pro usa athletes for olympics in 2016!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc77GXx6eE8

I was at the sony ericsson tennis tournament last week and got to talk with a bunch of our best usa tennis athletes!  They were all so positive and excited about the possibility of having the Olympics here- you got to check out the video above— and is it me or does andy roddick sound like he was going to retire before 2016 but will stay on to play for our usa team if chicago is picked on October 2^nd!?  And I love the south African new American part- that is just amazing.  Thanks to Christian the creative genius and the whole crew at chicago company bridges media for volunteering to help me edit this piece in less than a day!  You rock!

chicago blues brother dan aykroyd wants olympics too!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72ugsdA84zM

I hung out w/ one of my comedic heroes dan aykroyd over the weekend from brunch to late night at rockit- and when he heard I was a volunteer for the chicago Olympic movement- he freaked out with excitement and wanted to jump on immediately- he even thought it would be cool to step into this little shop to film an impromptu interview together with a little portable camera I happen to have had in my back pack- literally we just whipped it out and started filming- click the video above- it speaks for itself!

after school matters

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcid7sbWR2M

We all can make an impact on the future of this great city (and nation) by supporting a program that I have grown very fond of called After School Matters- a wonderful organization that provides teens in underserved communities, opportunities to participate in fun, out-of-school activities to teach skills that translate to the workplace. 

The best way to feel their positive impact is by joining Mayor and Mrs. Daley at The Chicago Theatre this Tuesday night (3/31) at 5pm, as they will be hosting a huge event where the asm students will be showcasing their talents to all in attendance.   (details at http://www.afterschoolmatters.org/). 

After the show, I will be hosting a fun private reception from 730p-9p at Rockit along with an amazing group of philanthropic minded friends (listed below) who have jumped on to lend a helping hand.  Whether you are able to attend the earlier portion or not… You must join us!  There will be cocktails & hors d’oeuvres, music, and beautiful pieces of…

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the world's best djs come togther!

chicago's own up for national top honors!

i think a shout out and a huge congrats are in order for the very well deserving local restaurants, chefs and restaurateurs who were recently nominated for the restaurant industry’s top honor – the james beard awards. We should all be proud to say the following spots are up for the prestigious awards that will be held this may in nyc.

-spiaggia for outstanding service

-chef grant achatz’s (of alinea) cookbook

-chef paul kahan of blackbird, avec, and publican (also up for best restaurant and graphic design by the way) for outstanding chef

-hot chocolate’s pastry chef, mindy segal

-bin 36 for outstanding wine service   

-best chef-great lakes category includes koren grieveson of avec, arun sampathavivat of arun’s and north pond’s bruce Sherman

-last but certainly not least, my good buddy, mr. rich melman’s new place l20 is the only Chicago restaurant nominated for “best new restaurant” and he is also up for outstanding restauranteur.  

This only goes to show you how Chicago is becoming more recognized and celebrated and how we, as residents of this great city are the ones that are making it all happen. Congrats to all and best of luck!  

chicago cultural groups getting involved!

As an asian American chicagoan and a huge supporter of the Olympics coming to our city/country in 2016… I was honored to be invited to an amazing Asian-american rally supporting the chicago 2016 olympic bid w/ the most beautiful performances from different cultural groups around chicago representing the Chinese, Burmese, Bangladeshi, Japanese, Indonesian, Filipino, Korean, Indian, Thai, Pakistani, Laotian, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Nepalese,… to name a few.  I can’t tell you how culturally diverse, energetic, entertaining, talented, proud and supportive the thousands in attendance were… I met dancers, musicians, consulates, media, students, teachers, attorneys, builders, store owners, grandparents, children,… all so excited about welcoming the world to the city that they are proud to call home!  Mayor daley expressed that we have…

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i let the secret out!

here is a really cool q & a article i did for restaurants and institutions magazine about how we create a hit

http://www.rimag.com/article/ca6645155.html 

i think it’s a pretty good perspective to consider for any business or company role…especially in chicago – hope you enjoy!  

(and how cool was it that my blog about the sears tower name change made it on to msnbc! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29772247/)

got more job spots!

doing another open call for restaurant jobs for our new rockit in wrigleyville – opening soon……bring a resume and picture to rockit in river north (22 w hubbard) wednesday, march 25th from 10am-4pm.

time to do our part!

After being at the inauguration back in january I came home with a rushing energy to do something good in response to president obama’s requests and direction about lending time and support to philanthropic initiatives… so started to plan and become involved in a number of charity events to benefit different philanthropies from the American cancer society… to the Piven theatre workshop… to after school matters… to the art institute… and they are all starting to come up soon!

The first is this Thursday and it is to benefit the lookingglass theatre company which I have supported for about a decade now.  This particular event is called the “madhatter’s cast party” and I host it with by my buddies, david schwimmer & joey Slotnick (its our 8^th yr in a row!), along with the lookingglass junior board.  tickets initially included the performance of “our town” that david and joey perform in- with a cast party after at the underground from 10p-midnight that is super fun (and includes grey goose cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, fun music, great crowd…)… tix to theatre production are sold out- but we posted some extra tix to the 10p-midnight cast party for a reduced $50 donation on www.lookingglasstheatre.org.  spread the word, we need you and your friends there to support, enjoy and celebrate art and theatre in chicago!

the world's best restaurants all in one night!

So I can’t give names but let’s just say I was asked by a very important internationally related group to show them as many of the world’s greatest restaurants last Friday night in a matter of 5 hours.  In chicago that’s easy!  I scribbled out my top 50 first- booked a private car- realized I could only map/schedule the top 20 in 15min increments- and headed out 6pm sharp to blow my guests’ minds.  Unfortunately (or fortunately) every venue was so amazing- and owners, chefs, managers,… kept throwing us food, wine, champagne,… that we never made our time slots and only were able to hit the first 10 places!  But wow- what a 10. Check this list out-

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