Thursday, August 18, 2005
Posted By:
Jennifer Campbell
Photo:
Jennifer Campbell
Piccolo Mondo is a romantic restaurant located a few steps from the Metro stop in Hyde Park. Its close proximity to the Museum of Science and Industry makes it a convenient meeting spot for someone who is not familiar with all the various neighborhoods of Chicago. The décor is simple and elegant. The waiters are attentive; the fact that English is their second language helps create the fantasy that you’re dining in a foreign city. The cuisine is Italian, with traditional dishes like lasagna and ravioli. Prices are moderate. Carry-out and delivery is available, but stay for the atmosphere, which is very conducive to intimate conversation. You will feel like you are in your own “small world.”
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Thursday, August 11, 2005
Posted By:
Mark F. Armstrong
Photo:
Noel Henderson-James
Osaka Garden/Wooded Island
This 16-acre peninsula near Lake Michigan’s southern shore was developed to accommodate the Japanese and Korean attractions for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, but quickly evolved into a rendezvous for lovers shortly after the fair closed. Don’t be surprised to see very passionate and public frenching near the Japanese teahouse retained from the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition. And don’t be even more surprised to hear heavy horizontal breathing coming from among the lush varieties of flowers, shrubs, and trees on the paths to the Osaka Japanese Garden. The serenity and tranquility of the garden still make it worth visiting alone with its recently renovated entrance and layout provided by a $400,000 grant from Chicago’s sister city Osaka, Japan. The gains are a great variety of waterfowl that stroll and prance along the garden’s rocks that shore up the lagoon, and a view of the Greek revival former Palace of Fine Arts turned science and industry museum. This stretch of land also retains the purpose that landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of New York City’s Central Park, originally envisioned for parks, instead of today’s prevailing image of overgrown playgrounds. Wooded Island is an emerald wonderland made to liberate urbanites from the blahs of overbuilt gridlock.
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