Bon Appetit's annual Restaurant Issue arrived today. This is the foodie mag's 14th annual compendium of, according to editor Barbara Fairchild, "what's happening in restaurants right now."

So what does Chicago have to offer the world's culinary scene? Apparently not much. The only place to garner a mention? That would be Scylla. Singled out for special mention is the grilled lamb with curried vegetables and grape and pine nut gremolata, which the magazine calls "a perfect example of fusion done right."

Good for Scylla! But, as we reported in this space recently, Scylla is closing this August. Still, not a bad note to go out on.

It's been a bad month for Virgins in Chicago. First, Virgin Megastore closes and then Randolph Street's mid-priced Italian spot, Extra Virgin and its late-night ancillary, Virgin Lounge both closed on July 15. Restaurants America, the corporate parent, which also owns about a bazillion Bar Louies, plans to open just what the city needs -- Bar Louie No. Bazillion and One. And if that sounds a little like Déjà vu, you're right. Before converting it to Extra Virgin in 2005 it was Bluepoint Oyster Bar and a Bar Louie.

What do you think: Does Chicago need another Bar Louie?

Not that we're surprised, but tickets for Wilco's Sept. 12 show at Millennium Park's Jay Pritzker Pavilion disappeared quickly, with more than 10,000 tix snatched up in less than 20 minutes. If you weren't one of the lucky few (thousand), well, you can always turn on the Chicago band's latest, "Sky Blue Sky," lay in a field and pretend you're at Millennium Park--at least then you won't have to fight every blade of grass.

Were you able to get tickets? Or is Jay Prizker Pavilion too small for such a popular hometown favorite? Can Wilco fill Northerly Island's Charter One Pavilion?

"The Simpsons" may be past its prime on TV, but it's certainly no slouch at the box office. After 18 years and 400 episodes of the show, fans were eager to see how huge Homer's belly looks on the big screen, and "The Simpsons Movie" took in $71.8 million to win the weekend. That makes it the third-biggest opening ever for an animated movie--behind $121.6 million for "Shrek the Third" and $108 million for "Shrek 2"--and put comedy's yellowest family way ahead of the weekend's No. 2, "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry," which earned $19.1 million in its second week. "The Simpsons" tally also destroyed the week's other major releases: "No Reservations" (No. 5, $11.8 million), "I Know Who Killed Me" (No. 9, $3.4 million) and "Who's Your Caddy" (No. 10, $2.9 million). That's right. Lindsay Lohan's new flick made only $500,000 more than a zero-star golf comedy starring Big Boi from OutKast.

Did "The Simpsons Movie" live up to expectations? Can the flick stay strong next week when it's up against Matt Damon's action sequel "The Bourne Ultimatum"? Is LiLo's career toast?

Crescendo entered the scene with a splash this May and went out with a whisper early this summer. Then stories started swirling about the FBI investigation, investors getting scammed, and all sorts of other unsavory accustions. The Tribune's John Kass sheds a little light on the situation with today's column, "Feds getting hip to Chicago club scene." Check it out-it's a doozy:

We stopped into the not-quite-completed Finley Mahoney's for a burger and beer a couple times this week. The place is still missing a sign, its draft beer selection (coming next week our waitress said), its full-sized menu (also, next week), but the one thing's not missing: the crowds--it's already drawing in a nice-sized midweek clientele.

The space looks like it's going for an intentionally understated look, judging from the mismatched chairs. That's a nice change of pace from the "ultra lounges" and "upscale sports lounges" we see way too much of.

But one not-so-down-to-earth-factor here: The temporary menu features a chicken pesto sandwich and "The B.B.C." -- a bacon, barbecue and cheddar burger at $10.50 each Yikes! When I asked if I could just get the burger without the bacon, barbecue sauce and cheese for less than the asking price, the waitress was sympathetic, but was firm on the price.

Doesn't $10.50 seem too high for at a neighborhood pub to you?

The spot:  A charming and well-loved but oh-so-tiny sushi spot on Clark Street, Green Tea draws in Lincoln Parkers nearly every night of the week (save Monday, when it's closed). Walls the color of-well, milky green tea-surround five small tables and a sushi bar. Try reasonably priced maki such as the Chicago Spicy Crazy ($11.95), a combo of tuna, salmon, whitefish, cucumber and masago; the Spicy Tuna ($3.95), with tuna, scallion and Kaiware Dijon; or numerous maki and sashimi combos. We love the presumptuous sign that reads: "Thank you-see you tomorrow."

The bottle: Green tea is all well and good, but in this heat, we're looking for something a bit more pink, like a rosé. The restaurant's proximity to Frances W. Parker School means there's not a liquor store immediately nearby, but you can head a couple of blocks north to Miska's Liquors (2353 N. Clark St. 773-472-4242). Most of the chilled wines are chardonnays, pinot grigios and sauvignon blancs, but look to the bottom row for the 2004 Cortijo III Rosé ($7.99), a crisp, grenache-based wine with slight acidity, perfect to match anything the folks at Green Tea whip up. --Alison Knab, metromix special contributor.

YOB

Renowned Chicagoans Wilco will be stopping home for a show this summer, and they couldn't have picked a better venue. Supporting their latest album "Sky Blue Sky," the alt-rockers appear Sept. 12 at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. While pavilion seats will cost you $45, lawn tickets are only $10. We repeat: You can pay $10 to see Wilco outdoors. But don't break out the credit card yet; tickets go on sale 1 a.m. Saturday.

Will we see you there? What's your favorite Wilco album? Are they Chicago's best band?

And you thought it was just those little mom-and-pop places that got busted by the Chicago's food police. Not so. The lower-level food court at Macy's MarketPlace Foods food court has today been closed by Chicago Department of Public Health. According to this report posted on Chicagotribune.com, quoting from the Department's press release, the food court was found to have:

--a fruit-fly infestation
--a leaking sink
--waste water backing up from a clogged floor drain
--a poorly maintained inside trash area

Look for Macy's to clean up and reopen after a new inspection. UPDATE July 27, 2007: The City's given Macy's the all clear singal

Some sad news to report: Alinea's superstar chef Grant Achatz sent this message to the media today:

"I wanted to personally report that I have been very recently diagnosed with an advanced stage of squamous cell carcinoma of the mouth. I have consulted several prominent physicians and will likely begin aggressive treatment within the next few weeks. I remain, and will remain, actively and optimistically engaged in operations at Alinea to the largest extent possible. Alinea will continue to perform at the level people have come to expect from us -- I insist on that. I have received amazing support from friends, family, and everyone who has thus far been told of the disease, and I look forward to a full, cancer-free, recovery."

We wish Grant all the best for a quick recovery.

UPDATE July 24, 2007: The Chicago Tribune's Phil Vettel and Robert Mitchum have filed this report, with a bit more detail on the chef's condition.

G-Rod signed the statewide smoking ban today, making it a law that on Jan. 1, 2008, it's lights out at all bars, restaurants and most other public places. While Chicago's partial smoking ban kicked in during January 2006, this will put to rest all those questions of whether or not a spot is a full-fledged restaurant, or just a bar and grill, where is smoking allowed.

Personally as a non-smoker, I think this should have come much sooner, but I'm still happy. What are your thoughts on the ban?

Remember when the Brazilian churrascaria craze took Chicagoland by storm (perhaps Texas de Brazil, Brazzaz, Fogo de Chao, Sabor do Brazil or Asado Brazilian Grill ring a bell)? Well, Sal y Carvao -- which had the biggest suburban presence of the pack -- has relaunched its Downers Grove and Schaumburg locations as Zed 451, with the Chicago outpost to follow suit this fall. At $24.50 for lunch and $42.50 for dinner, the fixed prices are equally steep, and the concept remains essentially the same, with a salad bar (whoops, we mean "Harvest Station") and roaming servers, sans gaucho get-ups -- but with a much wider range of cuisine.

The press release we received says the all-you-can-eat concept "allows guests to be entirely in control of their dining experience," but with these sort of things, we usually end up eschewing all reasonable notions of portion size and just stuffing our faces. (Case in point: When my boyfriend took a blood test the morning after a trip to now-shuttered Rio de Churrascaria in Glenview, his doctor noted that his nitrogen levels were "slightly elevated.")

Anyhow, whole concept gets us a bit nostalgic about our childhood trips to Sizzler or Ponderosa (the latter, by the way, still has two Illinois locations, one in Aurora and the other in Waukegan), but with offerings such as parmesan-crusted pork medallions and braised short-ribs with coconut milk and lemongrass, the bent at Zed 451 clearly much more gourmet. 

Apparently, people would rather see Adam Sandler and Kevin James get married and make fun of homosexuals than John Travolta dancing and singing in drag. That's a shame-"Hairspray" is fluffy and fun, while "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" is unfunny and offensive-but it doesn't change the fact that "Chuck and Larry" topped the box office this weekend with $34.8 million. "Hairspray" landed at No. 3 with $27.8 million, a few waves of the wand behind "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," which took in $32.2 million in its second week of release. Did you make it to the theater this weekend, or were you too busy reading the just-released, final book "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"? Were you offended by "Chuck and Larry"? How many donuts are you eating to properly prepare for "The Simpsons Movie"?

Every summer in Chicago, a new crop of bars and clubs jockey for position at the top of trendsetters' list of hotspots. Which just-opened lounges have bargoers in a tizzy? Here's a list of the 5 new nightlife destinations you simply can't get enough of-this week:

Martini Park for cool cocktails, live music nightly

English for afterwork drinks in art deco building

Relax Lounge for burgers, spiked shakes, rock 'n' roll

Chaise Lounge for a breezy scene with prime patio and  rooftop

The Violet Hour for a room so hush, hush it's hot

Have you been to any of these sizzlin' spots? Post your reviews!

Even if you hate "The Sound of Music," now's the time to give it a chance. The Chicago Outdoor Film Festival is sending someone to Austria for a "Sound of Music" tour, and all you have to do is write a parody of the tune "My Favorite Things" about your favorite Chicago things. Your version must include at least two verses and a chorus and be submitted by Aug. 7. Just one more thing: You need to be willing to sing your song in public. The three finalists picked by judges will perform their compositions live at the festival's Aug. 28 showing of the Julie Andrews flick. Find more info here. Are you willing to belt it out in public for the chance at a free trip? When describing your favorite things about the city, what will you use to rhyme with Lollapalooza?

Before we jump into our weekly recap of local "Top Chef" contestant Dale Levitski's performance on this week's episode, let's revisit a couple of our favorite quotes from the evening:

"There's nothing better than a telenovela to get your appetite rolling." - Gail

"It's all about finesse, style, grace and elegance." - Hung, who later almost accidentally slices Casey's head off with a knife

Save for a few memorable quotes like these, last night's episode of "Top Chef" was, not unlike Dale's free-form tart from Episode 4, fairly underwhelming.

Shortly after the episode opens, we meet guest judge Maria Frumkin, pastry chef and owner of Duo restaurant and the French Bakery Cafe in Miami.

Then it's on to a surprisingly uninspired Quickfire Challenge: The chefs must use their talent and their creativity to make an "ambitious, creative" dish using frozen pie crusts; they'll have 90 minutes.

Frozen pie crusts? This is all the same producers who have given us gin, live shellfish and a half-eaten buffet table already this season can come up with? Zzzzz. Wake us up at the next Gladware commercial, please.

Dale, however, says he's "absolutely jacked out of [his] mind" at the opportunity to redeem himself from last week's pastry meltdown (or "dessert debacle," as Padma calls it). He seems wildly confident ... but when we hear the words "free-form tart" escape his lips, we start having scary Episode 4 flashbacks. No, Dale, no! Save yourself while you still can!

But he's sure he's going to nail this one; 90 minutes later, he reveals a "summer picnic en croute," a medley of spinach with pastis, fennel, onion, pistachio and seared salmon layered with pear and rolled in a pie crust and baked. For dessert (why, Dale ... why?) he presents a strawberry, pear and saffron tart with whipped vanilla goat cheese. Maria Frumkin finds it kind of overwhelming, and we don't blame her. Heck, we got confused just now trying to recount everything that went into the summer picnic.

Much to Dale's surprise, he ends up in the bottom three with Lia and Hung. Joey wins with a trio of tarts.

Next up, Elimination Challenge. The chefs have 30 minutes to shop and three hours to cook before they pack everything up in Gladware and head over to the set of "Dame Chocolate," a popular Telemundo telenovela, to serve the cast.

Time for a little character development from the producers, in the form of cast bonding. Joey mentions that he and Howie have become pretty tight since "the incident." Later, back at the Fountainbleau, Lia declares she and Casey are BFF (actually, she says "lifelong friends").

Alliances declared, the chefs shop and head back to the GE Monogram Kitchen to start cooking. Everyone's just getting started when Tom walks into the kitchen and announces that mealtime has been pushed up-the chefs now have 90 minutes hours to cook instead of three hours.

Hung runs around willy-nilly, as usual-except this time he has a knife in his hand. Howie curses up a storm. And sweats. Tre is in the zone. Dale walks through the shot a few times, looking pretty calm. Howie sweats some more.

Before we know it, the chefs are dishing up on the set of "Dame Chocolate." And, hey, Joey got a haircut! We just noticed.

Service goes swimmingly until Gail makes a passive-aggressive comment about Lia's polenta. After that, it's open season on the chefs. Dale's dish doesn't go over too well, but it doesn't bomb, either. He serves grilled poblano and braised chicken; on the side, there's a corn tortilla with fire-roasted corn with what he calls "fierce" jalapeno. Tom says it looks "ferocious." We're not sure what this means, and it will be the last we hear about Dale's dish (or Dale) this episode.

Sara M.'s chile rellenos win raves. (Damn! Girl made her own queso blanco!) So does Howie's braised pork shoulder and orange sour mojo with yucca. Casey's goopy rice does not fare so well.

New best buddies Joey and Howie come out on top. Howie wins, and Maria Frumkin presents him with a bottle of Argentinean wine. Howie, in turn, presents Joey with the bottle. They hug.

But this is no time for sentimentality. Lia, Sara N., Casey and Hung are on the chopping block. The judges aren't sure which is worse: Hung's arrogance or his Latin cooking. But they are sure that Sara N.'s "ceviche" tasted like guacamole. Gail thinks Lia's trout on polenta had textural issues; Padma implies it was inedible. Casey's mushy rice, dry chicken and weird coffee-molasses sauce gets slammed too.

In the end, Padma asks Lia to pack her knives, and go. She does, and Casey cries.

Hmm ... after last week's brief and harrowing brush with the cameras, we see another episode in which Dale is more or less absent during the Elimination Challenge. We're not sure what that means. Some of early our favorites, such as Tre, Tall C.J. and Brian, hardly got any face time either. But since Dale didn't fare well in the Quickfire Challenge, it could be a bad omen. Nonetheless, we think he has at least a couple of episodes left in him. He's had a few proud moments, but we get the sense that he hasn't yet really had his chance to shine.

How much longer do you think Dale is going to last? Not sure? Find out what our friends at The Stew are thinking.

The spot: Locals have been flocking to Dodo, a small, friendly Ukrainian Village spot for months for brunch and lunch. Now a new dinner menu is bringing them in during the p.m. hours. New chef Jeremy Brewington, brought in to handle dinner service, offers a limited selection of dishes that change weekly; he typically features chicken, fish and vegetarian options, plus salads and soup. Dinners so far have come in the form of butter chicken (a version of Indian classic murg makhani)  with naan; pan-seared tilapia with tea-smoked tomato sauce, corn and fried plantains; and eggplant Neapolitan with asparagus, artichoke and tomato. The spiced-up Dodo Burger ($9.95), dressed with cheese and dijon mustard and served on a toasted brioche bun with a side of roasted red and sweet potatoes, will be a regular feature. 

The bottle: Rotating specials put us in mind of Wine Discount Center, which swaps out about 50 featured wines each month, all available for tasting on Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. For a light, summery pairing, try the Domaine Sainte-Eugenie Corbieres Rosé 2006 ($8.69), a French wine with strawberry and cherry notes, or the Nino Franco "Rustico" Prosecco di Valdobbiadene ($9.99), an incredibly refresing Italian sparkler. Dodo charges corkage fees of $2 per person for wine and $1.50 per person for beer.  --Allison Knab is a Metromix special contributor.

So barring any severe storms, tonight's kickoff of Chicago's Outdoor Film Fest kicks off in Butler Field  tonight (show time is just before 9 p.m.) The feature: "Young Frankenstein" Be sure to come by the Metromix hospitality tent starting at 6 p.m. for food, drink and a premium view of the Lipizzaner performance. If you need to pick up a snack before heading over, check out these spots.

Well, Harry Potter has done it again. Proving that even a
darker installment of the popular series--released in the summer instead of the
fall--is still the stuff of box office gold, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" took
in $77.4 million over the weekend to top the charts and bring its domestic
total to $140 million since opening Wednesday. It's the lowest-grossing opening
weekend of all the Potter films, but the previous four opened on Friday, so
Harry's probably not too worried about it. Elisha Cuthbert is likely a bit more
embarrassed: Her terrible horror flick "Captivity" earned only $1.55
million to land at No. 12. Even though we weren't bowled over by
"Potter"-seriously, hardly anything happens!-we'd rather people see the
Hogwarts kids getting bleak ten times rather than see Cuthbert degraded and
tortured even once. What did you see this weekend? How does "Order of the Phoenix" compare to the
other Potter movies? What's the deal with John Travolta in the upcoming remake
of "Hairspray"?

Now that day three of the exhausting and generally
disappointing Pitchfork Music Fest is in the books, let's not harp too much
on the missteps (OK, just to name a few quickly: The sound was screwy again on
the Connector Stage; soul singer Jamie Lidell couldn't even bring himself to play piano,
instead doing his entire performance without live instruments; Stephen Malkmus'
quiet solo show has no business being slotted at 6 p.m.; Chicago rockers The
Ponys still don't seem to have a consistent personality). Instead, a few
highlights from the final day: Local vets The Sea and
Cake legitimately rocked and proved to be one of the few bands that
translated to the outdoor setting. Canada's Junior Boys cranked up the
fun after a mid-day lull that came from Menomena's intriguing set that was
significantly weakened by poor sound. One enterprising fan fashioned a sign on
the front of a Fuze beverage box that read, "Let's trade Pokemon." And for the high point of the day, Of
Montreal delivered the expected weirdness and then some, with frontman
Kevin Barnes wearing progressively less throughout the show, and a borderline
theater-level production on stage that featured angel wings, a Darth Vader
outfit and much, much more. Other than that, still-solid New Pornographers aren't quite the
same without Neko Case, and snippets of Klaxons and De La Soul failed to keep
our interest. We're not sweating it, though: Lolla is only three weeks away. Who do you think put on the best show at Pitchfork? Who was a
disappointment? What was up with the sound? Will you go next year?

After nine hours of live music, brevity is of the essence.
So here are some semi-rhetorical questions we're left with after day two of the Pitchfork Music Fest: Why did the singer of conventional Scottish indie
band The Twilight Sad perform sideways? How awesome was the fun, freaked-out
fusion of Ken Vandermark's Powerhouse Sound? How goofy was the singer of
entertaining, slightly '80s-ish Texas group Voxtrot? How boring is Grizzly Bear? How groovy but repetitive is
Battles? Why is England's
Fujiya and Miyagi neither interesting nor Japanese? What practical joker
decided to follow-up super-mellow Iron and Wine with loud, mosh pit-inspiring
Mastodon? Is there anything even remotely unique about the Oxford
Collapse? Why couldn't GZA's Friday performance have been as exciting as
Clipse's set? Why was Girl Talk's Gregg Gillis put on the Balance Stage and not given more space and volume to work with? Did Yoko Ono's seriously weird performance win over any fans, or did she just move people to
declare, as at least one fan did, "I hate you!"

First, a confession: I'm not terribly well acquainted with
"Spiderland," "Liquid Swords" or "Daydream Nation," the quote-unquote legendary
albums that Slint, Genius/GZA and Sonic Youth, respectively, would perform in
their entirety for Day 1 of the Pitchfork Music Fest. But that didn't mean
opening night had to be so underwhelming. For starters, I clearly wasn't the only one uninterested in
Slint's straightforward set. The majority of concertgoers wandering around a
sunny Union Park either seemed to be getting in
position to see GZA or waiting in loooong lines for beer. (Well, first they had
to wait in line to buy beer tickets, and then get in a different line to
actually buy the beer. More efficient than people digging in their pockets during
the actual brew purchasing? The jury's still out.) Fortunately for those unable to get into Slint, Wu-Tang
member GZA got on stage shortly after the first set wrapped up. And by shortly
after, I mean three seconds, which would have been a great way of keeping the
night's momentum going, except so far, there wasn't any. A dark and intense album like "Liquid Swords" also doesn't
really work in such a bright environment, not to mention one in which the sound
was so low that it was as if the festival was less concerned about the fans
than it was about not disturbing the neighbors. (The crowd's chant of "Turn it
up!" proved unsuccessful later on during Sonic Youth's set.) Neither GZA nor
the handful of other MCs could maintain much ferocity on top of the too-quiet
beats, which sporadically inspired some head-nodding among fans but generally
coasted along in an environment that just seemed to be the wrong place and the
wrong time for atmospheric and lyrically dense hip-hop. If GZA was really a
genius, he would have ensured the later time slot. That spot went to Sonic Youth, though, and despite the sound
issues, their energetic romp through "Daydream Nation" was the only time Friday
night that it actually seemed like a concert was going on. The audience bunched
up close together and went as far back as we could see from the middle of the
grass, and the 1988 album certainly sounded fresh and still way ahead of its
time. When the band returned for an encore and the noise level suddenly
improved, it felt like a good omen for the next two jam-packed days of music
(Most anticipated shows: Girl Talk on Saturday, Of Montreal on Sunday). And if not, well, at
least we still have more beer tickets.

The spot: Peach and turquoise walls, exposed brick, well-worn wood floors, high ceilings and strings of tiny white lights overhead define Caffe Florian, a cozy Hyde Park restaurant where a crowd of mostly students and neighborhood folks tucks into an extensive menu. The long list of lunch and dinner options includes salads, wraps, sandwiches, burgers, pastas, pizza and even entrees. Get your bearings with the cafe's signature Florian spinach pizza ($5.95-$18.75), which combines spinach, onions, feta cheese and garlic on your choice of a Chicago pan-style crust or a thin and crispy crust. Wraps, including the buffalo wrap, a spicy grilled chicken breast in a southwestern chili-flavored tortilla ($7.75), and the pesto wrap, chicken in a spinach-flavored tortilla ($7.75) are also popular.

The bottle: Caffe Florian's Italian fare is a perfect excuse to get familiar with wines from Italy's Chianti region, most made with the sangiovese grape. Head to nearby Binny's Express, where store associate Nkenge Mawusi recommends the affordable Chianti Lucigano 2005 ($9.99), which works well with red sauces-think pizza and pastas-or the Banfi 2003 Chianti Classico ($15.99), a good match for grilled meats, eggplants and portabella mushrooms. --Allison Knab is a Metromix special contributor.

Once upon a time, there was a really hip rock 'n' roll hang named Pharmacy that was about to open in West Town. Then a few neighbors didn't like the idea of a new bar in the 'hood. And then it turned out that some law from the '80s prohibits businesses calling themselves a pharmacy unless they sell prescription drugs. So much for the cool name, but you know what? After all the trouble this place has been through, we think the new name is really fitting: Relax!

Come 5 p.m. Tuesday, Relax Lounge will finally be open for business. They'll still offer the one-third pound burgers and fries (only 4 bucks, and served until close) and spiked milkshakes, and the glowing green cross still marks the spot outside. The most major change for those that were lucky enough to get a sneak peek is that the blue pill wallpaper has been replaced by vintage '60s paper from Paris. So go on, chill out, and Relax already.

And check out New on the Scene for updates on bar openings in your hood.

After a weeklong hiatus, we were hungry for our Dale Levitski fix-and boy did this week deliver. Our man Dale was front-and-center almost all night. But did he make the cut? Read on to find out.

Episode 4 gets off to an auspicious start when we learn that the Quickfire Challenge will focus on cocktail and food pairings. Dale consulted at posh cocktail lounge Stone Lotus, after all, and we know he has chops when it comes to mixology.

The chefs draw drinks, then they have 30 minutes to taste 'em and whip up a food pairing. Dale gets a Sapphire Sherry, which is basically four parts Bombay Sapphire to one part Pedro Ximenez, a super-sweet, raisiny dessert sherry. In other words, it's pure alcohol. Aiming to "cut the heat of the booze," Dale opts for a rich foie gras dish, searing the foie and topping it with candied parsnips and orange and a rice wine vinegar gastrique.

Jamie Walker, Bombay Sapphire's global master mixologist and the guest judge for this Quickfire Challenge, declares it's going to work before he even tastes it.

Then, the moment of truth: "It works."

Jamie gives Padma's glass a flirty clink. (Hey, she's about to be a single gal again-nothing wrong with that.) Cheers, dahling!

Jamie continues his rounds, commenting, it seems, more on the chefs themselves than their dishes. He tells Tall C.J. he's very tall: "Hello, you're very tall." When he gets to Joey's dish, he proclaims it "too robust, too heavy, a little bit clumsy." Hmm ... not unlike Joey. Hung's dish, he says, is "a little muddled." Again, consider the source.

Tre, Casey and ... Dale! ... come out on top. But Casey bests Dale with her foie gras French toast. Alas, no immunity for our hometown mixologist.

On to the Elimination Challenge. The chefs must divide themselves into teams of three; each team will create one course, which must be a trio of the same ingredient. They'll have two hours to cook in chef Barton G. Weiss's kitchen for 10 members of the Chaine des Rotisseurs Dining Society, a group of folks who reputedly possess very well developed palates. (And, rather conveniently, a hoity-toity name to prevent people from calling their palates into question.)

Rather than accentuate burgeoning kitchen alliances by choosing teams, the chefs draw names. Dale winds up with Howie and Casey. But when Howie starts ranting and sweating and sputtering about menu choices, Dale makes a split-second decision and volunteers to move to the pastry team.

"I can futz a great dessert," he proclaims. That's the attitude, Dale! Go Team Pastry!

Since no one in the kitchen knows pastry all that well, Dale's move appears altruistic. But as we watch Casey, Howie and Joey move toward a collective meltdown, we realize that this was actually a very shrewd move on Dale's part.

Strategic moves, shifting allegiances, small-scale breakdowns. This is getting good. But wait-it's time to break for a Bombay Sapphire ad. And to mix a quick martini. (Hey, why not? Let's hear it for inspirational product placement! Now if only those Glad ads inspired us to take out the garbage during commercial breaks ...)

Back at the market, the chefs have $150 and 30 minutes to shop. Hung runs willy-nilly through the aisles, as usual. Team 1 discovers the scallops are frozen, not fresh. Team 4 is quite taken with the pineapples. There are intense negotiations at the cash register involving blood oranges and limes.

Finally, everyone loads up the Toyota RAV4s for the trip back to the GE Monogram kitchen.

Cooking ensues.

In the dining room, members of the Chaine des Rotisseurs Dining Society wait with bated breath. They appear to be wearing sashes. Some of them look to have medals as well. (You can win medals for eating? Sign us up!) Barton G. Weiss is there too.

(A note about Barton G. Weiss: We have no idea who he is. All of these Miami chefs in Season 3 are really throwing us off. We google him during a commercial and learn he is a big-time Miami caterer and the owner of Barton G., a posh South Beach restaurant.)

Everybody eats. (And nobody spills anything on their sashes, thank heavens!)

Brian, Lia and Hung, who went with shrimp for their course after a game-time decision to ditch the frozen scallops, serve first. Brian's dish looks good. So does Lia's. Hung, apparently channeling Season 2 runner-up Marcel Vigneron, smugly presents a dish involving shrimp foam. Foam and smugness aside, everything wins nods of approval.

Still bickering, Howie, Joey and Casey bumble through a trio of tuna.

Tall C.J., Sara N. and Tre win the table back with their beef tenderloin course.

Dale and co. are up next, and thanks to some foreshadowing-namely, Joey's "dessert looked like a circus" comment-we already know it's not going to go well. Sara M.'s attempt at a pineapple semifreddo topped with what she calls a "reduced pineapple reduction" looks too mushy and sort of scary, kind of like something we might have been forced to touch between a pile of cold spaghetti and a bowl of peeled grapes at the neighbor kid's haunted house on Halloween night 1985. Camille's pineapple upside-down cake with ginger sabayon looks like a tiny, rubbery hockey puck. Dale's "free-form" tropical tart, a macadamia nut pastry with cardamom-roasted pineapple served atop hibiscus-marinated raspberry sauce and vanilla-coconut pastry cream, looks, well, free-form.

Onward to the judges table, where the shrimp course takes top honors. Ted calls it "poetic." Barton G. appears smitten with Hung's dish. But Lia's olive-oil poached shrimp wins it all, scoring her an invite to the Hamptons, where she'll be the guest chef at a charity event of some sort. A summer cooking shrimp for the jetset in the Hamptons! How delightful! Maybe Diddy will be there!

Lia delivers the bad news to the rest of the chefs: tuna course and dessert course are wanted at the judge's table.

Let's start with the positives: Ted thinks it's admirable that Dale's team chose to tackle dessert. "You jumped on a big sword," he says. And also ... well, actually, that's about it for the positives.

The judges use the word "hideous" for the first time this season. The word "hodgepodge" also comes out. Sara M.'s semifreddo and Camille's upside-down cake draw universal ire. Dale, on the other hand, is knocked more for his free-form decision-making skills than his free-form tart.

Dale disagrees. "We threw our asses on the line," he says. "[True chefs] will extend themselves ... take risks ... and I think the rest of the teams played it safe."

In the end, while Tom calls Sara M.'s dessert "one of the worst desserts I've had in 5 years," nothing was quite as bad as Camille's pineapple upside-down brick.

Padma asks Camille to please pack her knives and go, and she does.

Camille, we hardly knew ye.

Dale, clearly the team leader this episode, laments Camille's departure. Nothing wrong with a little survivor's guilt, Dale, but don't dwell on it. You barely made the cut this week ... better sharpen those knives and come out swinging next time around.

Find out what our friends at The Stew are saying about last night's episode.

Acclaimed chef Takashi Yagihashi, of Noodles by Takashi Yagihashi  in the State Street Macy's (he also clocked kitchen time at the now-shuttered Ambria, plus he's a James Beard Foundation Best Chef: Midwest award winner), has been scouting property for a new restaurant for about a year, and it he finally found it -- in Bucktown. Although negotiations are still in progress, it looks like Yagihashi will open Takashi Restaurant this November at 1952 N. Damen Avenue, in the Scylla address. We were kinda surprised when we heard the news; chef-owner Stephanie Izard has been raking in kudos from the local and national media since she opened Scylla in early 2005. Izard tells us that biz has been better than ever lately -- she's closing the restaurant so she can fit more travel time into her schedule, and she's considering relocating to Seattle. (If all goes well, Yagihashi will take over the space September 1; Scylla will close mid-August.) The new restaurant will feature contemporary French-American fare with Japanese influences --think organic chicken in a clay pot with shimeji mushrooms and Japanese eggplant or roasted NY strip steak with fresh wasabi, goose-fat frites and sweet pea gratin -- with entrees topping out at $25. He's enlisting designer Francois Geneve (Custom House, Spring and Green Zebra) to create a "contemporary chic" look for the 65-seat space. --Terri Mooney

Despite recently being charged with fraud, Anthony Demasi of Tsunami Capital LLC apparently thought the show must go on: He opened his River North hotspot Crescendo on May 11 with a healthy dose of glitz, glamour and fanfare. The grand opening featured a fashion show, opera singer, Joffrey Ballet dancers and plenty of scenesters and VIPs on hand.

Now, show's over -- for a while at least. Crescendo closed this past weekend, but we're told it will reopen in the next couple of weeks with a brand new management team. We can't wait to find out who that'll be. Stay tuned for updates.

For anyone who thinks the overblown-but-entertaining cartoon adaptation only exists to sell toys, after this weekend they may want to buy some Hasbro stock. Michael Bay's gigantic, "Transformers," bulldozed its way to the top spot this weekend, earning $67.6 million to bring its seven-day total to $152.6 million. Moviegoers, however, wisely separated themselves from the embarrassing Robin Williams comedy "License to Wed," which placed fourth $10.4 million. ("Ratatouille" held strong at No. 2, with "Live Free or Die Hard" coming in at No. 3.) We hope that John Krasinski of "The Office" will learn his lesson from "License to Wed" and that Williams' next comedy will ... well, if he never does another comedy the world might be a better place.

How wicked-awesome was "Transformers"? Did "License to Wed" ruin your concept of marriage? Why haven't you seen "Ratatouille" yet?

Today, the Chicago Riverwalk has officially reopened. It spans from about Columbus Drive to Wells Street along Wacker. (Download the map) . O'Briens Riverwalk Cafe, Robinson's Ribs, Mustard and Onions Grill, and Caffeecaffee on the River are the first to take root there. Look for Cyrano's Café and Wine Bar to open late July.

This is what is currently left of Papa Milano, which stood for eons on the corner of State and Walton in the Gold Coast. We couldn't resist whipping out our camera phone as we passed this morning. Makes us a little sad.

The spot: It's Taste of Chicago time, but if you can't stand the idea of eating while balancing your beer on your paper plate-or if you want to get a real idea of what a Taste restaurant has to offer-visit Vee-Vee's African Restaurant. At the Taste, Vee-Vee's offers crowd-pleasers like jerk chicken and plantains-a little odd since the Edgewater locale focuses on the cuisine of Nigeria, not the Caribbean. The restaurant's decor is sparse, with mint-green walls covered in posters, but African immigrants and Edgewater denizens gather over various saucy options. Try dishes such as plantains and black-eyed peas with a choice of goat, chicken or fish stew ($8-$9); a soup of ground melon seeds and spices with pounded yams and a choice of meat ($9); and a dozen other tasty combos of rice, tomatoes, yams, plantains and meat.

The bottle: Despite signage touting "cocktails," Vee-Vee's is all BYOB. You could swing by Andersonville Discount Wine and Spirits (5201 N. Clark St. 773-769-0858) and pick up a six-bottle pack of Guinness ($8.99), a Nigerian favorite. But if you want an African beer, trek to Sam's Wine & Spirits (1720 North Marcey St. 312-664-4394) for Tusker Premium Lager ($2.99 for 500 milliliters), a pale Kenyan brew. --Allison Knab, metromix special contributor.

Are you wary of the swarms of festival zombies at Taste this 4th of July? You should be -- especially if you're equally wary of twentysomething John Mayer fans with a knack for high-pitched screaming. So run far away from Grant Park, party people, and head to Washington Park for the African-Caribbean Festival of Life. The 15th annual cultural bash teems with ethnic beats, eats and a marketplace. Tonight's musical heavyweight, Jamaican reggae singer Buju Banton, takes the stage at

8 p.m.

1. It's not unusual to go on a bender after quitting time on Friday, but with the 4th falling mid-week, why not try McFadden's Star Spangled Weekday Bender. Tuesday features fiesta-inspired specials such as $1 tacos, $2 Corona and Corona Lights, and $4 margaritas; recover Wednesday with the hair of the dog at the build-your-own bloody mary bar, or try 25 cent wings, $1 cans, $2 well drinks and $3 shots.

2. When your friends fail to organize a BBQ, never fear: Victory Liquors saves the day with its American Buffet $20 meal package Tuesday. Fill up on burgers and hot dogs from 5-9 p.m.and wash it down with domestic drafts and select cocktails. Then on the 4th of July, specials include half-price burgers, $1 bottles and $3 select cocktails.

3. There's no work on Wednesday-and hell, maybe you even took the rest of the week off-so go for a big night out and get Derailed. The monthly Old Town pub crawl kicks off at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Try and stay on the party train all night, or pop in at one of the participating bars. Crawl starts at Wells on Wells (8 p.m.), then moves to Fireplace Inn (10:10 p.m.), Suite Lounge (11:20 p.m.), Corcoran's (12:30 a.m.) and finishes at late-night bar Burton Place (2 a.m.) Drink specials along the way include $5 Effen cocktails, $3 Miller Lites, $5 bombs with XL energy drink.

Need more places to party on July 3 and July 4? Let us light you up

Despite closing its Evanston location last month and its Wacker Drive location 10 days ago (and its Chicago-based corporate headquarters on Friday), Cereality -- the fledgling chain trying to do for Cocoa Puffs what Starbucks did for the coffee bean -- says you can expect more Chicago stores. Stan Synkoski, the company's chief operating officer, says the company's in talks with a major strategic partner to "aggressively expand" as a fully franchised operation. Synkoski says that the company's original plan to open both corporate-run and franchised stores was scrapped when it when the demand for franchises became "overwhelming." He says right now there are 26 franchises in the works -- a new operation has just opened in Charleston, S.C. July 1. While the 2,200 square-foot Evanston location, which was originally intended to be both restaurant as well as a training and distribution center for the chain, will not reopen, Synkoski says the Wacker Drive location is being considered for a co-branded operation with the new strategic partner, who at this point remains anonymous. Stay tuned for more details...

Did you ever visit Cereality? Do you think a cereal-only restaurant could really be the next Starbucks?

At this weekend's inaugural Pizza Fest in Lincoln Park, visitors and -- in two categories -- a panel of media (including Leo Ebersol from RedEye) judges the best pizza in Chicago in several categories. Here are the results.

Best Chicago-Style Pizza
Jury and Peoples' Choice: Mangia Roma

Best Thin-Style Pizza
Jury winner: My Pie
Peoples' Choice winner: Mama Luna's Restaurant

Best Pizza Crust
Peoples' Choice winner: Falco's Pizza

Best Pizza Sauce
Peoples' Choice winner: Palermo's Red Ivy

Best Gourmet/Unique Pizza
Peoples' Choice winner: Godfather's Pizza

Who says people don't want to see animated movies about rats? Pixar's "Ratatouille," a terrific tale of a rodent who longs to become a chef, took the top spot at the box office this weekend with $47.2 million. That's a bit low for the animation studio that also created "Toy Story," "A Bug's Life" and more--the opening for "Ratatouille" places it fifth out of Pixar's eight movies, behind "Finding Nemo," "Cars," "Monsters, Inc." "Toy Story 2" and "Ratatouille" director Brad Bird's "The Incredibles," but it was still enough to take down Bruce Willis' weirdly topical action sequel, "Live Free or Die Hard." The chrome-dome cop took in $33.1 million (and $48.2 million since opening Wednesday) to land at No. 2. In only 441 theaters, Michael Moore's funny and upsetting "Sicko" racked up $4.5 million (more than $10,000 per screen), while the twinkly and pretentious "Evening" made only $3.5 million in just shy of 1,000 theaters.

Is "Ratatouille" the year's best movie? Did "Sicko" make you want to leave the country and go somewhere like Canada with universal health care coverage? How excited are you for "Transformers"?