EAT Pleasant House Bakery. So rarely am I in Bridgeport, the hardscrabble, prototype Chicago working class neighborhood made famous by the Daley clan but when I do get there, I am always delighted by its ongoing transformation. Arriving early for a dinner at Nana’s—which recently earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand designation—I wandered around the ‘hood until I hit Pleasant House Bakery on 31st and Morgan. Jackpot. I had heard about this place, famous for its reinterpretation of that British classic, savory pies, but had yet to try it. So I bought a few pies for later, and wow oh wow, I felt like I had died and gone to hipster heaven. The steak and ale pie was better than anything I had ever had in the UK, but mushroom and kale pie was the winner. So perfect that I could eat it everyday. I also love that the place is pretty much a hole-in-the-wall…a few tables but mostly designed for takeout.
WATCH Southland I happen to be a fan of cop shows—from “Hill Street Blues” to “Homicide: Life on the Streets” to The Wire”—but TNT’s “Southland” took me surprise. When it debuted as a mid-season replacement show I gave it a chance because hell, I give all new cop shows a chance, and now I’m on the fifth season, still enjoying it. I’ve read articles in which real cops say this show gets closest their day-to-day reality. I can’t speak to that, but there is an immediacy and intimacy about this show that feels true. Plus it is tightly written, sharply edited and well-acted, with some good characters that are original, but not over the top. No Omars on this, but solid all the way through with some only-in-LA quirkiness thrown in for good measure.
HEAR Expo 76 If there is a more fun band that calls Chicago home, I’ve yet to hear it. Expo 76 takes the concept of a pop rock cover band to a new level. Founded by four guys with serious music cred who all have other bands of their own—it includes members from another Chicago fave Poi Dog Pondering—Expo specializes in ‘70s radio pop music. Their motto is “No Brown-Eyed Girl.” You might, however, hear “Rhinestone Cowboy” and “Rockin’ Robin,” bringing you right back to high school days when you drove back and forth to the mall with your friends, looking for boys doing the same. The band’s relaxed mastery of these songs lets you know that they are in on the joke, but are enjoying it just as much as you. They have a regular gig one Wednesday a month at Simon’s Tavern in Andersonville (next one is March 13). The first show is for people like us, who remember the songs from the first time around. The second show, starting upwards toward midnight, attracts the PBR crowd who dig the irony of the performance. You choose which one reflects your sensibility better. They also have a gig at the always-awesome sidebar at Fitzgerald’s on March 21st.
LEARN Meditation. In Wednesday’s post I linked readers to a free online meditation course. But if you are one of those people who learn better in groups or in person with a teacher, here’s a great Chicago-based option. Susan Lipshutz, a wonderful teacher and beloved friend, leads two different free noontime meditation series downtown. One at the Raby Institute for Integrative Medicine on North Michigan Avenue and one at Allyu Spa in River North (right next to Japonais along the river). Think of them as an oasis of calm punctuating a typically crazy workday, as well as an inspired way to take the first steps toward starting a meditation practice of your own.
READ Stalin’s Ghost. When it is cold and snowy out, I tend to read Russian novels or mysteries set in cold climates. The first winter I lived here, when it got down to 81 degrees below zero and to go outside was to risk life and limb, I read both Anna Karenina and War and Peace. This winter, I shopped the unread pile next to my bed and found a book I had picked up this summer at a used bookstore for a dollar: Stalin’s Ghost. It hit all the marks: Russian, mystery and set during winter. Written by the same author as Gorky Park (another Russian thriller I read one winter), and featuring the same main character, Arkady Renko (so insightfully underplayed by William Hurt in the movie), it takes a critical look at the new Russia in relationship to the former Soviet Union. Along the way you find digressions on chess and World War II, along with some sentences so attenuated and observant that I had to read them twice, just to savor them.