Mitch Dudek

6 days ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Mitch Dudek

In the 1980s, Ray Capitanini increased the number of wine offerings at The Italian Village, his family’s Loop restaurant, from about two dozen to nearly 4,000 wines. “He really treated wine like an investment and put us on the map for a different segment of the population who came in from across the country to dine here because of the wine,” his nephew Al Capitanini said. Mr. Capitanini died April 10 from respiratory issues after heart surgery. He was 89.

1 week ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Mitch Dudek

In 1969, folk singer Steve Goodman stepped off stage at Chicago’s famed Earl of Old Town pub and bumped into a cocktail waitress. She was nearly a foot taller. “Would you like to learn to dance?” he asked, doing a little jig amid the melting moment. It was a kismet collision between Steve Goodman and Nancy Tenney (then known as Nancy Pruter).

1 week ago | wbez.org | Mitch Dudek

There are 47 different wands and vomit-flavored jelly beans. And that is just the tip of the wizard’s hat when it comes to the magical stuff (wands start at $39) you’ll encounter at the new Harry Potter Shop Chicago that opens Thursday at 676 N. Michigan Ave. If you saw it in the films or read about it in the books, there’s a good chance you’ll find it on a shelf.

1 week ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Mitch Dudek

He elevated the stature of the University of Illinois in big and brave ways, but former school president Stanley O. Ikenberry’s favorite story to tell of his 16 years at the school’s helm was about an unexpected house party. Mr. Ikenberry, who was just 44 when he accepted the university’s top job in 1979, was playing basketball with his sons on the hoop attached to the garage of the stately president’s home on the Urbana campus when a group of four young men approached him with a question.

1 week ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Mitch Dudek

Culinary rumbles about Don Juan’s restaurant in Edison Park began to build in the early 1990s. That was when owner Maria Josefa Concannon brought in a new chef: Patrick Concannon, her son. He’d bounced around at fine dining spots in Hawaii, France and California and spent time working at the now-closed Charlie Trotter’s before elevating the menu at his family’s unpretentious Mexican eatery. Creativity blossomed in his daily specials. Regulars knew to expect the unexpected.