The North Shore Weekend, January 28th, 2023

THE BOWIE PROJECT

Next month in Evanston, Paul Marinaro and the Metropolitan Jazz Octet present music from a new album that pays tribute to one of the greatest singer-songwriters of all time. pg8

NEWS

Eileen Bennin receives Community Impact Award in recognition of her 25 years of service to Glenkirk pg11

LIFESTYLE & ARTS

Chase away the winter blahs with the French 75, a classic champagne cocktail pg17

SUNDAY BREAKFAST

Former Chicago Steak Man Glenn Keefer still sizzling as a partner of three North Shore restaurants pg18

“The elevator to success is out of order. You’ll have to use the stairs… One step at a time.”

-Joe Girard

“Susan was on top of everything, very helpful in advising on the entire process. She is warm, smart, and gets it done. We love working with Susan and would recommend her to anyone!”

- Colleen, Winnetka Buyer

“Susan was wonderful to work with. Her astute awareness of the market, her confidence & the high standards she expects of herself assured us that Susan was the one to represent us in the sale of our home.”

- Susan, Glencoe Seller

LIFESTYLE

BY SHERRY THOMAS THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

A few days after iconic British musician David Bowie died on January 10, 2016, Paul Marinaro and Jim Gailloreto—cofounders of the Metropolitan Jazz Octet— began listening to Blackstar, Bowie’s 26th and final studio album.

“It stopped me in my tracks,” Marinaro says of the album, which was secretly recorded while Bowie was suffering from liver cancer. Blackstar was released worldwide on Bowie’s 69th birthday, just days before his death.

By 2018, Marinaro began to occasionally perform Bowie’s evocative lament, “5:15 The Angels Have Gone,” in an arrangement crafted by guitarist Mike Allemana.

At the same time, Marinaro and Gailloreto began discussing working on a joint project together, and Marinaro suggested his “probably crazy idea” of tackling Bowie’s repertoire. Gailloreto agreed, saying he was excited to both have the chance to work with Marinaro and to adapt Bowie’s well-known songs to the Metropolitan Jazz Octet’s (MJO) soundscape.

On Friday, February 10, Marinaro and the MJO will perform music from their new album, The Bowie Project, at Studio5 Performing Arts Center in Evanston—a venue that brings professional dance, music, and spoken word events to its 123-seat theater.

Founded and curated by Dance Center Evanston director Béa Rashid and Emmyaward winning composer and jazz musi-

cian Steve Rashid, Studio5 provides North Shore arts-goers with a space that is both state-of-the-art and intimate, connecting audiences with opportunities to hear such artists as Marinaro, Gailloreto, and the MJO.

Released last week by Origin Records, their Bowie homage reinterprets many of the singer’s classic songs, including “Let’s Dance,” “Changes,” and “Space Oddity,” into fluid, fully orchestrated jazz pieces— honoring Bowie's lyrics and melodic/harmonic complexity while using the octet palette to paint with intimate, nuanced colors.

According to the album’s liner notes, written by Chicago jazz writer Neil Tesser, “In the arrangements and orchestrations, Gailloreto, [MJO co-founder John] Kornegay, and their team of arrangers steer clear of what came before; for his part, Marinaro hasn’t tried to emulate Bowie at all. Pretend you’ve never heard these songs in the first place and allow these artists — modern masters of the genre Bowie once studied, and always respected — to recast his repertoire, illuminating even his darker songs in light of recent events.”

The MJO was originally founded in the '50s by saxophonist/arranger Tom Hilliard and documented first in 1959's The Legend of Bix on Argo Records. Its re-awakening in 2014 by Hilliard's former student, Jim Gailloreto, extends the rich legacy of Hilliard's library of compositions and devotion to this elegant chamber ensemble.

Origin Records, a Seattle-based jazz label, calls The Bowie Project an inspired tribute to the durability and pure magic of David Bowie's songwriting legacy.

“Reinterpreting without replicating, due in no small part to Marinaro's riveting vocals paired with creative arrangements, the octet palette reveals transparency and

intimacy, coaxing nuanced colors more indicative of a larger orchestra, laying out an inventive complement to Bowie's lyrics,” according to a statement on its website.

Tesser continues the high praise in his liner notes: “When you can listen to the iconic 'Space Oddity' and hear it anew— without a trace of irony—you know this project has met its goal.”

Marinaro and the MJO play one night only from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Friday, February 10, at Studio5 Performing Arts Center, 1934 Dempster Street, in Evanston. Tickets are $35 for general admission or $45 for cabaret seating. For more information, call 847-328-6683 or visit www.studio5.dance/.

EDITED

Metropolitan Jazz Octet and singer Paul Marinaro perform music from their new album, The Bowie Project, next month in Evanston.

Photography courtesy of John Broughton

APPLES TO APPLES

After a two-year hiatus, Cider Summit Chicago is back at Navy Pier next weekend, featuring nearly 200 ciders, cider cocktails, and apple spirits from local craft producers

Hard cider has come a long way in America over the last decade, flourishing in popularity to rival hard seltzer and some beer categories.

Made from the fermented juice of apples and other fruits, cider ranges widely in alcohol content (ranging on average from 4.5 percent to 7 percent) and is now offered in a wide range of flavors to appeal to almost every palate.

Next weekend, Cider Summit Chicago—a day-long event featuring nearly 200 ciders, cider cocktails, and apple spirits—returns to Navy Pier’s Aon Grand Ballroom after a two-year hiatus. Known as the region’s largest cider tasting, the 9th annual event celebrates

is ticketed separately, you must have a ticket for the correct session in order to enter the festival. Admission is restricted to those age 21 and over. Cider Summit Chicago is a unique opportunity for guests to meet and greet cidermakers and taste popular and new releases. Founded over a dozen years ago, Cider Summit produces cider tasting festivals in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Chicago.

Returning for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers expect next weekend’s event to be one of the most wellattended yet. With 150 selections from more than 50 producers—including local, regional, and international favorites—the only challenge will be what to taste first.

local, regional, and international artisanal ciders and cidermakers.

Two sessions are offered at the Saturday, February 4, tasting. Session One goes from noon to 3 p.m. (with VIP admission at 11 a.m.) and Session Two goes from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. (VIP admission at 4 p.m.) Last pour is 15 minutes prior to the session close. Because each session

Cider lovers can snack on delicious food from Chelsea’s Gluten Free and Sausage Fest food trucks, plus additional onsite snacks. There will also be an event store with festival merchandise and extra tasting tickets. Presented by Binny’s Beverage Depot, additional support comes from The Green Post Pub and Louis Glunz Beer.

A portion of ticket sales from the event proceed Women Employed, a nearly 50-yearold Chicago-based advocacy organization that pursues equity for women in the workforce by effecting policy change, expanding access to educational opportunities, and advocating for fair and inclusive workplaces so that all women, families, and communities can thrive.

General admission tickets are $40 per session and include a souvenir tasting glass, 12 tasting tickets, and a $1 donation to Women

Employed. VIP tickets (space is limited) are $50 per session and include express admission to the event, a souvenir tasting glass, 16 tasting tickets, plus a $1 donation per ticket to Women Employed.

All tickets must be purchased in advance online at cidersummit.com and will not be sold at the door. The Aon Grand Ballroom at Navy Pier is located at 840 E. Grand Avenue in Chicago.

Choose among 200 ciders, cider cocktails, and apple spirits at the Chicago Cider Summit at Navy Pier.

PROGRESS REPORT

The City of Lake Forest made significant upgrades to its infrastructure in 2022, including replacing two well-trafficked bridges.

BY MITCH HURST THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

The residents of Lake Forest can feel a little safer this year as they cross two well-traveled footbridges. And it wasn’t just what the city did to improve infrastructure in 2022 that makes the story; it’s how they did it.

Mike Thomas, Lake Forest’s Director of Public Works, says it was a mix of ingenuity, timing, and hard work that made it all happen.

“We’re required by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to inspect bridges on a certain basis or a certain timeline,” Thomas says. “We had this report completed for us in 2020 and two pedestrian bridges had a poor rating for their superstructure—Illinois and Woodland.”

The two pedestrian bridges had been repaired and patched over the years, but the latest inspection led Thomas to push for the decision to replace them. It was not an insignificant undertaking.

“The formal name is ‘pedestrian’, but I call them the Woodland Bike Path Bridge and the Illinois Bike Path Bridge. The Illinois Bridge was installed in 1994, and the Woodland Bridge was installed in 1995,” Thomas says. “We went ahead and basically looked at that report and said, ‘You know what? It's time for these things to be replaced’.”

In addition to fully replacing the two footbridges, the city also replaced the Deerpath Water Main and made major improvements to the Burr Oak Area Storm Sewer to mitigate flooding issues.

You could call 2022 in Lake Forest a year of progress.

“We started looking at all of the infrastructure throughout town roads, bridges, storm sewers, water mains, water plants, ravines, and everything,” Thomas says. “These were a high priority for us. We brought it to our city council, the finance committee, and reviewed it with them and they agreed with our recommendations.”

With Woodland being a three-span bridge and Illinois a two-span bridge, the logistics for getting them replaced—without major disruptions to bike and foot traffic—was not easy. Timing was also key.

“There are lot of kids that park their cars south of the Woodland Bridge, high school kids, and walk over that bridge and along the bike path to the high school,” Thomas says. “I really wanted to make sure that we didn't take this bridge out of service until school was out and graduation was done and that we had it back up and in service by the time school started.”

The spans for the bridges were built in Wisconsin and trucked down to Lake Forest, which reduced the amount of interruption to foot and bike traffic. The old bridges were pulled out, the new bridges placed down, new concrete decks poured, and new bridges were born.

“I think a day before the high school started, it was bingo. Woodland was out of service for just a couple of weeks, from the time we actually said, ‘Okay, it's time to take this one down and put this one up’,” Thomas says. “It worked out perfect. It's a great bridge; it looks great.”

Ask Thomas about the secret to Lake Forest’s success in keeping its infrastructure up to date and he’ll mention the dedication of the city’s workforce and the contractors the city partners with, but it couldn’t all happen without the city council’s commitment to looking out for its residents.

“I’ve worked for the city now 28 years, I've been director since 2012, and without question they all have been extremely supportive,” he says. “It’s wonderful living and working in a town where your city council acknowledges the importance of the infrastructure and puts the necessary funding in to stay up with it.”

Photography courtesy of DroNation Video Services

Woman On A Mission

fail, they would be too much of a challenge," Eileen says, "but Glenkirk created a program that met their needs." Best of all, she says, "Steven and Howard are able to live, work, and recreate in the community in which they were raised, only five minutes from us."

When Eileen Bennin founded Glenkirk's Annual Brunch Benefit Bash in 1997, finding quality services for children with disabilities was a difficult task—one she knew first hand. She and her husband, Dr. Bruce Bennin, were raising their two sons, Steven and Howard (both diagnosed with autism), in Highland Park.

Discovering Glenkirk, a Northbrook-based nonprofit supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, was a game changer. Founded in 1954, Glenkirk's mission is to provide quality lifetime supports that empower individuals with developmental disabilities to participate fully in all areas of community life.

"Other agencies said that our sons would

Eileen created the inaugural event for Glenkirk more than two decades ago with a mission to bridge the gap between inadequate state funding and the cost of providing these services. It has since grown to become one of the most popular fundraisers on the North Shore, raising over $3.6 million in benefit of Glenkirk’s programs.

She was honored for her 25 years of service at last September’s 25th Annual Benefit Bash, where she was presented with Glenkirk’s Community Impact Award. Held at Ravinia Green Country Club in Riverwoods, 200 guests enjoyed cocktails, dinner, live music, and a raffle. Also awarded at the event was John Lipscomb, Former Glenkirk CEO, in honor of his retirement and in acknowledgement of his contributions to the organization.

The first year Eileen ran the fundraiser, she raised $25,000. Over the years the benefit has grown in size and scope to raise approximately $200,000 per year, featuring such guest speakers as Hillary Clinton, Scott Turow, and

Tipper Gore.

In that time, the event's proceeds have helped Glenkirk launch new recreation and enrichment programs in the community, increase disability employment at local businesses, purchase accessible vehicles, and renovate Glenkirk group homes to ensure those with disabilities can live full lives in the community.

When Eileen was honored by former President George H. W. Bush’s Points of Light organization in 2007, she was praised nationally for her commitment to Glenkirk and its programs.

“Each year Bennin makes it her personal challenge to exceed last year’s goal by bringng more people and companies into the event. She has never failed and makes things happen with a sense of determination and savvy. Challenge is a word that runs away when Bennin is involved,” according to a testimonial on the pointsoflight.org website. “While Bennin is the mother of two sons with developmental disabilities, she is

a tireless supporter of all her children in the Glenkirk family. When it comes to the developmentally disabled, Bennin doesn't know the meaning of the word 'no'.”

To learn more about Glenkirk and its services, visit glenkirk.org.

Eileen Bennin of Highland Park receives Glenkirk’s Community Impact Award for 25 years of service that makes a difference in the lives of so many, including her own children.

THE BENNIN FAMILY—STEVEN, DR. BRUCE, EILEEN, AND HOWARD

BARB SIEGAN GLENKIRK BOARD MEMBER, AND PHYLLIS PALADINO

CARMEN FRANCO, BRIAN BENTZ, AND CHRISTEON MAYFIELD

BOTTOM ROW: CAROLINE STEINWAY, CARMEN FRANCO, ALICE ABT

TOP ROW: BARI MICHELON, ROZ HOFFBERG, EILEEN BENNIN, BARBARA HELFGOT

STAN AND HARRIET ROSENTHAL, ELISSA AND ANDREW DELMAN ARNIE SCHILLE AND ROSEMARIE CARLSON

EILEEN BENNIN AND KIM BERENBERG

EDITED BY DUSTIN O’REGAN THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

The Art Center Highland Park’s Director of Events JACQUELINE CHILOW oversees extravagant affairs ranging from exhibition openings to weddings. Growing up in Winnetka with art-loving parents, Chilow spent vacations at Art Basel rather than Disneyland. A longtime resident of Highland Park, where she raised her three children, she resides with her husband, Steve, and precious pups Coco and Bella. Starting her career at The Pump Room, she segued into ownership of a decorative art and antique warehouse catering to dealers and collectors before creating her own event company, which eventually led to The Art Center Highland Park role. Between booking caterers and creating guest lists, this is how this event planner extraordinaire stays on-trend.

ON MY MOBILE

“I love Artnet for staying current on everything in the art scene. It’s a wonderful collection of new artists, galleries, art for sale, and news from around the world. And of course, Instagram is always a great place to get my art fix, as well as staying up on catering trends and event ideas. Some of my favorite follows are the event queens, @mindyweiss, @colincowielifestyle, @ bashplease, and @fionajoye, and floral designers, @ soilandstem, @flirtyfleurs, and @textureflorals.”

IN MY AIRPODS

“My favorite time of the day is in the morning—I walk my dogs for miles and listen to my favorite podcasts on Audible. This American Life, Stuff You Should Know, and You’re Wrong About are all nice to have on in the background. As far as music, I can’t stop listening to Adele’s new album. I mix in some of my old school classics like The Rolling Stones, Elton John, and Coldplay and lately have been loving alternative new music.”

ON MY NIGHTSTAND

“Thank goodness I joined a book club this year. It has pushed me to turn off social media and read some incredibly interesting books. Some of my favorites are The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré, American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins, Missionaries by Phil Klay, and The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. I’m just starting The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles and can’t put it down!”

ILLUSTRATION BY TOM BACHTELL

When selling or buying your home, one of the most important pieces is finding the right advisor to work with. As the real estate market is always changing, it is important to have someone who knows how to navigate these changes.

At Engel & Völkers, I am a real estate advisor not just a real estate agent. I have the tools, network and resources to elevate the standard of service that I can provide my clients. With access to unparalleled training and coaching, I am a lifelong learner and can stay up to date on the real estate industry and technology. I have access to our global network, which allows for the ultimate reach for my clients, while also creating a collaborative atmosphere.

At Engel & Völkers we don’t simply have agents, but rather trusted advisors to guide our clients through their home journey with precise knowledge and distinguished care. I am proud to be an Engel & Völkers advisor.

PLANE

A new action thriller takes flight with a satisfying white-knuckle rush.

RUNNING TIME: 1 hour, 47 minutes

RATING: 3 stars

BY REX REED THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

There’s always room for another first-rate action thriller, and Plane breathlessly packs its punches in spades. Starring underrated, two-fisted hunk Gerard Butler and tightly directed by Jean-Francois Richet, it’s a satisfying whiteknuckle rush of suspenseful excitement that is several notches above its competitors in the same genre.

Butler plays Brodie Torrance, a Scotland-born commercial pilot who takes off on a New Year’s Eve flight from Singapore to Tokyo carrying 14 passengers, including one last-minute arrival in handcuffs—an accused felon named Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter) who is being extradited by the FBI to stand trial for murder on the mainland.

Flight 119 is only supposed to take 6 and ½ hours, but it barely reaches cruising altitude when the plane is hit by lightning in a brutal storm that plunges it into total darkness. An electrical malfunction forces Brodie to make an emergency crash landing over the China Sea—disappearing on the radar and hitting a narrow strip of road in the middle of a jungle-infested Filipino island, killing one flight attendant and the prisoner’s security guard. Controls are smashed, fuel is low, the radio is dead and all contact with the civilized world is suspended, but the survivors are still relieved to land safely—until optimism turns into terror with the realization that the island is occupied by the kind of homicidal political terrorists that only exist in the movies.

Brodie has no choice but to enlist the services of Gaspare, the only other person on the plane with the skills

to fight the rebels and save the other passengers, who are taken hostage by the thugs and held for ransom. With the handcuffs removed, Gaspare proves to be a whiz with knives, machine guns, and sledgehammers. (He spent time in the French Foreign Legion.)

From here, the film lurches and careens from one violent non-stop action sequence to the next, with enough killings, ambushes, fistfights, fires, and explosions to keep fans of Con Air sated. The tight screenplay, by Charles Cumming and J. P. Davis, juxtaposes savage jungle action with the frantic and ever-changing strategy back at airline headquarters supervised by the crisis manager on whom so many lives depend (played by the handsome, always reliable veteran, Tony Goldwyn). Not always the best father in the past but anxious to make up for lost time by trying to get home in time to start the New Year with his daughter, Gerard Butler gets a rare chance to show his humane side, proving he needs to branch out more and act in more sensitive roles beyond the limitations of thriller flicks.

Most of the characters are one-dimensional cyphers, but the actors are first-rate—especially Yoson An, as the mild-mannered but keenly reliable and steadily nonplussed Hong Kong-based co-pilot, and Mike Coltor as the juggernaut with the criminal past who turns out to have a heart.

Nothing new here, to anyone who has seen Nicolas Cage in Con Air, Stephen Segal in Under Siege, or Liam Neeson in just about anything, but Plane is so well made and vastly entertaining you won’t even think about glancing at your watch.

Illustration by Tom Bachtell

Famed film critic Rex Reed weighs in on Plane and Blood.

BLOOD

The title tells all in this gruesome film about a bloodthirsty juvenile.

RUNNING TIME: 1 hour, 45 minutes

RATING: 1 star

BY REX REED THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

With the demise of real movies on big screens that appeal to real audiences, we’re in the middle of an alarming trend to make movies on the cheap, featuring good actors desperate to keep their careers going, exploring repulsive themes that try to be “different” but only end up being deplorable.

Most of them aren’t even released in commercial cinemas but find themselves littering various “streaming” services instead. The result is a surfeit of junk movies on late-night cable too numerous to mention, but if you saw Bones and All, Babylon, or Crimes of the Future (to name just a few recent debacles) then you know what I mean.

The latest creep show is a bomb called Blood. The title says it all because there is enough of that to fill a transfusion bank. Following an unpleasant divorce, a nurse and former drug addict named Jess (Michelle Monaghan) moves her two kids, teenage daughter Tyler, and juvenile son Owen to a remote farmhouse in the country.

Owen’s dog Pippin, sensing something in the woods, runs away. Despite posters and newspaper ads, he stays away so long they give up hope that he will ever return. But when he reappears, his eyes glow in the dark, he growls at the children, foams at the mouth, and savagely attacks Owen. The dog tests negative for rabies, but they put him down anyway, burying him in the back yard. In the hospital, instead of hydrophobia the little boy develops a rare bacterial infection that turns out to be much worse, resulting in epileptic seizures and a wild craving for blood. First, he drinks the plasma in his IV drip, then stronger stuff from human veins.

It’s a good thing Mom is a nurse. She can steal blood from the hospital’s medical-supplies storage room. It’s ghoulish, but it’s the only way she can keep him alive. So, she when the supply depletes, Mom substitutes the plasma for blood from her own veins.

But too much of a good thing can obviously lead to mental fatigue, physical exhaustion, and a bad disposition. Desperate to keep Owen alive, she supplements his diet with nourishment from a dying cancer patient, locking the woman in the canning cellar and ... but enough already.

This movie goes downhill so fast it turns inadvertently from horror to comedy, but when they see the box-office grosses, I don’t think director Brad Anderson or screenwriter Will Honley will be the ones who laugh. From one shock (and one snack) to the next, this movie is a disaster waiting to happen.

Daughter Tyler finds the prisoner in the basement, the patient falls on a barbed-wire fence and slashes her throat, and when Owen’s estranged father (Skeet Ulrich) takes him home to live with his wife and newborn baby, the film progresses to a climax that can only be described as horrifying.

None of it makes any sense, and the details are too gruesome to even describe. The idea of an adolescent vampire is grim (and silly) enough, but the juicy scares intended by a boy hovering over a nursery crib with hunger in his eyes eludes me.

He is played by a child named Finlay Wojtak-Hissong. With a moniker like that, I doubt if I’ll be watching him grow old on the screen. Michelle Monaghan, on the other hand, is an actress whose previous film appearances opposite such A-list co-stars as Tom Cruise and Leonard DiCaprio earned her critical praise from critics for “wit, charm, and comedic talent,” none of which are on display in Blood

Apricot Glazed Lamb Chops

BY WENDY FRANZEN THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

Place

Heat grill or cast iron grill pan to high. Add chops and cook over high heat until nicely browned, about three minutes. Turn chops over and brush cooked side with glaze. Continue cooking for 3-4 more minutes for medium-rare.

Remove chops from heat and brush second side with glaze. Transfer to a platter and garnish with mint sprigs.

FRENCH 75

This classic champagne cocktail is refreshing and light on the palate—a welcome shift for the gray winter months. Though it is a bit stronger than a mimosa, the citrus-forward French 75 works beautifully for brunch.

MATERIAL PURSUITS

This weekend’s curated luxury trends.

Designer Dram personalized, blended whiskey is traditionally only available to those who can afford to invest in creating an entire barrel, which can take a minimum of two years and cost upwards of $5,000 if aged well. Now, thanks to DESIGNER DRAM—the world’s first luxury online distillery—you can create a one-of-a-kind bottle of whiskey for your gift recipients’ unique palate at a small fraction of the cost and in just three simple online steps. Designer Dram allows you to craft and design every element of your custom

PRINCESS MARIE-CHANTAL of Greece and prestigious American design company Schumacher have collaborated to produce a full suite of stylish wallpapers and fabrics that embody enchanting motifs perfect for any child’s room or nursery. Each of Marie-Chantal’s beautifully crafted designs has elements of whimsy and nostalgia that celebrate the innocence of childhood with sophistication and European flair. The textiles include high-performance, stain-resistant fabrics that are as practical as they are charming. The collection is comprised of seven prints. Princess Marie-Chantal is a hardworking businesswoman who actively and gracefully balances a career in design with the demands of family. Born in London, she spent her early years in Hong Kong and was educated in Switzerland and France, experiences that contributed to her sophisticated eye and extraordinary creativity. An artistic sensibility and passion for design led her to study at the New York Academy of Arts and New York University, where she expanded and honed her considerable skills. Sweet dreams. For more information and to purchase, visit fschumacher.com.

BY WENDY FRANZEN THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

Serves one Ingredients

1 ounce gin

½ ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice

½ ounce simple syrup

3 ounces Champagne lemon twist, for serving

Instructions

Place gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Cover and shake until well chilled.

Strain into a coupe glass or flute and top with Champagne. Garnish with lemon twist.

bottle of whiskey—from the barrel selection to the alcohol strength to the personalized custom bottle label. Only exceptional, aged (5 to 10 year) American barrels are used for the custom blending experience. Designer Dram also offers an at-home Experience Kit, allowing for a more elevated experience. The final creation is executed by master distillers and a design team—nothing is automated. Your custom whiskey arrives beautifully packaged in a stunning 750 ml glass decanter made in Italy. A personalized note card is also included. Allow two to four weeks after the order is placed for the shipment to arrive. For more information, visit designerdram.com.

Venice has a thousand reflections of silk, marble, mirror, and light. In VENICE: A PRIVATE INVITATION, Venice resident Servane Giol guides us through a maze of canals, secluded campos, and narrow alleyways to meet some of Venice’s most creative residents, opening the door to private historic palazzi, as well as more recently restored houses and apartments owned by a new generation of artists and designers drawn to Venice’s radiant beauty, energy, and lifestyle. Whether it is in interior design, glass-blowing, shoemaking, or the restoration of historic monuments, her circle of talented friends has brought a renewed vibrancy and elegance to the city, giving visibility to some of Venice’s most elegant traditional crafts and passionately safeguarding them for future generations. Organized around the rich materials and textures of the city’s densely woven fabric of history and celebrating the artisan’s skill at every turn, this visually stunning love letter to the secret beauties of Venice, captured by photographer Mattia Aquila, is both a revelation and unique reminder to all those who wish to recall the golden, iridescent brilliance of their first sight of the mythical city that floats between sky and sea. ©Venice: A Private Invitation by Servane Giol, Flammarion, 2022. Images ©Mattia Aquila, rizzoliusa.com.

KEEFER STILL A KEEPER

BY BILL MCLEAN ILLUSTRATION BY BARRY BLITT

Glenn Keefer’s stint as a commercial fisherman on a lobster boat some 52 years ago did not exactly go swimmingly.

The vessel, skippered by a rookie captain, caught fire and sank 30 miles off the coast of Montauk Point, New York.

“I needed the job to pay for college tuition,” recalls the likable, forever-young Keefer, who had worked, in 1969, as a 14-year-old busboy at an Amityville (NY) restaurant owned by former New York Jets defensive tackle and Super Bowl champion Gerry Philbin.

Keefer later tried his hand at house framing.

“That didn’t last very long, either,” Keefer, 67, says. “I was on a roof and accidentally dropped a two-by-four.”

What broke the piece of lumber’s fall: a chunk of Keefer’s foreman, unfortunately.

“I got fired—the only time in my life that I got fired,” Keefer says.

The fishing industry’s and carpentry’s losses became steakhouses’ big, juicy gain. Keefer began his Chicago restaurant career in 1980, when The Palm-Chicago’s first team hired Keefer, then 24, to bartend at the Gold Coast restaurant.

He worked there for 12 years and emerged as an enterprising Steak Man. Keefer—a Northfield resident since 1996—opened Chicago’s Ruth Chris Steak House in 1992 and was later promoted to vice president of operations for the largest of the company’s franchise groups.

He then teamed up with his brother, Richard, and good friend Jimmy de Castro to launch Keefer’s Restaurant in 2001. Glenn Keefer steered the steakhouse as managing partner and was named “Restaurateur of the Year” by the Illinois Restaurant Association in 2012.

The Food Network ranked Keefer’s “Best of Chicago for Steak.” Catholic Charities also honored the popular River North steakhouse after Keefer’s Restaurant served more than 30,000 meals to the homeless; Glenn Keefer received the organization’s Dennis F. Kelly award, given to a member of the Board of Advisors in recognition for their service to the poor.

Well done, Steak Man.

Keefer sold his namesake restaurant two years later and shifted to the food insurance business.

Year 2020 arrived. Keefer got a call from Ryan O’Donnell, a former Keefer’s Restaurant employee who created Ballyhoo Hospitality with his wife, Anna, in 2018. Ballyhoo restaurants—located in Chicago and along the North Shore—champion the qualities that make

a neighborhood restaurant great and offer thoughtful, authentic food and drinks.

“Ryan told me, ‘Let’s open a steak restaurant together,’ ” Keefer recounts. “I’d been itching to return to the restaurant industry when I heard from him. But what made the opportunity even more appealing to me was the thought of working closely with Ryan, who has a culinary degree and whose greatest strength is knowing what is needed at a restaurant in order for it to succeed.

“I’m telling you, Ryan’s culinary skills separate him from a lot of other operations. He’s also a savvy entrepreneur and a very good

businessman, with a great heart.”

Keefer joined Ballyhoo Hospitality as a partner of Sophia Steak-Wilmette and Pomeroy, a French bistro in Winnetka inspired by the distinctive cafes of France.

Back in the steakhouse game, rarin’ to go.

About that Cowgirl Ribeye he inhaled at Sophia Steak-Wilmette, not too long ago …

“It made my palate tingle,” Keefer says.

He’s also a partner of Sophia Steak-Lake Forest, which opened its doors to guests last year, emphasis on guests.

Ballyhoo Hospitality restaurant patrons are considered guests, not customers.

“It’s all about the people, when it comes down to the success of any restaurant, and the Ballyhoo people formed a tremendous team,” Keefer says. “The managers, the servers, the cooks, everybody. I can’t praise all of them enough. It also helps that Ballyhoo Hospitality has always been committed to authenticity.

“Authenticity,” he continues, “is the key. Pomeroy is a French bistro, and ours looks like one and features the kind of fare that outstanding bistros should offer.”

Keefer and his family dine at a North Shore Ballyhoo spot at least once a month. He and his wife, Chris, raised Sean and Anna.

“My wedding day (in 1983) and the day our children were born are the best days of my life,” Keefer says. “Nobody is more important in my life than my wife and our two children.”

No item in his life tops his bicycle. An avid cyclist for 42 years, Keefer pedals for exercise, peace, and the chance to focus. He churned 20 miles on his bike on … December 15. Outside.

In Illinois.

In New York, where he grew up on Long Island and attended Massapequa High School, Keefer, after suffering a serious head injury in a school hallway, had to be transported to a hospital in a car owned by an MHS football coach/wrestling coach/driver’s teacher named Alex Baldwin.

Alec’s father.

A concussion forced Keefer to rush away from football before his junior year. The son of a high school principal (Earl) and elementary school teacher (Katherine) graduated a semester before most of his classmates did.

Keefer majored in religious studies and competed as a lacrosse attackman at St. Lawrence University in New York.

“My father had a kidney transplant and ended up living for 26 more years,” Keefer says. “But there was uncertainty there, right after the transplant. When he was sick, it was time to giddy-up for me. I had to find work and save money for tuition.

“I remember, in summers during my college years, stuffing all of my belongings in a pillowcase while searching for jobs.”

Independence became his closest companion.

“I liked to work then; I like to work now,” Keefer says. “I get up at 5:30 a.m., most mornings, and read our restaurant reports from the day before. I look at those to get a sense of each restaurant’s pulse.

“I also like to work out now, and not just by riding my bike. I can out-grunt anybody.”

Visit ballyhoohospitality.com for more information about Ballyhoo Hospitality’s roster of restaurants, including Sophia Steak-Wilmette, Sophia Steak-Lake Forest, and Pomeroy in Winnetka.

Former Chicago steakhouse icon Glenn Keefer—think The Palm-Chicago, Ruth’s Chris, and Keefer’s Restaurant—continues to savor his return to the restaurant industry, this time as partner at three North Shore eateries.

The managers, the servers, the cooks, everybody. I can’t praise all of them enough. It also helps that Ballyhoo Hospitality has always been committed to authenticity.

Glenn Keefer