Second chance at love? After Valentine's Day disaster, Skokie restaurants plan Feb. 28 do-over

Skokie restaurateurs were left heartbroken on Valentine's Day when a broken water main disaster in northeastern Skokie left the village without drinkable tap water from Feb. 14 through 16. The lack of water meant most Skokie restaurants had to close on Valentine's Day, one of the most profitable days of the year, and offer only limited service that weekend.
To mend those broken hearts, Skokie officials began a campaign titled 'Double the Love' for Skokie restaurants to have another shot at offering Valentine's Day on Feb. 28.
'Valentine's Day weekend is typically one of the most lucrative weekends for local restaurants – a time when couples brave the cold to celebrate love over a delicious meal,' the village's Economic Vitality Coordinator Carol White said in an email.
The 'double the love' slogan is a call for customers to support local restaurants, White said, and it doesn't mean that there are deals or discounts associated with it for businesses that closed on Feb. 14.
According to White, there are nearly 400 restaurants in Skokie. 'Everyone suffers from an unprecedented loss like this,' she said.
Marcos Rivera, owner of Libertad restaurant, said he is hopeful customers will patronize his business on the 28th. Libertad saw losses between $15,000 and $20,000 after having to close on Valentine's Day, after the business placed special orders for filet mignon, salmon and oysters.
'So far, the support from the community has been great,' Rivera said. A special menu for the do-over day is being planned, but it won't be the same specialty dishes that were originally planned for Feb. 14.
'We've seen a spike in reservations, and hopefully that will continue,' after the village began the 'Double the Love' campaign, Rivera said.
'All we can do is hope we continue to get the support the community has given us… without them, it's very difficult to make it,' he said.
But not everybody in Skokie was hopeful that the village's efforts could match the dinner rush and weekend business that Valentine's Day usually entails.
Desi Mulingbayan, the owner of Village Inn Pizza, said that while his restaurant will serve heart-shaped pizzas on Feb. 28, the restaurant is largely moving on.
'We have fellow restaurateurs who have their biggest weekend on Valentine's Day weekend. They stock up with filet mignons and oysters and what-have-you… I can see how it works out for them… not that we're ever a destination for Valentine's Day,' he said.
Mulingbayan said his restaurant booked Love Sick, an adult drag show, for Feb. 15th to coincide with the holiday. He said he can't get them for the upcoming weekend because they are already booked up.
And on the 29th, the Village Inn will host a pay-per-view viewing of a boxing match between Gervonta Davis and Lamont Roach, he said.
Over at Will's Place, Manager Jeff Hallagan said the café was able to sell all of its Valentine's Day baked goods on Feb. 14, before many restaurants closed in the afternoon.
'Thank you to the community for rallying and helping us and (we are) thankful everybody can come out this weekend and help all of the local restaurants keep doing what they're what they're doing,' he said.

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USA Today

4 days ago

• USA Today

Juneteenth marks end of slavery, but not the start of equality. We can change that.

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As we celebrate Juneteenth, we must recognize that financial freedom is not a luxury – it is a right, one we must keep pushing to secure, for ourselves and the generations to come. Ben Crump is a nationally renowned civil rights attorney and founder of Ben Crump Law. Called 'Black America's attorney general,' he has represented families in some of the most high-profile civil rights cases of our time, including those of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tyre Nichols and Ahmaud Arbery.

Los Angeles Times

6 days ago

• Los Angeles Times

Vendor Spotlight: Emma Rothschild, Bitchin' Blooms

Floral designer Emma Rothschild's job title? 'Founder, marketing director, creative director—all of the above.' However, despite her dizzying array of responsibilities, including starting and running her own business from scratch, Rothschild never breaks a smile when talking about her work. 'We're all just playing with flowers,' she says, and, undeterred by the incontrovertible challenges and intensity of what she does, she never seems to stop having fun. Within a short couple of years, starting with only her own apartment and a resume consisting of a Master's in Nonprofit Administration and Management, corporate work, and no floral design experience whatsoever, Rothschild has turned play into work, founding her own floral design business, Bitchin' Blooms, that has worked with brands including Nike, Glossier, Totême, Ana Luisa, and more. I always really loved art in design and color. My mom does floral arrangements from the garden. My grandpa always did really fun and unique fruit plate designs. So, I always just was interested. And then, when I was in grad school, I basically emailed every florist I could find under the sun in L.A. asking if I could freelance, if I could do it for free, get any experience I could. And luckily, a few people said yes. So, that's when I started doing it. And then, I worked at some flower shops, and then started Bitchin' Blooms. My first experience doing flowers, I lied a little bit and said that I already had flower experience because there was a florist that needed a lot of freelancers for Valentine's Day, and, I figured, 'It's the busiest holiday of the the year, they're not going to know if I have no idea what I'm doing.' So, I just kind of jumped into it and, like, the night before, was researching flower names to make sure that if they asked me anything, I knew what it was. And, I was just making little bouquets for Valentine's Day. 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So, I would say the most challenging part is just making 100-percent sure that you're on the same page as the couple, so that the end product really reflects what they want. 'The secret to my success is blind optimism—and,' Rothschild jokes, 'having a mom and boyfriend who will work for free.' My flower style is very colorful and architectural and really plays with heights and textures. Something that's always inspired me, and that I've always loved, is art, in general. I almost was an art history major in college, and I've loved Impressionists and just seeing those vibrant colors and the way that they melt together. So, I think that definitely inspires me. And then my biggest inspiration is, just, what's freshest at the market. Because sometimes you can go into the market, and you think you're going to do something, and then you find out that the dahlias look terrible that week, and you just have to pivot and find something else that matches what you're thinking. And, the colors of the market are just so fun and exciting to look at. Thank God [my style] has evolved, because sometimes I look at old pictures, and I'm like, 'Oh my God, I can't believe that passed. But, I would say the main thing that has evolved is being able to play with the depth and texture. I think, when I started out, arrangements were really flat, and although they were colorful, and pretty flowers were in them, they were very one-sided, and you couldn't see the different flowers because they were kind of just too mushed together. And now, I've really been playing with depth and height and just trying to make the shapes a little more interesting than your average flower arrangement. My personality is definitely not go-with-the-flow—and I think all of my friends would say that, too. I think I'm a problem-solver type. If there's something that needs to be figured out, I don't stress out about it. I'm just going to make sure that it happens and go for it. And, I'm a perfectionist sometimes. Like, when it comes to flowers, I will be looking at something forever to make sure it looks perfect. And then, for other aspects of the business, like Instagram or something, I just want it posted, and I don't want to think about it anymore. And then, I think being light-hearted is just an important part of owning your own business and going for it, because you can't take things too much to-heart—even though sometimes I do—because it's just, you're in customer service, at the end of the day. So, you can't take every little comment to, you know, impact your entire business or being. 'I think being light-hearted is just an important part of owning your own business and going for it,' Rothschild says. The most difficult part of my job? I don't know—I feel very lucky to be able to do flowers for my job. I think the most difficult aspect would be admin stuff, in general. Like, you have to figure out taxes and bookkeeping and become an LLC, and all of these things that you just don't think of when you start arranging flowers. You think that you're going to get to do creative stuff all the time, but there's a lot of backend work. And then, also, cleaning up is always hard, and you never want to do it at the end of the day. My approach to marketing at the beginning was—none. I just posted everything. And, sometimes I'll scroll all the way back on my Instagram, and I think about deleting things, and I don't, because I feel like it really shows the evolution. But, I think when you're starting out, you know, you just have your friends support you and follow you and go along. And then recently, I've tried to have a more strategic angle to my marketing, where I'll show people how I make the arrangements, going to the market, and kind of the behind-the-scenes of it. And, I also got a little pedestal to put in my apartment so that all my photos look more professional. What do I hope for the future of my business? I would love to be, well—currently my flower studio is my apartment, so I would love a formal flower studio with gorgeous lighting to take pictures in. And, just more of what I'm doing now. I do, you know, brand events and weddings. And, you know, having a wedding a week, or a brand event and then a wedding, or something like that I think would be really cool. Sometimes, I'm like, 'Yeah, I want to have a staff'—I kind of like just having it be me, and making everything, and doing these more 'micro' weddings. I think it's nice keeping it small. My team generally consists of my mom, and my boyfriend will do all the heavylifting. I have hired freelancers in the past—luckily, from my past flower experiences, I have a lot of friends in the flower world doing their own things or working at flower shops or have moved on, but still have that skillset. But so far, I don't hire a consistent team. [Note: Emma has, since we interviewed her, moved into her very own 'formal' flower studio and done a series of events and collaborations with various brands.] My favorite flowers to work with—I'll probably just keep going and going—but I love sweet peas, peonies, anthurium, orchids, dahlias… I'll keep it to those five, I would say, are my top, top flowers. I think my dream flower arrangement would be really colorful. I love working with pinks and oranges and vibrant greens and, like, a pop of purple. And, it would definitely have a lot of orchids, anthurium, sweet peas—all those. And also allium, which are the giant, purple, ball flowers. They're in the garlic family, and they're just a really fun flower to work with. I know what my dream wedding would be, and it would be at the Ojai Valley Inn, specifically, and it would have a lot of orchids and anthuriums and dahlias and sweet peas and all the flowers that I mentioned. And, it would be very florally dense. I think something that I do in my arrangements is I don't use a lot of greenery at all, if any, so it would definitely be bloom-centric. And, just, everywhere, flowers—flowers up the trees, down the centers of the tables. And, also, food styling. I think food styling with flowers is really cool.

New York Post

7 days ago

• New York Post

Manhattan's power scene is back in full force at this luxe new Italian restaurant from Michael White: It's Marea 2.0

Midtown has its pre-pandemic swagger back — and People's Exhibit No. 1 is Santi (11 E. 53d St.), the buzzing new modern-Italian restaurant from celebrated chef Michael White. Its nexus of corporate power, great pasta and fun people-watching make it the area's hottest scene since White's Marea opened in prehistoric 2009. After splitting with the Altamarea group in 2021 due to disagreements over the company's direction, White has spent most of his time launching new venues in Florida. (A consulting gig at the Lambs Club on West 44th Street lasted only a few months in 2022.) 10 Michael White is back in NYC with Santi. EMMY PARK 10 The elegant midtown address was once home to White's Alto. EMMY PARK Santi, launched by his BBianco Hospitality Group with business partner Bruce Bronster, marks his triumphant, full-scale Big Apple return. Marea's still going strong and Midtown has other established, excellent Italian restaurants such as Il Gattopardo, Cellini and Fresco by Scotto. But others faded and the scene needed new blood. Santi delivers it for everyone — from shoppers and museum-goers to a Who's Who of Midtown glitterati. Once home to White's aughts-era hit Alto, the venue has overnight became a haunt where the city's prime movers wheel-and-deal over homemade gnocchi and tagliatelle, and cocktails such as the Fifty-Fifty, which features Taggiasca gin, made with prized Ligurian olives. Santi's pleasures unspool through several main areas designed by Michaelis Boyd, gorgeously lit by L'Observatoire International and festooned with luminous portraits from Bronster's private collection. Each section draws a different crowd. The front dining room, a few steps down from a horseshoe-shaped bar for the after-work, sip-and-flirt set, draws movers and shakers to its semicircular booths and banquettes. It's become a canteen for bankers at market-moving investment firm Jefferies Group and its CEO Rich Handler, who work upstairs. On any given afternoon or evening, you might spot Henry Kravis, Barry Diller or real estate mogul Bill Rudin, who's planning a new skyscraper a few blocks away. 10 Midtown power players are flocking to Santi. EMMY PARK 10 With dishes such a succulent veal chop, Santi's food is worthy of the five Michelin stars that White has earned at previous restaurants. . EMMY PARK Boldfaces such as Eva Longoria and Queen Rania of Jordan have popped in, too. Pop star Beck ordered a comfort dish from heaven — hand-folded tortellini ($36) filled with prosciutto, mortadella, pork and Parmigiano Reggiano, finished in a creamy sea of cheese and butter. A circular staircase leads to the slightly more intimate mezzanine, after passing a huge,1800s mirror that Bronster found buried under a Southampton barn. The upstairs area has attracted art and fashion luminaries such as designers Diane von Furstenberg and Michael Kors and painter Kehinde Wiley. The restaurant's noisiest section is the ground-floor atrium, where light globes suspended from the double-height ceiling suggest a galaxy in formation. On my visits, it drew canoodling couples in the corners and noisy groups of guys at middle tables. Fortunately, new wall fabrics and sound bafflers have begun to soften the din. 10 Amberjack crudo is one of many great seafood dishes. EMMY PARK 10 Gnocchi in tomato sauce is a standout pasta dish. EMMY PARK The menu, executed by the kitchen team of Jason Lin and Sol Han, is worthy of the five Michelin stars White earned at his other places. It boasts splendid seafood, both raw and cooked, like tasty, toothsome amberjack crudo ($32) and pleasingly moist halibut ($55) pan-seared on one side and then poached in extra-virgin olive oil. But the pastas — all original, none replicating White's previous plates — are the crowning glory. 'We've been deliberate about not copying expected dishes because that's not fun or challenging, and our guests deserve more than a rehash of old ideas,' White told me. The sautéed Italian breadcrumbs known as mollica, a White hallmark in the past, are mostly absent, letting the pasta and sauces speak for themselves. 10 Some notable guests, such as musician Beck, favor the booths in the front room. EMMY PARK 10 Beyond the front room is the elegant-but-noisy atrium. EMMY PARK Tagliatelle Ragu ($36), which Wiley has ordered more than once,gets my vote. The coarse-ground beef and pork are gently broken down to a velvety texture by a judicious infusion of milk. My favorite, though, was ricotta gnocchi ($28), lighter than the potato-filled variety and bathed in San Marzano tomato-and-basil sauce — a brave statement when too many chefs shy away from red sauce lest their dishes be mocked as Italian-American dinosaurs. 10 A sweeping staircase leads up to a mezzanine. EMMY PARK 10 The mezzanine dining area is slightly more intimate. EMMY PARK But I miss White's legendary fusilli with braised octopus and bone marrow, his heart-stopping, red-sauce masterpiece at Marea. Per Se's Thomas Keller once called his favorite dish in New York. Is there any chance we'll see it again at Santi? When asked, White smiled and said coyly, 'I'm talking to my chefs about it.'