Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
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continued on page 96 photography by anjali pinto Media Moguls Fast Friends and major media players Bill Rancic and Jon HaRRis take time out For a guys' lunch at rancic's latest restaurant, new hot spot rpm steak. by j.p. anderson boys club: What: a lunchtime feast of surf and turf. When: a Monday afternoon in late summer. Where: a prime corner booth at sizzling new River north spot RpM Steak, 66 W. Kinzie St., 312-284-4990; rpmsteak.com Since winning the first season of the apprentice a decade ago, Bill Rancic has become a full-f ledged star. And with a plum new gig as the announcer for the Meredith Vieira Show, his pal Jon Harris is following in his footsteps. As Rancic prepared for the opening of RPM Steak—his and wife Giuliana's second collabo- ration with Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises after smash hit RPM Italian—he and his groomsman Harris sat down over lunch at the new restaurant to talk TV, tomahawk steaks, and why Chicago will always be home. You both have a lot on your plate right now. What is life like these days? Bill rancic: For Jon it's a much more life-changing event—kind of what happened to me 10 years ago when I was first asked to go on the apprentice. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Jon harris: Thanks, brother. Br: I just told him he better not go all Hollywood on us. Jh: Oh, please. With this face, I'll never go Hollywood. It's been a blast so far. Working with one of my dearest friends, Meredith, and having the opportunity to do some good things with people through the show has been fantastic. If it ended right now, I'd still be blessed. Br: That's a lie. Jh: That's true. It's a boldfaced lie. [Laughs] how do you two know each other? Br: Jon was working at Bally's, and I had just won the apprentice and moved to New York. Somehow he got my cell-phone number; he called me and said, "Can you shoot a video for us for our big corporate meeting?" Within 20 minutes, I have a video crew at my apartment in Midtown, and I'm like "Who is this guy?" And that was it—we just became buddies. Bill, you and Giuliana have established yourself as formidable restaurateurs. how did you get started? Br: About four years ago we thought about starting a restaurant, since Giuliana is from Italy and her family has all these great recipes. We started looking at locations—a little 40 to 50 seat restaurant—and I was telling my friend above: The bar at RPM Steak offers classic cocktails and more than 40 varieties of Scotch. below: Fresh lobster is one of the stars of the raw bar. Bosom buddies: Jon Harris sang at Bill Rancic's wedding to E! star Giuliana Rancic. 94 michiganavemag.com taste On the town