1330 W. Madison St., 312-829-3333) in the West Loop closed today in order to reconcept. But now, we've got even amore:

They're expecting to reopen the first week of April as VIAGGIO, with a spanking new contemporary look and feel. And, according to management, they're aiming to "introduce a new concept of fine dining to Chicago." Hmmmmm, I cannot wait to see this one. They're going to remain Italian focused, of course, keeping their executive chef and bringing aboard two additional ones. It's going to be really interesting to see what they've got up their sleeves. Developing . . . .