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SEE YOU SOON!

5/10/2020

 
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WISHBONE ON LINCOLN CONTINUES HUNT FOR NEW HOME
 

      On Sunday, September 29, WISHBONE RESTAURANT closed its location at 3300 N. Lincoln Avenue at the end of a 20 year lease.      
     The hunt for a new location began months before but our wish was to remain fairly close to our base of neighbors and friends . . .  and to own a building for a more permanent home.
      In mid-March we had started negotiations on an existing restaurant about a mile away but felt we had to hit the pause button as news of COVID-19 grew more ominous.  By mid-April it was apparent  the location we had chosen would not be suitable in the radically changed  environment for restaurant operation.   Despite SBA loans and payroll protection money that has been available (not necessarily equitably), many independents will not be able to survive this terrible scourge of public gathering places even though the need for neighborhood eateries may be greater than ever.
     We have certainly not thrown in the towel and continue meeting on what a new Wishbone may look like with quirky personality, good food and, of course, safety measures that will protect staff and inspire confidence in our diners.  "Social distancing" is only one consideration while larger issues of air circulation/ventilation and minimal touch with sanitized tableware and condiments are commonsense measures restaurants can take without reducing the dining experience to a hazmat impersonal nightmare.
     The biggest obstacle, however, is the accuracy of tests to not only track people who are "positive" but those who have developed some antibody immunity.   No comment is necessary on the lack of leadership at the Federal level that could certainly have mitigated fears and the continuing economic crisis . . .
      Rather than hold our collective breath for a vaccine (when the properties of this virus are still being discovered), the dispersed Wishbone staff is very much in contact and talking of solutions even as we wait a few months more to see how America "re-opens" and what guidelines will be in place and what new treatments for critical cases are developed.
     Like everyone, we are champing at the bit to get back to what we're good at and love.   Life will continue off-screen and in person . . . and perhaps better models will emerge for how we deal with future crises.  Cities, at least, will not become corporate space stations and public laughter will return.
      And WISHBONE NORTH will rise again!
       
      We have our mailing list and will send real news when we know it but don't wish to pester our fans with updates or clogged inboxes.  If you haven't already, you can sign up for the BIG NEWS on our CONTACT PAGE  or leave us any ideas or suggestions you might have.

      WE MISS YOU AND HOPE TO SEE YOU SOON . . . SAFE AND SOUND.
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                  WISHBONE BACKGROUND
                  
​Wishbone opened on Lincoln in November 1999 with staff and paintings from its original 1800 W. Grand  location.   Founded in the Summer of 1990 by chef Joel Nickson, brother Guy and sister-in-law Bianca, Wishbone started with a 35 seat storefront that expanded to 50 with a back room and less than two years later, expanded again to a 200 seat restaurant on the site of a Goodyear Tire shop one block from Harpo Studios.
                  A third Wishbone opened on Roosevelt in Berwyn a few years later and with addresses for three of the four presidents on Mt. Rushmore, it was fitting the restaurant added the family dog, a smiling poodle, to the iconic bluff.  (The Wishbone on Washington, however, relocated to Jefferson nearly one year ago—so the cycle vis a visRushmore is now complete)
                  According to Guy Nickson, the success and longevity of Wishbone owe as much to the accessibility of scratch Southern cooking as to the restaurant’s role in fostering community:  from the artists, bikers and tradesmen at Grand Avenue, the politicos, mixed race families and celebrities of Washington to the musicians, Hispanics and widely diverse generations of Lincoln.
                  “In the course of nearly thirty years, we have raised families, celebrated the passing of loved patrons, shared in the highs and lows of the outer world and always while melding art--starting with our mother’s paintings--with real food and a dash or two of humor.”    In noting the many changes that have taken place in the restaurant and food world from longer preservation technologies, engineered meals, Instagramable plates and kiosk ordering, Nickson takes some satisfaction in being retrograde.  
“We never quite fit a category.  Reviewers compared us to fine dining spots, others thought of us as a quirky chow house because of the diner prices and still others imagined us as a health food restaurant because of all the vegetable side dishes and vegan entrees.  The fact is we took a big tent approach to dining—from young to old of every hue and religion and almost all income brackets.  Simplicity and tradition guided more than innovation or fads so we took it as a high compliment if someone told us our greens were almostas good as her grandma’s or our Shrimp and Grits better than anything in Charleston.“  
                  Memory and stories are what give a place a connection and while Wishbone is not unique in this, putting on rotating art shows  (the last being Marc PoKempner’s  photos of personal heroes), free music concerts curated by Michael Greenberg, solstice festivals and progressive political events (from Obama’s State Congress campaign to support for local schools and teachers’ union),  Wishbone has always trafficked in the unexpected.
                  Within the larger trends of people eating at work with cell phones,  supermarket prepared food with TV and shrinking middle class spending, Nickson felt it was time to return to a more manageable—and convivial—size.   Landlords, Steve Soble and Howard Natinski agreed and found a tenant, Salon Lofts, to share the space. But there was no way to do a sizeable construction without closing restaurant operations.
                  The space itself had been a Five and Dime when the neighborhood was a bustling shopping district with Wieboldt’s, Woolworth’s and adjacent shoe stores then a Mr. Steer restaurant during the seventies and, just before Wishbone, an incarnation of Blind Faith, the vegetarian eatery from Evanston.  
                  More than place, it is the people that make any enterprise special.  The Wishbone on Lincoln has waiters who started as busboys when it first opened its doors (and raised kids and bought houses), a runner, Paulino Solano, who has since become  the best chef ever running back of house operations and recently married to Wishbone waitress, Rebecca.  Many others have worked 8, 12 and 16 years--an increasingly rare occurrence for all the lip service to sustainability.   They will all be gathered on the 29th.
                  Since notice was made to patrons and neighbors, the “wonderful life” aspect of Wishbone has come in full force with the daily tinkling of angel wings, laughter and . . .tears.   Nickson expects the new manifestation of  “Southern Reconstruction Cooking” will continue the tradition of community engagement with commonsense good food.   Plans are in the works for a Wishbone in Hyde Park by Spring, but more immediately, the northside tribe hopes soon to have a  new Launchpad for pan fried chicken, Hoppin’ Jack and catfish that’s jumpin’ . . .
                  To say “the South shall rise again” is about as retrograde as a MAGA cap, but a NEW South IS coming.  Stay tuned for the next turn of the wheel by getting on our EMAIL LIST to find when and where.   In the meantime, please visit brother Joel at 161 N. Jefferson.

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Last Sunday morning: first to arrive fans!
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Iris Rau Bat Mitzvah shortly before our close

WISHBONE LINCOLN CLOSING 9/29

9/22/2019

 
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 . . . at least temporarily at this location!  As we approached the end of a 20 year lease, we had talked to our landlords about reducing the space (and overhead) to a more convivial and efficient size.  They have complied and will be dividing the 3300 N. Lincoln Ave. space between a national company renting salon spaces . . . and a restaurant on the side where the current hood and fans are located.

Unfortunately the estimated time for this makeover is at least 4 MONTHS and for the sake of our staff we have been negotiating on other locations that, as of this late date, have not yet fully solidified.  (Nor have we received the plan for the exact division on Lincoln.)

We wanted to let our dear patrons and friends know before the general public and a copy of the letter distributed is below.

PLEASE SIGN UP ON OUR MAILING LIST IF YOU'D LIKE AN UPDATE ON WORK-IN-PROGRESS AND RE-OPENING. 

Meantime, come out to celebrate with our beloved staff; attend some great music Thursday thru Sunday Night  (see the EVENTS calendar) ... and maybe stop by for an emotional goodbye at the end of Brunch on SUNDAY the 29TH.

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There may be some MEMORABILIA for sale:  including some canvas reproductions of Lia Nickson's paintings.  

More on this soon.


HEROES & HEROINES of Marc Pokempner

8/8/2019

 

THURSDAY OPENING RECEPTION 6 -9 PM

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    Photojournalist Marc PoKempner returns for an exhibition of selected work covering Chicago's Political and Social landscape--with many faces familiar to all.  From Pete Seeger to President Obama (when he was a local hero) to community organizers, Jimmy Carter, a young Jan Schakowsky . . . all remembrances of fonder days and a call to continued activism. 
     The show will be up through September but Thursday, August 8th, Wishbone hosts a reception for the photographer so this will be a chance to meet him (and friends) in person.
     For information about photo prints/sales, please see his website at www.marcPoKempner.net.

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ESPERANZA GAMA AND MAPIE EXHIBIT AT WISHBONE

5/17/2019

 

CLOSING RECEPTION JUNE 14TH  from 6 - 9 PM

Drop by for a colorful (and voluptuous) new show by two Foreign born Chicago artists who have painted and printed on very tactile handmade paper.   Now that Summer threatens to arrive, you'll appreciate the "calme, luxe et volupte" of these works in our very own Couloir Bleu.   Closing party is final chance to BUY.
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      MAPIE has been always around art and craft as a kid... from with street clay pottery  in the countryside baked in wooden kilns (saltdough),    After earning a college degree in tourism/languages (English German, Italian), she lived in Bordeaux, Toulouse, Paris and in London ....
     Following her arrival in Chicago, she met the artist, Penny Michel, who encouraged her to investigate American culture and to pursue what she always wanted to do (‘’no it is never too late!’’)  : ART.
    From classes in chalk and paint on wood, she began working with watercolor at the Ed Hinkley studio in Chicago over 20 years ago then Ceramics at Lillstreet Art Center and Drawing classes at Sora, (School of Representational Art).
     Mapie has since exhibited in Southwest France, (Marmande, Clairac, Luz Saint Sauveur…..) as well as Chicago (Three Arts Club, Alliance Francaise, Stone Building, August House Gallery and her own Studio, now called Atelier54Chicago).
    The current show is derived from her enjoyment of good food and company and walking  along the lakefront and seaside observing birds …  Born of French parents from Tunisia, she has always found the light and colors of the Mediterranean and Southern France to be inspiration for her paintings.
VIVE LA DIFFERENCE!

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ESPERANZA GAMA was born and educated in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. She received her BFA from the School of Fine Arts of the University of Guadalajara, Mexico. Gama later moved to Paris, France where she studies printmaking at the Ecole Beaux-Arts.
      In 2005 Gama was featured in Poetas y Pintores, a traveling exhibition featuring contemporary Latino art and poetry. In 2006, she became the first Latina to exhibit at the Union League Club Gallery of Chicago. On exhibit was the series Los Magicos. Also in 2007 Gama’s piece Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz was part of the Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead : A New Beginning Exhibition. In 2008 her work was included in an exhibition called Catholicism in the City at the Chicago History Museum.
     Her work is also shown in and collected by the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago, considered the most important museum of Mexican Art in the United States. Her work is in their permanent collection. She also has work in the permanent collection of the Snite Museum of Art. Gama’s work was included in the exhibition Soldaderas y Adelitas at Women Made Gallery in Chicago in 2010. In 2012 Gama was featured in a joint show at Galeria 147 in Phoenix, Arizona.
       She has been the recipient of several awards and grants among them the Sor Juana Achievement Award for Visual Arts (2003, Chicago, National Museum of Mexican Arts), Illinois Arts Council Partial Support Grants (2005, Chicago), and an International Artists Residency Program Grant (Guadalajara, Mexico, 2007). Gama has lived and worked in Chicago since 1994.

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Hummingbirds by Gama

COULOIR BLEU EXHIBITION - jens brasch

3/10/2019

 

ARTIST'S RECEPTION 3/10 at 2:30 PM

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       buddha/model walk
                       two walks
                     one in desire
              one cessation of desire
                     this in beauty
                     that in peace
      he, you should not ask for so much
            she, why not ask for more
                    one bowl sings
                   one bowl’s brass
          one for songs and one for ass


For the months of March and April, the Couloir Bleu ha been transformed into a walkway of shrines to very separate views of the world.  Where they intersect and where they oppose is for the promeneur to discover.   A reception for the artist is SUNDAY, MARCH 10TH AT 2:30 PM.   Drop by for some refreshment and a chance to meet Jens in person.

Artist's Statement

The Buddha/ Model Walk was inspired by a walk my wife and I took when we were in Bangkok at a Buddhist Wat.  There were one hundred Buddhas all in the same pose.  Each, however, was distinct from different craftsmen sculpting at different times and weathering differently over time.

In front of each Buddha was a singing bowl in which devotees tossed small coins.  I was mesmerized by the music of these offerings.

When we returned to our hotel I looked at a Thai fashion magazinethat was slicker than any fashion magazine from New York or Paris.  All the models had a sculpted Western appearance.

The Buddha/Model Walk plays with the surprising combination of traditional Thai culture and western celebrity capitalist culture.


Mr. Brasch received his Master of Arts from NIU and taught art for many years at high schools in Wheeling
and Rolling Meadows.   His works have been exhibited in group and solo shows from SAIC and Lipa Gallery to the NAB Gallery, Gallery Chicago, Riverside Arts Center and, of course, the Bridgeport Arts Center where he has his studio.    Jens works with many media, including film, and has created mosaic looking paintings, constructions . . .  and always a fascination with words.  His most recent exhibition featured stunning large paintings of women with neon captions again juxtaposing common expressions with themes of violence and overcoming.

Enjoy the show.  For more information about Jens Brasch or for contact, visit /www.jensbrasch.net/.

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CELEBRATE MARDI GRAS

2/25/2019

 
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The cold is coming to a close:  get on your spangles and feather cap and have that last feast before Lent at Wishbone!  Renowned Boogie pianist, the inimitable
ERWIN HELFER will be setting the mood while
Chef Paulino and crew will be dishing out special
Mardi Gras Platters
with Crawfish Etoufee, Jambalaya, Red Beans and other Cajun/Creole treats.   There's no cover and we've got the beads and masks to help pretend we're in the French Quarter and not shivering in the Windy City.  Sazeracs and HURRICANES de rigeuer with a contest for who gets the baby in our home baked King Cake!  Come one and come all.  Laissez le bon temps rouler!   There is NO COVER but calling for reservations is recommended.

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VALENTINE'S DINNER

2/14/2019

 
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LIVE MUSIC (FREE) AND GREAT FOOD . . . You bring the Valentines.  We'll have special PRIXE FIXE Dinners for Two (or multiples of two) that run from Appetizers to house baked Desserts as well as family menu specials that include Do-It-Yourself Valentine Card making.

Have a fun night:  the PRIX FIXE menu is 22.95 and you can get anything from our Southern Calamari to Bread Pudding with bourbon caramel.   The Rib Eye roast and Salmon cooked in parchment with shrimp and vegetables are not to be missed.  

It's Chef Paulino at his best.  
Call for reservations.   773.549.2663.  Note that the 'KIDS EAT FREE THURSDAYS" does NOT apply oo

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PRE-VALENTINE BENEFIT FOR THE KITTIES

2/13/2019

 
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     The day before Valentine's, Wishbone will host a benefit for "TOUCHED BY AN ANIMAL," a unique and tactile shelter for much maligned cats!
     Come on by!  Donation only with Silent Auction goodies:   the food buffet is good (with drinks) and the cause worth three MEOWS.
    We're normally closed Wednesday Nights, so this is an exclusive event and should be a lot of fun.
     For more information, call 847.912.6069 (Melanee) or 773.319.7409 (Julia).   They can also tell you more about the shelter and volunteer possibilities.

SANTA COMES TO WISHBONE SATURDAY

12/1/2018

 

TOYLAND PHOTO TO BENEFIT LAKEVIEW YMCA

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By Special Request, the ELF in RED will make a personal appearance SATURDAY MORNING from 9 to 1 PM in Wishbone's THRONE ROOM for all good boys and girls.  
As a benefit for our neighbor, the Lakeview YMCA, Santa has  agreed to be photographed with families for a donation of $10 while Wishbone extends a 15% discount to all Y Members choosing to eat or drink before or after visiting.   It will be a fun time and there will be activities in Toyland for participating families.  Come one, Come all!

WISHBONE THANKSGIVING

11/9/2018

 
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      Once again, share the love with turkey, sides and desserts from Wishbone as your offering to the American communal feast.    Sure you could cook it all . . . but it's a question of time and what you want to concentrate on.   And with Wishbone, you're getting food that is pretty much cooked the way you would without processing, engineering . . . or packaging.   
     From HALF PANS that serve up to 15 . . . to QUARTER PANS serving 6 to 8, you can supplement your banquet with easy heating instructions and a taste like nowhere else.   You can also order full turkey meals with sausage or cornbread stuffing, fresh cranberry sauce and YOUR choice of two sides with corn muffin.  (We roast the full birds and breasts right here--as well as smoke our own brisket.)
     As in years past, PICK-UPS (pr Deliveries) are on WEDNESDAY, but Turkeys come in sealed bags for reheating and pies on real pans just the way they were baked.
    Click on the Patriotic Turkey below for an ORDER FORM and call us soon--BEFORE WE RUN OUT!


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Wishbone Restaurant 
3300 N.  Lincoln Ave.
2  blocks NW of Ashland/Belmont

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