What is the Black-and-White Mural at 2001 W. Division St.?

Neighbors have been abuzz about the black-and-white mural that recently appeared at 2001 W. Division St., on the southeast corner of Damen and Division.

 

 

The mural is not to announce a new restaurant or ultra-exclusive speakeasy, but instead is a work of public art on the facade of a highly visible building in the neighborhood. Commissioned by the Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of Commerce, the mural was completed by Bernard Williams, a local Chicago artist. We asked him to tell us more about it:

 

"This mural is titled "Birds and Flowers." Many graphic symbols of birds and flowers are delivered from multiple points of view, culturally. Several bird and flower symbols come from Native American sources, others from folk quilt patterns, ancient Mexico, Europe, Asia, and Africa. 

 

The repeated and varying motifs suggest a human connectedness within the difference, which attempts to reference Wicker Park Bucktown as a hub of cultural diversity in Chicago and in the nation.

 

My mural design follows a program of composition which I have practiced within my studio activities for over ten years. I have collected a group of signs and symbols which speak about the complexities of American history and culture. The strategy of arrangement is inspired by ancient picture-writing seen in multiple cultures, notably, Egyptian hieroglyphs, ancient Mexican glyphs, Chinese and Japanese Kanji or pictographs."

 

 

You can find out more about Bernard Williams' work at www.bernardwilliamsart.com.

New Concept in Former Makisu/Fuel Space from Bangers & Lace

No sooner had we said that we weren't sure what was going in the former Makisu space when the Bangers & Lace Facebook page posted this image this afternoon:

 

Folks over at Everyblock are saying that this new B&L concept is going in the now-shuttered Makisu space at 1725 W. Division, which was Fuel before that. If they can stick to their timeline, this new concept's opening might coincide with B&L's one-year anniversary on October 9th.

Do you think this new spot will be similar to B&L or a completely new spin-off? We're still a little fuzzy on the details but with a Mid-October opening, we're sure to find out soon.

Neat Lounge Opens in Former Edge Space at 1700 W. Division St.

**UPDATE: As of December 2011, it doesn't look like this place is opening after all. The for rent signs are back up in this building.

Still no word on what's going on behind the mysterious wooden boards covering the old Makisu building, but directly across the street in the former Edge space (1700 W. Division St.) is a new cocktail lounge and restaurant - Neat Lounge.

Neat Lounge doesn't officially open until mid-November, but this past weekend they had a preview event to test out certain drinks and recipes for their food menu. At this point not much has changed since Edge in terms of decor, but they have plans to build it out into a full-blown lounge "concept."

The drink menu is heavily gin- and whiskey-focused, with lots of options for vodka, champagne and rum. Just about everything we saw there was served in a champagne saucer after a fairly extensive mixing process - you can definietly get a G&T here if you want, but they're positioning themselves as more of a place for high-brow, artisan-style cocktails. There are also quite a few American craft beers by the bottle  (Two Brothers, Great Lakes, Allagash Brewing Co., Dark Horse) and Belgian ales like Delirium Tremens and Chimay Preimere Red.

A few of the signature cocktails included:

The Neat Manhattan with High West double barrel rye, Carpano Antica and Peychauds
The Bourbon Smash, with bourbon, fresh mint, fresh lemon juice and Marie Brizard orange curacao
The Lazy Sunday with El Jimador Reposado Tequila, house made apple nectar and cardamom

In terms of eats, they are focusing on stuffed gourmet burgers featuring all-natural, grass-fed beef and high-fiber whole-wheat bread thins. There were quite a few ways to order your burger ($10), which included:

Stuffed with chorizo, grilled jalapenos and chihuahua cheese
Stuffed with goat cheese, spinach and sundried tomatoes
Stuffed with feta cheese, grilled onions, tomatoes, olives and mushrooms
Lean ground turkey meat stuffed with mushroom, tomatoes and swiss cheese.

Do you think this new spot is strong enough to survive in the doomed Edge space?

Time Out Give Prasino Two Stars

Time Out's Julia Kramer gave Division Street newcomer (1846 W. Division St.) a less-than-glowing review this week.

Photo courtesy of GrubStreet

"The dishes lacked balance, finesse and focus, yes, but nothing completely bombed: The food was, by and large, pleasant and crowd-pleasing, and a nice wine list with some cool biodynamic producers perked up the mundane meals. Well, nothing bombed except, on one visit, the service, which was a complete mess. Appetizers and entrées arrived before any drinks, and a general sense of confusion permeated the waitstaff. I don’t blame them; I don’t really get this place, either."

Read the full review here.

If you'd had the chance to try a meal at Prasino since it opened in August, let us know what you thought. Chicago Magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times had great things to say about it, but we'd like to hear what the neighbors think.

New Plans for 1601 W. Division Revealed

We've been following this story for several months on the East Village Association (EVA) blog, but haven't reported on it because their appeared to be so much back-and-forth and false starts. It seems like they've finally settled their differences - for the most part.

As a quick recap: 1601 W. Division (the old Pizza Hut site on the southeast corner of Ashland, which has been vacant for more than five years) was finally demoed this last July. Developer Robert Buono presented Alderman Moreno and community groups with plans for the new development -- a single-story drive-through bank. (Cue sad trombone on behalf of the EVA.)

Being a highly prominent location on the historic Polish Triangle of Division/Milwaukee/Ashland and directly across the street from the rather eye-catching former bank building, the community groups felt that they'd prefer this lot's development to have:

1) significant architectural presence befitting the character of the neighborhood
2) a number of affordable residential units
3) a mixed-use retail and office space
4) pedestrian/public-transit amentities

A single-story drive-through bank did not meet any of these community groups' four established principals, and they let people know about it.

Photo courtesy of East Village Neighborhood Association

On Monday night a new proposal was presented and while the East Village association did have some qualms about it, they were by and large much happier with the overall plans -- which do, by the way, include a PNC bank on the group floor. Considering there was some disagreement about whether or not the developers were even required to take into consideration the wishes of the neighborhood, it was encouraging to see this dialogue going on.

We'll be interested to see when construction shapes up what will go in the new space. What kind of retailers would you like to see in that site? And should neighbors flex their collective muscle when it comes to the type of developments planned for empty lots of should they be grateful that someone is willing to occupy a vacant patch of parking lot?