ML - Michigan Avenue

2015 - Issue 5 - September

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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photography by neil burger (cindy's); Winnie au (standefer) Drink this Cindy's shuns the punch bowl (too sloppy) in favor of elegant glass tabletop dispensers called "apoth- ecaries" ( above) for those who agree on the same quaff. "You end up talk- ing about the drink and sharing the experience," says mixologist Nandini Khaund. "It's like going to a show and you're fush about the same band." clockwise from far left: Cindy's Executive Chef Christian Ragano; the bar and picnic tables are enclosed by a light-filled glass conservatory; hamachi crudo with corn relish. the 1893 World's Fair that Chicago was not the rough neck Wild West. They imported Italian mosaics for the f loors, installed carved wood fireplaces, and had whole staircases made of marble. Now, with the building having just undergone a threeyear restoration and redesign as a 241room hotel, an elevator whisks guests from the Old World–ornate lobby to the wholly unexpected Cindy's, a lightflooded knockout enclosed by a glass conservatory and opening onto a 50capacity deck with stunning Lake Michigan views. "We wanted a counterpoint to the very masculine men's club—a feminine counterpoint that was breezy and light," says Michael Mason, director of restaurants and bars at the hotel. Elegant but playful, Cindy's suggests a nightly garden party on a Great Lakes estate, with strings of bulb lights that trace the metal seams of the glass roof and jars of honey that glow on the backlit bar. Cindy's crowdfriendly dishes could feed a Mackinac Island yacht crew. Raw shellfish platters pile fat lobster tails, pumpedup shrimp, oysters, and crab legs on a bed of crushed ice. Cobs of corn and spiky crab claws overflow the castiron pot that holds the garlicky Frogmore Stew. What looks to be a full pound of burrata cheese oozes across a platter, piqued by aged balsamic vinegar. "Food is meant to bring people together," says Executive Chef Christian Ragano, a former chef de cuisine at NoMI. "With a family, are you going to do 15 small plates or a few massive ones?" If Ragano's heartonhis sleevetattoos approach roots its charm in honesty, Nandini Khaund, who left James Beard Foundation Award–winning mixology spot The Violet Hour to design Cindy's bar menu, provides the mystery. Take, for example, the Golden Boar, featuring aquavit and spices like dill and caraway, which was inspired by a Viking ship that sailed from Norway to Chicago for the 1893 World's Fair. "I wanted to do something strong but feminine," she says. "I like to introduce people to things they maybe don't know yet." As the weather cools to a chill, management promises blankets on the patio in fall and snowchic waiter wear in winter, in addition to menus that channel ski chalet hide aways. Perhaps hiberna tion season will frost this foodie hot spot's allure—but with more than 100 revelers already filling the place by 4 pm nightly, don't count on it. 12 S. Michigan Ave., 13th Fl., 844-312-2221; chicagoathletichotel.com MA "We Wanted a counterpoint to the very masculine men's club—a feminine counterpoint that Was breezy and light." —michael mason Movie Magic Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch ( below) of design frm Roman and Williams certainly know how to cast a mood at Cindy's: They started out as Hollywood set designers before doing homes for the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and retro-chic hotels like Ace Hotel New York. taste 98  michiganavemag.com

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