Here we go again - the behemoth of the food festival scene has returned for another year. Chicago Gourmet is back for the fourth year in a row, again sponsored by Bon Appetit. This year, the festival will be held on the 24th and 25th of September. For all of our complaining in the past, Chicago Gourmet has improved dramatically since the first incarnation, and the list of chefs, exhibitors and demos still makes us squirm with foodie glee. The $90 price tag ($175 for the weekend, another $175 for the grand cru tasting) bring us back down a bit, but there is nowhere else that you can see all of these chefs together in the same place. Plus, those are the pre-order prices. If you buy tickets later, they will cost $150 per day. So, if you are sure you want to go, buy now - sales open at 10 A.M. and the number of pre-order tickets is limited. more ›

Okay, so it's not even March yet, but the major spring-summer museum exhibits are already on view. Here are a few we think you won't want to miss: more ›

The Art Institute has put together a stellar exhibit with John Marin's Watercolors: A Medium for Modernism, and Marin’s work is surprising on both planes. He defies traditional watercolor methods to produce paintings that are radical, colorful testimonies to the urban architecture of New York City, the craggy shorelines and pine trees of Maine, and the mountainous forms of New Mexico. The New York paintings are extraordinary—the buildings and trees sway together like dancers, no small achievement for a painter who had no formal training in watercolors. Marin’s exuberance comes through both in painting and in word: “There come days when I am glad to be alive and just to see the wonderful city in its different aspects and then say I will! I will! I will!” more ›

Last week we brought you some not-to-be-missed museum exhibits that are closing this week. This week we’re rounding up a few exhibits that are kicking off the fall season. Rest up over Labor Day weekend and then add these to your calendar: more ›

We hate to admit it, but the unofficial end of summer is nearly upon us. Since this will be the last weekend before Labor Day, we wanted to give you a heads up to the many art exhibits that will be closing in the next two weeks around town. We know it's hard to think about heading indoors when the weather is this beautiful, but we think you won't want to miss some of these: more ›

The famous walk-through heart at The Museum of Science and Industry has gotten a much needed upgrade. This week, technicians put the finishing touches on its replacement: a new, three-dimensional animated heart that stands 14-feet-tall. Occupying the balcony of the museum’s North Court, the new heart not only shows the inner and outer workings of the organ through full-color animated projections, but it also matches the pulses of visitors through a pair of hand grips in front of the exhibit, and then displays their heartbeat. more ›

We have an insatiable appetite for both miniature scale architecture and things built with Lego. So imagine how excited we are to see the ART + SCIENCE = ARCHITECTURE exhibit, opening at the Museum of Science and Industry today. more ›

During the waning months of this year's epic presidential election, we saw the national conversation change from the War on Terrorism in Iraq to the global financial crisis. It's easy for those of us without family and friends in armed services to put the war in the back of our minds and focus on issues that hit closer to our homes. Tomorrow at the Chicago Department of Culture and Arts' Theater (78 E. Washington), the Vet Art Project will have a free, public performance created by war veterans in collaboration with artists of various mediums. The Vet Art Project allows veterans to tell their stories and creates discussion of how war touches all of our lives. more ›

Looking for an fun, educational, and cheap way to entertain the family tomorrow? Look no further than Hyde Park. The Museum of Science and Industry is open tomorrow from 9:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. and offering up free admission all day. Can't make it by tomorrow but still looking to entertain those out of town guests? The MSI will be open all weekend (at regular admission, of course) and with some great exhibits like the Smart Home and Christmas Around the World, it's a great time to pay a visit. The MSI is open Friday and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. more ›

Elvis enthusiasts unite. more ›

A new exhibit at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago sheds light on the looting and destruction of Iraqi artifacts in the wake of the Fall of Sadaam. Catastrophe! The Looting and Destruction of Iraq’s Past, opened yesterday, the five year anniversary of the Fall of Baghdad, and continues through the end of the year. The exhibit focuses not only on the well-publicized looting of the Iraq Museum, but on the continued looting of these artifacts as well as the damage done to historical and archaeological sites from the ongoing war and what can be done to save them. more ›

Few things epitomize South Side fast food like the breaded steak sandwich. During our years living out south, we've had too many of them to mention. They range in quality from succu-fuccu-lent works of art rivaling any steakhouse entree, to gluttonous monstrosities that serve as Exhibits "A" through "LMNOP" that obesity isn't a "glandular" problem. more ›