• 1. Where to Stay
• 2. Where to Eat
• 3. What to Do
• 4. Insider’s Tip
• 5. An Oddball Day

Chow down at West Loop eatery the Publican.   (Photo: Courtesy of Bob Briskey Photography)

Eat inside a work of art at the Publican, an haute beer hall with a James Beard award-winning design and long walnut communal tables filled with the post-gallery-hopping set. Try sweetbreads and beef-heart bruschetta with a pint of Matilda pale ale from local brewery Goose Island.

Take a break from the galleries in Fulton Market at Otom, the lower-key little sister to Moto, Chicago’s molecular-gastronomy sensation. Experiment with spruced-up comfort food like deconstructed BLTs and fried chicken with purple-yam waffles.

Lunch at Terzo Piano, the new restaurant by famed Spiaggia chef Tony Mantuano that opened in the Modern Wing of the Art Institute this summer. The bright whites and clean lines match the rest of the floor’s aesthetics.

Dine under a 4,000-wine-bottle tower at CiboMatto inside the Wit hotel. The 30-foot ceiling fresco was created by Chicago-born artist Todd Murphy, who counts both Elton John and Sting among his collectors.

Published on Sep 17, 2009 as a web exclusive.