8 BECCA WATERLOO ae@technewsi Caffeine fix frenzy Chicago coffee house hotspots By Rebecca Waterloo A&E EDITOR Recently Timeout Chicago magazine pre7 sented an article featuring the 15 best coffee shops around Chicago: Some of them local, and some of them even vending our dear Crop to Cup coffee, you may want to check out these javajoints (new and old) for a good source of caifeine Below are a few of the most charis7 matically described, the rest you’ll have to scout out for yourself! (source: http://chicago:timeout:com/ar7 ticles/restaurants7bars/91287/157spots7to7 drink7coffee7now) Bridgeport Coffee House A local coffee house to HT, the coffee7 roasting operation on the corner of Morgan and 31st Street is a point of pride for Bridge7 port and a source ofjealousy for almost every other neighborhood Housed in a prototypi7 cally warm7toned, wood7heavy coffeehouse (only without the fleabag couches and drum7 circle vibe), Bridgeport Coffee sets itself apart by roasting its own beans and brewing them with levels of respect usually reserved for pres7 idents: Bridgeport; 3101 S Morgan St (77372477 9950). Asado Coffee Co. Kevin Ashtari, whose obsession with cof7 fee began when he visited cutting7edge cof7 fee shops in the Pacific Northwest, roasts his beansiusually Africaniin a drum roaster behind the counter daily, and rigorously trains his baristas, resulting in toasty, full7bodied cups of coffee Seating, lighting and eating are afterthoughts here, so grab a cup of coffee and a bag ofbeans to go: Lukeview; 1432 WIrving Park Rd Iulius Meinl Coffee House Leaky paper cups, lids with dubious seal7 ing properties, mass7produced stale pastriesi what tomfoolery the Europeans must think of American coffee culture Showing Chicago how it’s done right: Austria7based Julius Meinl: Here, as in heaven, coffee is presented on a sleek tray, accompanied by a glass of water and a biscuit cookie North Center; 4363 N Lincoln Ave The Wormhole The theme is time travel to the ‘80s, repre7 sented by a DeLorean in the window, a bizarre cast of Ronald Reagan by the register and mov7 ie posters from a cultural moment most would rather forget: This new Wicker Park coffee shop could have been awful or amazing For7 tunately, it’s as passionate about coffee as about Back to the Future, as evidenced by the always urn coffee and the clean, fragrant results of the pour7over option: Plus, how can you be skepti7 cal of a place that serves cereal all day? Wicker Park; 1462 NMilwuukee Ave Darkcloud: Urban Coffee Lab More like watching a science experiment than stopping into your neighborhood coffee shop, the process by which coffee is brewed at Andy Atkinson’s new coffee shop is a marathon of measuring, weighing, pouring, stirring and timing: The truly bizarre space feels straight out of some sort of Dr: Evil futuristic lair: The large, two7room shop consists mostly of empty space, with a few black chairs and small yellow tables as accents: Lincoln Park; 2122 NHulsted St Coffee Studio Miguel and Lee Corrina Cano had a major advantage when they opened this Edgewater coffeehouse: They were both trained in design, and thus could (and did) execute the kind of sunny, welcoming and yet modern space many people covet for their living rooms: With its progressive aesthetic, it’s surprising the Coffee Studio hasn’t gotten into the pour7over gamei it brews via a drip machine, which results in a cup that is consistently aggressive Get used to the flavor, or pour in some milkiit’s a fair trade7off for the atmosphere Edgewater; 5628 N Clark St A De~li~cious Cafe Is good pour7over made any worse if pre7 pared by an unfriendly vegan? You’d think it would be, but this 217month7old shop proves otherwise No matter how surly the service, no matter how loud the Ani DiFranco is blasted, the pour7over coffee here remains robust yet smooth, complex but still drinkable Vegans have the added benefit of pairing some eggless, milkless pastries to their order: North Center; 3827 N Lincoln Ave @Spot Cafe If this were 1992, and you were 16, this spot’s “urb an” unplugged vibe would leave you orgasmic: There are two things here, however, that will help purge that decade from your head: One, the fact that this shop uses cof7 fee from Crop to Cup, a Chicago7 and New Yorkibased company that establishes strong relationships with its growers in Uganda; and two, the care with which that coffee is made Iust your everyday drip machines are used here, but the coffee (available in both medium and dark roasts) exhibits the clean, nuanced flavors of cups made using Clovers, Chemex and Clevers: River North; 901 NLurruhee St A quality cup of Joe [Image courtesy www.re7nestcom) TechNews I Tuesday,fl1nuary25,2011 what's playing on Ashlegavwr Smwabi/m’s playlist? lPOCl "F E] 42 AM y—w Better Than Revenge 7Tay|or Swift Valerie 7 Glee Cast Dirty Picture 7Taio Cr 2 ft. Kesha Like You'll Never See Me Again 7 Alicia Keys Let It Rain 7 Anna Ternheim Count on Me 7 Bruno Mars My Favorite Game 7 The Cardigans F‘ck You 7 Cee L0 Green C’est Beau La Bourgeoisie 7 Disco Bitch I« II »| —g—_ What’s playing on your playlist? Email ae@technewsiit.coml Third Friday Zhou B Art Center opening By Young Sand Ip STAFF WRITER The Zhou B: Art Center openings that hap7 pen every third Friday on the month features international art galleries and art studios of local Chicago artists: From 7 to 10 p:m:, the center is packed with people wandering the art rooms of all four floors, conversing with art7 ists, enjoying some wine This past Friday, the center featured the National Wet Paint Exhibi7 tion 2011 on the first floor curated by Sergio Gomez The focus is on paintings by Masters of Fine Arts candidates and graduates from all over the country The premise was how this and hallways filled with photography, paint7 ings, sculptures, jewelry, and digital artwork separate from the exhibition: The experience is enhanced by the various music playing from the artists’ laptops and ipods, the bright and colorful lighting, and not to mention, the smells of acrylic paint, mahogany wood, and even beeswax: The artists, usually inside their studios, answered questions and explained the inspirations behind their work making conver7 sations truly enlightening: Many chose to wind down the evening at the Zhou B: Cafe, a cozy niche in the corner of the art center: Despite the bitter cold weather, the Zhou B Art Center opening was well worth new, technol7 the visit: ogy oriented The center generation of is on 35th artists rede7 Street be7 fine and use tween Mor7 the medium of gan and paint: One art7 Aberdeen, ist explained a fifteen that painting m i n u t e allowed her walk from to “get back HT to the ba7 The Na7 sics of being”, tional Wet while another Paint Exhi7 used paint7 bition 2011 ing to explore ART CENTER will be at his dual ml the Zhou B tural identity Art Center Other artists till Febru7 use painting as a way to regain intimacy with one’s surroundings as the technological age has eradicated much of the personal emotion that comes from human interactions: Up the narrow staircase are several studios ary 28: For more information visit http://www visualartto day com/Exhibitions/WetPaint/ index:htm: For more information about the Zhou B Art Center in general visit http://www zb center: orgl: