WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

Mario Santiago (May St. Cafe), Art Smith, me 

Last night, Chicago chef Art Smith celebrated his 50th birthday in style. Several of the nation's top chefs cooked up their signature dishes for a crowd of Chicago celebrities. Chefs included Ming Tsai, David Burke and Boston's Barbara Lynch, as well as Gavin Kaysen from Cafe Boulud in New York and "Top Chef" winner Stephanie Izard. Birthday revelers included Mayor Richard Daley and former White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers.

The night was capped by the news that Oprah Winfrey (Smith's old boss) donated $250,000 to Smith's charity, Common Threads.

Here are some more pictures from the event:

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(photo by Lee Bey)

 A reader told me to go look at the vacant Columbus Maryville complex on Montrose just west of Lake Shore Drive. "I'm not sure what they were trying to do there," he said. "It's like they were going for something Utopian."

Developer Marty Paris announced plans this year to raze the former children's shelter for a $350 million residential/retail project, according to Crain's, so I decided to have a peek while I could.

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USDA prime filet from Mastro's

When people come to town, visiting for a weekend or attending a convention, I invariably get asked about steakhouses. In some ways, it's like asking about hot dog joints. As most of us know by now, Vienna Beef is the defacto supplier of encased meats (as well as neon green relish, sport peppers and celery salt) for nearly all of the joints in the city. There are few variations, and if there are deviations from this norm, it would be in size (6s, 8s, or God forbid, the pencil-sized 10 weenies at Gene & Jude's) or with garnishes like tomato (usually out-of-season red, but in the case of Superdawg, a pickled green version). It's the same story with steak. Sure, you can choose from Sullivan's, Gene & Georgetti, Ruth's Chris, The Chop House and Gibson's, but they're all featuring pretty much the same product: USDA Prime grade (which means corn/grain-fed) and wet-aged in a sealed plastic wrapping.

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^{Steve Darnall}

When the great Chuck Schaden announced he was retiring last spring, I didn't know what would happen to my Saturday afternoons. For 39 years -- no matter where I was or what I was doing -- I always managed to spend at least part of the day between 1 and 5 p.m. listening to the guru of old-time radio bring back to life the golden age of Jack Benny, "The Shadow," "Fibber McGee and Molly" and the rest of the gang.

I need not have worried. Although Schaden stepped down in June from "Those Were the Days," he didn't let his faithful audience down. Instead, he put his weekly show into the capable hands of Steve Darnall, the same devoted fan to whom Schaden had entrusted publication of his Nostalgia Digest magazine four years earlier. And just as Darnall has kept up the high standards Schaden set in print, he's proven to be the perfect successor to the Radio Hall of Famer on the air.

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If the thought of Passover cooking has you dreading yet another year of bland, monochromatic, starch-laden food, you may want to consider attending a Passover Boot Camp to add some flavor to the holiday meals.

Chef‚ Laura Frankel,‚ the former chef and founder of the kosher Shallots restaurants, will help you find ways to cook three Passover-friendly meals a day with lessons on:

• The ABCs of Sephardic and Ashkenaz food traditions
• The lowdown on pre-Passover cleaning (plus green tips for lining cabinets and the fridge)
• The best modern and global ingredients for versatile Passover meals and treats
• Time-saving -- and delicious -- recipes

The Boot Camp class is held at Spertus, the Chicago Jewish cultural center, on Tuesday, March 9 at 6 p.m. and costs $25 ($20 for Spertus Members). Reservations are required and can be made by calling 312-322-1773.

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I've always had a bad feeling about Yelp. Not sure if it was the amateur postings ("It's‚ amazing!!!!" "Worst Meal Ever!!!") or the fact I had heard rumblings about how they determined which posts actually made it up on the site. Now comes word, almost exactly one year after my colleague Monica Eng wrote a story about the questionable tactics they employ in the Tribune, there's been a class-action lawsuit filed against the rating site for allegedly strong-armed sales tactics that border on shaking down retailers.

The suit alleges that the site tried to get a Long Beach veterinary hospital named Cats and Dogs Animal Hospital to pay $300 a month -- for a minimum 12-month commitment -- to suppress or delete reviews that disparaged the hospital.

Interesting that the site's motto is "Real people. Real reviews." A couple of years ago, I had read a piece in the Wall St.

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We asked for your submissions singing "We're Here" for the Beckoning of Lovely film project. We were able to get some video, but mostly audio.

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