Uncommon Ground Readies a New Location

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 29, 2007 9:08PM

What? You didn't think you'd go a day without reading something from us, did you? Anyway, we were cleaning up our inbox when we came across a press release trumpeting the Monday opening of Uncommon Ground's new eco-friendly Edgewater location. The space at 1401 W. Devon will feature rooftop solar thermal panels, wood table tops made using reclaimed wood from Jackson Park, a 100-year-old art deco bar and eventually a rooftop will be utilized as a production garden for herbs and produce. The menus will also reflect co-owner Helen Cameron's commitment to sustainable cooking, expanded to include biodynamic wines and local organic beers. Uncommon Ground will also be a good neighbor and carry Metropolis coffee at the Edgewater location.

What's getting us stoked for the new location to open is Helen and husband Mike Cameron's decision to hire former HotHouse program director David Chavez to develop the music for both locations. If the phone call we just had with Chavez is any indication, the plans he has for the new location will go a long way to filling the sucking chest wound left behind by HotHouse's July closing. Chavez plans on implementing a regular Brazilian night, music series highlighting African music, world jazz, Afro-Cuban and Caribbean dance nights, and a DJ series where local critics and tastemakers will be put through their paces behind the wheels of steel, for which we'll gladly volunteer (by now it's common knowledge that Chavez and this Chicagoist staffer used to work together at HotHouse; we're still acknowledging it in the interest of full disclosure).