We're having a little chuckle right now at the prospect of Michael Carlson running two restaurants at his whim, confirming and canceling reservations at the last minute. more ›

Eater Chicago reached out to Bill Kim after hearing reports that someone was crank calling restaurants as the Urban Belly/Belly Shack owner, then getting straight-up "ooophh, nasty- you kiss your mother with that mouth" with the folks at the other end of the phone. more ›

Special to Chicagoist By Grant Slater more ›

Those of us who've done the "make a reservation at Schwa" dance already know this scenario: you dial the number and are greeted with a stock message saying they're booking through a certain month and to leave a request after the beep, then you wait and wonder if they checked the message (or if you dialed wrong), then they — most likely Michael Carlson himself — calls to confirm your reservation. "We'll see you cats Thursday," is a favorite. The reservations are coveted even more, since Schwa only seats 26, is closed Sunday and Monday and that long-awaited reservation confirmation can sometimes take weeks. more ›

The food and drink staff here are huge fans of Schwa. Part of the reason is the space is so small that the attention diners receive is very personal. It's standard at Schwa to have chef Michael Carlson bringing the dishes to you and responding to your approval of the food with a simple reply: "Word." As a BYOB place, we've also been able to pair a few wines listing at under $10 with the meal. more ›

We'd been hearing rumors recently that Schwa was going to reopen, but didn't want to get our hopes up to much before something was confirmed. And confirmed it now is. Michael Carlson's BYOB spot will be reopening in early 2008, the end of this month being the earliest. more ›