We've been watching frozen yogurt spots pop up all around the city with reckless abandon this spring (Yoberri, Berry Chill, Starfruit, need we go on?), but the 'burbs just scored its first fro-yo chain, Red Mango, this week. The Naperville location opened Wednesday (with the Evanston one coming any day now) and we stopped in last night. The place was empty -- who else wanted to get frozen yogurt when the temps were tipping into the 40s? -- but fast-forward a few weeks from now, and there's no doubt that the location will be crazy. It's smack dab across from the Naperville Riverwalk, a perpetual hangout for skateboarding high schoolers, strolling after-dinner daters and everyone in between.

The last time I had frozen yogurt, I was probably 11 years old, standing in TCBY ordering a styrofoam cup of chocolate-peanut butter swirled yogurt topped with gummi bears. No doubt, Red Mango's version feels a ton more grown up, with just two flavors swirling out of the machines here: green tea and original (not vanilla, as the staffer behind the counter politely corrected me when I placed my order). Sugary cereal toppings like Cap'n Crunch and Fruity Pebbles keep things from getting too serious.

The original flavor was creamy, had the smooth tangy flavor of actual yogurt (as opposed to soft-serve ice cream with no actual yogurt in it) and was a perfect match for fresh, super-plump blackberries and raspberries. The green tea (we tried it with blueberries and mini-Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips) had a smoother, less yogurt-y tasting flavor, so if you're not particularly a fan of what actual yogurt tastes like, this should be your pick.
 
Red Mango is also looking pretty angelic when it comes to the health factor. There's the whole live active cultures deal -- it packs probiotics reportedly good for your digestion -- and a small (which isn't all that small) is less than 100 calories. That's a lot easier to justify than my stand-by frozen treat in downtown Naperville: ice cream topped with a scoop of cookie dough at Cookie Dough Creations. Not to say we won't be back there, too, angling for a spot in line along with what always seems like the entire senior class of Naperville North. Now we'll just have to alternate between the two.
 
 
 
 

Not surprisingly, tickets for Death Cab for Cutie's June 3 show at Millennium Park's Jay Pritzker Pavilion (click for deets)? sold out faster than you can say "Hey, who's that quirky indie fan over there in the black glasses and skinny jeans?"

If you missed out on tickets, we've got good news: A new block goes on sale at 5 p.m. Just don't plan on buying them for you and all your friends. There's a 2-ticket limit per purchase.

Will you be at the show? What do you think of the band's new record, "Narrow Stairs"?

With Stephanie back on top—or nearly so—all is right and well in the world again. So let’s cut right to the chase with a look at this week’s winner and losers.

First, the big winner: Dale. Great, just what his ego needed! But his dish did look tasty. And who knows, maybe this week’s win will placate him enough to keep him from yelling, swearing, grabbing himself and hitting things for a couple of weeks.

And the big loser: Andrew. Dear, crazy, Andrew … why did you have to go all home economics teacher on us? To paraphrase, well, just about everyone who’s ever been on the show: It’s “Top Chef,” not “Top Nutritionist.” Let it suffice to say that Andrew has lost his culinary boner.

And then there were six. Here they are, in the order in which we think they’ll go:

Lisa: Stop whining. Nobody “sabotaged” your rice. But if they had, it would’ve been because you say things like this: “There’s people here who don’t deserve to be here, and some of their personalities suck ass.” Hello, pot. Meet kettle. Also: Was Lisa wearing pajamas throughout the entire episode? We can only imagine what Padma was thinking.

Spike: His boy Andrew is gone, and that means now no one else even speaks the same language as him. We worry about his sanity. (More than we did before, we mean.) We doubt he packed enough hats for a full 16 episodes anyway.

Dale: Dale is to Asian food what season 3’s Brian was to fish. If that’s all he can do, he’ll eventually meet a challenge where he can’t shine. Next week’s Restaurant Wars challenge could be a problem for him too, given that he doesn’t play well with others.

Top three—in alphabetical order:

Antonia: Girl just keeps working it out. We like her style and we love her attitude. Wonder if she got any off-camera time with Sam Talbot?

Richard: This was a quiet episode for our favorite faux-hawked Southern gentleman, but that doesn’t mean he’s not busy dreaming up new ways to combine his secret stash of ras-al-hanout with smoking and sous-vide techniques, thus blowing us all away in the weeks to come.

Stephanie: Meatball soup = brilliant. And, apparently, well seasoned. (How many times did the judges say that? Six? Seven?) Good to see her back near the top.

And now, we drink. There was a lot of finger-pointing this episode (ahem, Lisa) and we can’t just let it slide by.

This week’s rule: Chug for five seconds every time someone says “threw me under the bus” or some variation of the phrase. And because this is only likely to happen at the judges’ table or in the stew room, we’ll add another product-placement rule as a bonus: Drink every time there’s a tight shot of the GE Monogram logo. (This was inspired, of course, by this week’s Elimination Challenge requirement that the cops heat their dishes in a microwave … but not just any microwave!)

To recap:

Rule No. 1: Drink every time Lisa curses.

Rule No. 2: Drink every time a Glad product appears on screen. Chug for the first five seconds of any Glad commercial.

Rule No. 3: Drink every time Dale lashes out, directly or indirectly.

Rule No. 4: Chug for five seconds any time someone says “threw me under the bus” or similar.

Rule No. 5: Drink for every tight shot/zoom of a GE Monogram logo.

Next week: Restaurant Wars returns! Until then, get your “Top Chef” fix with more on this week's episode from The Stew.

 

Need something to brighten up the weekend forecast of clouds? Check out Chicagoans Head of Femur (click for show info), whose latest album, "Great Plains," is a sunny dose of horn-spiked pop just begging to be blasted out of your car this summer. The band's punchy sound comes with just the right amount of jangle, which you can see for yourself when the group plays Friday at Schubas.

As for a show to catch on Saturday, we don't need to tell you more about Butterfly Assassins. (We already masssively hyped them on their way to impressing Metromix readers and eventually playing our Rock 'n' Vote show at Double Door.) Just know that the epic indie rockers headline this weekend at Reggie's, and if you couldn't make it to Rock 'n' Vote, you won't want to miss another chance to hear the beautifully pounding, classically influenced theatrics that the young quintet delivers on record and on stage. Click here for show info

What shows are you planning on seeing this weekend? What other local bands have caught your ear lately?

Aldermen better watch their livers. The Chicago City Council has lifted the foie gras ban, according to the ChicagoTribune.com's Clout Street Blog. But duck-friendly Ald. Joe Moore (49th), the sponsor of the two-year old band, was very displeased indeed. "Tomorrow, it could happen to you," he warned his fellow lawmakers when Mayor Daley ignored his shouted pleas. What could happen to them? What did he mean? Was someone going to force feed them to death? We're confused.

There's no confusion at Cryano's Bistrot. Chef-owner Didier Durand, one of the ban's most outspoken critics, is ecstatic. "All the restaurants have been calling me," he told us. "They know how hard I have worked." Durand plans a press conference this afternoon where he says a live duck will be present. (We're not sure if he's joking.) "We're going to paint the town with foie gras!" We hope he's not speaking literally.

Last week we updated you on the well-intentioned but terribly misguided proposed ordinance that would, in effect, prevent a great deal of Chicago concerts--including our annual Rock 'n' Vote event--from happening. Now, we're only a day away from the City Council voting on the ordinance, so there's no time like the present to speak up and let the city's decisionmakers hear what a negative impact this ordinance would have on the local music scene--rather than simply achieving its intended effect, which is to keep audiences safe.

Sign a petition here at SaveChicagoCulture.org, and see here to find your Alderman and speak your mind directly to the city.

UPDATE: According to a statement by the Chicago Music Commission (found on Chicago Sun-Times music critic Jim DeRogatis' blog ), voting on the ordinance is being postponed until it can be fine-tuned, following the waves of public outcry inspired by the proposal.

Some choice quotes from the story:

Efrat Dallal Stein, spokeswoman for the Business Affairs & Licensing Department: "With any ordinance, there's going to be things that cannot accommodate every single person in a particular industry because the range is so large. It's a growing industry and it is in need of some sort of regulation, just like any other growing industry. I mean, you need a license to sell a T-shirt in the city of Chicago."

Ald. Eugene Schulter (47th), chairman of the licensing committee: "Unfortunately, we've had incidents in the city where people have been murdered, people have been accosted [and] there have been fights. Our goal is not to hurt anybody, but to really help the promoter as well as the person in charge of the venue, because right now, the only person that really is responsible is the person that runs the venue."

Christian Picciolini, founder of the local punk-rock record label Sinister Music: "Passing an ordinance like this will virtually destroy the diversity and importance of an independent music scene."

Stay tuned for updates.

What do you think about the ordinance? Where do you see it going from here?

Hold on to your gullets! According to a report published on Chicago Tribune's Stew blog, the City of Chicago along with the Illinois Restaurant Association are planning to co-host another Taste of Chicago-like event. According to the Trib's restaurant critic, Phil Vettel, the event will be dubbed "Chicago Gourmet," and is to take place September 26-28 in Millennium Park. " [T]he mayor apparently wants a gourmet version of Taste, one that really will show off Chicago as a world-class culinary destination," Vettel reports. Stay tuned for details.

Update: The Chicago Gourmet Web Site has been discovered! The site provides additional details about the event: "Chicago Gourmet will host various food and wine tastings, cooking demonstrations, classes, lectures, special dining events and a retail shopping area." So, it looks like pickles on stick will probably remain the domain of Taste of Chicago.

Well, it's a publicity stunt, sure. But it's a publicity stunt we can get behind. Or, well, one that we would get behind if we had a car. A Prius, to be exact. Let me explain. Big Bowl, the pan-Asian chain, is on a mission to be greener. Last year, it began incorporating things like sustainable, heirloom pork. Servers began wearing uniforms made from organic cotton. It banned bottled water. And in an effort to treat drivers of hybrid cars like rock stars (or at least Leo DiCaprio)--and get them into their restaurants--it's giving them free valet parking by deducting the cost of the valet ($10 at its city locations) from the cost of the check. And with gas prices being what they are, every little bit helps.

When Warner Bros. spent more than $100 million on "Speed Racer," do you think they were hoping for a measly $20.2 million opening weekend?

Well, that's what they got, a paltry debut for a supposed summer blockbuster that just barely defeated the unfunny "What Happens in Vegas." (No. 3 with $20 million.) Besting them both was last week's champ, "Iron Man," which took in another $50.5 million to bring its 10-day total to $177.1 million. That's great news for Marvel, the comic book studio that recently approved an "Iron Man" sequel.

How pathetic is it that the big-budget "Speed Racer" almost lost to an Ashton Kutcher movie? Did anyone out there see "Speed Racer"? And will the "Iron Man" sequel be as good as the first?

 

We must say we're pretty uneasy about the widely reported news that the City Council will vote Wednesday about an ordinance that could put a big dent in the local music scene.

Drawing on the 2003 tragedy at the E2 nightclub, during which 21 people were killed in a stampede, the ordinance would require independent promoters to buy a license ($500-$2,000) to do business with city clubs as well as acquiring $300,000 in general liability insurance. (This would only apply to venues with less than 500 fixed seats.)

According to the Chicago Tribune's Greg Kot: "The ordinance in effect singles out some of the city’s most respected clubs and theaters, including Metro, Schubas, Park West, the Vic, Buddy Guy’s Legends, Martyrs, the Hideout, the Riviera, Uncommon Ground and dozens more establishments with a history of running safe, well-managed events."

We echo Kot's concern that the result will inevitably be that many concerts, simply, will no longer happen as a result of the new fees. Heck, we just staged our fifth-annual Rock 'n' Vote show at Double Door--a fully licensed venue--but we'd be lying if we said this ordinance wouldn't hinder our ability to host another one.

Naturally, people's lives are more important than music. But there must be a better way to demonstrate control over concerts and keep the public safe that doesn't prevent so many legitimate shows from happening at all.

What do you think, Chicago music fans?