I'm a restaurant kind of guy, as you know all too well, and have chowed down at Chicago culinary landmarks from the Bakery to the Berghoff, the Blackhawk to Blackbird, and those are just the Bs. All long gone*, alas.
Add to the roll of the departed the Signature Room on the 95th floor of the building formerly known as the John Hancock Center (at the moment calling itself "875 N. Michigan," if you're keeping track. No need to memorize that; if history is any judge it'll be called something else in three years). The Signature Room abruptly announced it was closing down Thursday due to "severe economic hardship."
* There is a restaurant currently operating in the space once occupied by the old Berghoff, which closed in 2006. It goes by the same name, but is some sort of brewpub, an ersatz imitation of itself — I wouldn't know the specifics, having never set a foot inside, being unable to bring myself to step around the enormous pile of human hearts, ripped from the chests of loyal Berghoff patrons in 2006 and left in a pile to rot in the entranceway. Hard to imaging slipping past that to eat.
Add to the roll of the departed the Signature Room on the 95th floor of the building formerly known as the John Hancock Center (at the moment calling itself "875 N. Michigan," if you're keeping track. No need to memorize that; if history is any judge it'll be called something else in three years). The Signature Room abruptly announced it was closing down Thursday due to "severe economic hardship."
That is sad. Nobody likes to see a business fail. Particularly a Chicago institution such as the Signature Room.
And yet ... at the news, I felt ... nothing. Zero. Just as certain deaths — former Sun-Times publisher Jim Hoge comes to mind — inspire a nearly indignant, "He was still alive?" so my reaction to hearing that the Signature Room closed would be the same as if I got an email from the Snuggery announcing it was cancelling Disco Thursdays. "Really? It's still in business? That is surprising." I would not have blinked if, instead of reading about the restaurant abruptly closing, I'd seen a story containing the line, "the building recently called 875 N. Michigan, formerly home to the Signature Room, which closed permanently after a kitchen fire in 2004, will now market itself under the name "41.8/-87.6," which are its latitude and longitude coordinates..."
I think I went to the bar on the 96th floor once, had a Heineken and left, but can't be sure — it was back in the day. I have the residual memory of a kind of insidery smugness, knowing you can pay $5 for a beer and gaze out from the 96th floor, or $15 for admission and no beer two floors below. I know my wife and I never ate there, for the simple reason that the Signature Room seemed one of those places where people who never go out to dinner go out to dinner. High school students went to the Signature Room after prom. It was the sort of place where couples from Peoria who ...
Actually, you know what? No, I'm not doing this. I'm not crapping on 30 years worth of memories for nice people who had their special moment at the Signature Room. I'm sure it was wonderful. I know whenever someone slags one my favorite places, whenever somebody informs me that Gene & Georgetti feels like the dank basement rumpus room of your mobbed up uncle in River Forest, or that Diana's Opaa was not particularly clean, I'd become indignant. ("Clean? Clean? It's not supposed to be clean!?! It's got Petros!!!") Despite the validity of the criticism.
So if you went to the Signature Room in 1996 and had a bottle of Lancer's Rose with your chicken kiev and he popped the question and your heart was going like mad and yes you said yes I will Yes, then God bless you. Why would I dream of sneering at that? Particularly to a place I'd never been, though I noticed the two page spread in the Sun-Times mentioned the view, repeatedly, but never said a word about the food.
That's okay. With certain places, the food is incidental. You went to Chicago Cut (I'm using the past tense because I have no idea what's been going on the past three years) for the networking and the view. The fact you had to eat their steak, well, that's the price you paid or, rather, somebody else paid.
I think I went to the bar on the 96th floor once, had a Heineken and left, but can't be sure — it was back in the day. I have the residual memory of a kind of insidery smugness, knowing you can pay $5 for a beer and gaze out from the 96th floor, or $15 for admission and no beer two floors below. I know my wife and I never ate there, for the simple reason that the Signature Room seemed one of those places where people who never go out to dinner go out to dinner. High school students went to the Signature Room after prom. It was the sort of place where couples from Peoria who ...
Actually, you know what? No, I'm not doing this. I'm not crapping on 30 years worth of memories for nice people who had their special moment at the Signature Room. I'm sure it was wonderful. I know whenever someone slags one my favorite places, whenever somebody informs me that Gene & Georgetti feels like the dank basement rumpus room of your mobbed up uncle in River Forest, or that Diana's Opaa was not particularly clean, I'd become indignant. ("Clean? Clean? It's not supposed to be clean!?! It's got Petros!!!") Despite the validity of the criticism.
So if you went to the Signature Room in 1996 and had a bottle of Lancer's Rose with your chicken kiev and he popped the question and your heart was going like mad and yes you said yes I will Yes, then God bless you. Why would I dream of sneering at that? Particularly to a place I'd never been, though I noticed the two page spread in the Sun-Times mentioned the view, repeatedly, but never said a word about the food.
That's okay. With certain places, the food is incidental. You went to Chicago Cut (I'm using the past tense because I have no idea what's been going on the past three years) for the networking and the view. The fact you had to eat their steak, well, that's the price you paid or, rather, somebody else paid.
The inclusion of the word "Room" in the name may be the tip-off. I can't think of a good restaurant that's a "Room." The Pump Room? I remember their eggs benedict, after a night spent at the Ambassador East, resembling an Egg McMuffin. The Walnut Room? Again, a nice space. I suppose it would come down to how much you like chicken pot pie. Is the Walnut Room even still open? If I had to bet the ranch ... I'd guess ... yes, it is still open, in Macy's. (Checking ... whew, yes, the house is safe; 116 years and counting. And host to ... not just one, but a series of drag brunches. That's the danger of coming to a topic from a place of ignorance. I might have to stop by for a pot pie, only $16. Maybe the food at the Signature Room was sublime. I doubt it; but it's possible).
Okay, I think that's enough for today. I considered putting this in the paper, but had second thoughts, and figured, if only for harm reduction, it would be better served in the private garden of Every Goddamn Day (though not so private anymore — September was my first month breaking 300,000 views, though a lot of that has to be outraged Aldi fans visiting once, snarling something nasty and never returning, plus robo spiders in Singapore clonicly clicking for some purpose I shudder to imagine.
Sadly, I am familiar with all of these former places, and I also have many fond memories. This, however, was a place of firsts. First chance encounter, first date, first kiss. I’m long gone from the Chicago dining scene, but we lost another chunk of something we loved. Who knows…maybe something fabulous will replace it, but I won’t have the chance to have any real “firsts” there. They’ve already been had.
ReplyDeleteLoved the bar on the 96th for the simple, and awesome, pleasure of being able to enjoy the most beautiful and breat!taking view of our beloved City and majestic Lake! Was always worth the "price of admission", and far more comfortable than the observation floor! Have fond memories of the original restaurant
ReplyDeleteWent there on the night after eloping in 1980. Was spotted by my dad's 'soon to be 2nd ex-wife', she called my mom, whom she had become allied with over my no good dad, and told her I was there wearing a white suit...all assumed I had gotten married, my cover blown. What were the odds?
ReplyDeleteI do remember the food was delicious, the service top notch and the view sublime. 43 years has passed and I never went back, but it saddens me to hear this.
Will the space be reopened as another casino perhaps? Or a billionaire penthouse?
"Lancer's Rose"? isn't that the stuff one critic said about it, the bottle is worth more than the contents?
ReplyDeleteHA! Lancers was what we thought was wine, before we knew what wine should taste like. In those early years, Americans began to learn about wine. Gallo's Hearty Burgundy was another.
DeleteAnd in the great Rose face-off, you had the interesting Mateus bottle giving the Lancer's crockery bottle, or whatever, a run for its money. Not very much money, at that.
DeleteSure, those were options, but Orson Welles assured us that Paul Masson would "sell no wine before its time!"
While it wasn’t quite the same in its final years, speaking of “Room” restraints, I always had a warm spot for The Cape Cod Room at the Drake Hotel. Great old fashioned service with both captains and waiters, the wonderful Bookbinders Soup and, in the spring,, amazing shad roe. My wife’s mother loved it for special occasions.
ReplyDeleteI mostly share your view of The Berghoff, but the new Berghoff Lite still makes great Wiener Schnitzel.
Happy to hear the Wiener Schnitzel is still around. It was my favorite dish, at both the Original Berghoff and Berghoff Lite. I have many fond memories of the old Berghoff. Started going there in the late Sixties, after visits to the Art Institute while in college. The bar was still stand-up and men-only. Proposed to my first wife there in 1987. Found a diamond from an earring in the snow (at the Botanic Garden, no less), and had it made into a ring.
DeleteI'm so old that I remember going to the observatories at what were then the tallest buildings in town...the Board of Trade Building (where my father and uncle worked), and the Prudential Building, at Michigan and Randolph.. There were no fancy-shmancy dining facilities in either one. Just ordinary ground-floor snack shops. Eating high in the sky, at least in Chicago, was still far in the future in the late Fifties.
Reading about the closing of the Signature Room was strange ... I'd never been there. It opened in 1993. That was when, after 25 years living in north side Chicago, working in the Loop, I left, went to graduate school, moved to a south side suburb, and, really, never returned to the City. So, I'd been gone as long as the place had been open. Weird.
ReplyDeleteI'll always be grateful to Jim Hoge for giving Tom Fitzpatrick a column.
ReplyDeleteI read his collection, which was simply great, and often wonder, when people are keening over Royko, why Fitzpatrick so completely fell down the memory hole and vanished without a ripple. The fate of everybody, I suppose, Royko is just lingering on the precipice a bit longer than most.
DeleteI'm pretty sure Royko will linger long after we're all gone. But yes, Fitzpatrick was good. I was sorry to see him go. Phoenix, was that it?
DeleteJack
I conducted an interesting experiment, last winter. I posted "Who read Royko?" on a Chicago-centric Facebook page. After scrolling through hundreds of replies, I soon learned that only those of a certain age...say, fifty and up, still remember him especially well.
DeleteThat's not to say that some of the younger folks hadn't read his column, but he didn't seem to leave the same indelible memories and impressions on them. Not like the older folks and the geezers. Not long afterward, Mr. S mentioned speaking to a Medill J-school class at his alma mater, and almost none of the students were familiar with Royko. That blew me away. So maybe he's already fading away, and into the pages of history. It happens to almost everyone. Even great writers. Who remembers Finley Peter Dunne?
Tom Fitzpatrick was very, very good. I especially recall when he ran (literally) with the Weathermen, during the '69 riots on the Near North Side and in the Loop. After all the running, he banged out ten pages against a deadline only 40 minutes away, That banging earned him a Pulitzer in 1970.
My wife and I got engaged at the Signature Room in 1996. The wine I selected was a bottle of the least expensive red available. The food we do not recall, but the memory of the time together and the incredible view will live forever.
ReplyDeleteI haven't stepped foot in the Berghoff either, since that " closing". And every time I pass by it I remember your comment about walking on the other side of the street when you pass it.
ReplyDeleteMy reaction to hearing the news was, "The owners didn't give notice to their dedicated staff so they could prepare?". I thought that was crummy.
ReplyDeleteJill A
The other night, Channel 7 ran a piece about a couple that had booked the Signature Room for their wedding this evening. They found out they were SOL when the news was announced.
Delete
ReplyDeleteA mild complaint:
The prevalence of “anonymous” as an identifier is disconcerting. Might there be some way to encourage commenters to choose a real name? As it is, it’s rather difficult to provide an identifier if it doesn’t appear automatically. In fact, as I started to type this comment, I noticed that ironically I was commenting as “anonymous,” apparently because I wasn’t using the usual computer to comment but the ipad and it took me 10 minutes to sign in.
John
I agree, John. It seems to me that the problem is that "Anonymous" pops right up when you go to comment, if you're not signed into Google, and many may not realize how easy it is to substitute a name. Though you're evidently usually signed in, you could have saved yourself 10 minutes today, yourself. Click once on the little arrow next to "Anonymous," see the 3 options, click again, choosing "Name / URL" from the alternatives, and put in whatever name you want.
DeleteI've discussed this with our genial host, and I guess there's nothing that can be done about having Anonymous be the default. On the upside, your mild complaint seems to have motivated some folks today to add a name!
Can’t talk about the Signature Room without mentioning the best view from the ladies room in all the city.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely the best bathroom in the city. We also took out of towners to the bar and the bathrooms. Signed, Pat
Delete6th floor bathrooms at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre have a *great* view.
DeleteThe 95th was my first waiter gig in 1975 before it became the Signature Room. I had to join a union. I was hired because I could discuss the menu, wine list, and identify cheese on the cheese cart. Hint, I had never waited tables before it did not know how to life a tray, how to load a tray, which garnish to place in bar drinks--I didn't know a Rob Roy needed an olive and an Old Fashion needed a maraschino cherry place in a orange slice with a toothpick, etc., how to garnish a plate in the kitchen--which dish got watercress and which dish got parsley. Needless to say, I was fired after 30 days, however the 30 days there prepared me to work at The Whitehall Club, Eugene's, Cafe Alfredo and Gordon Restaurant over the next 2-3 years while I attended law school. All of these restaurants are now kaddish.
ReplyDeleteNeil, for my previous comment--I'm the former waiter at the 95th--since one of your readers wasn't happy with anonymous--I hit publish before I added my name--please feel free to edit my name into my comment. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteAlas Rick, Blogger is rather strict with the comments, and I can't edit your name in. I remember Gordon Restaurant — heck, I remember Gordon.
DeleteSpeaking of "kaddish," and a bit off topic, I had attended The John Marshall Law School (since 1895) in class of '76-'79 on Plymouth Ct., next to Binyon's now closed--terrific turtle soup au sherry. JMLS is also kaddish following its merger with University of Illinois Circle Campus--do they still call it that--when the U. of I Bd. of Trustees determined Supreme Court justice John Marshall owned and traded in slaves (just like our Founding Fathers). That was enough to erase his legacy at Chicago's only public law school. A shanda!
DeleteNot so many years ago, our company held their Christmas party in the Signature Room, and I remember gazing out at the view, and thinking how it pretty much overpowered anything culinary that might be occurring indoors.
ReplyDeleteIt didn't much matter whether the steak was perfection or shoe leather: the only memory of the place would be that incredible view. It doesn't much matter what you've got going on the upper floors if you're going to build something that tall, as long as you can monetize the view by giving the tourists something to do up there besides just looking out the windows.
I need to add a PS about the chicken pot pie at the Walnut Room, after the spouse and I were fortunate enough to snag a table at the bottom of the Christmas tree one year. It was 11:00 a.m., rather early for pot pie, but I was determined to maximize the dining experience of actually, you know, being there, as described to us by many older relatives who had been there in past decades. Maintain the tradition and all that.
What arrived was simply a bowl of ingredients capped by an off-center disc of pastry. Hardly a pie at all. I decided to not let that stain our memory of everything else that day... especially our enjoyment at seeing the huge waiting line of tourists who had arrived after us to do the same thing.
I never ate at the Signature Room but did eat there when it was “The 95th”. The food was known to be nothing special but as I recall the group I was with ordered a bunch of appetizers and they were all delicious.
ReplyDeleteI ate at the Signature Room once when I was the Department Director at my current employer--I should have had the title of 'Interim Director,' since I was demoted shortly afterwards..another story for another day.
ReplyDeleteI do not recall who on our Education Board wanted to eat there, but I know I did not suggest it. I recall eating pasta, and I sat in my seat for the whole meal with our Board President blowing smoke in my face -- that's how long ago it was.
I am certain the view was great and I recall the pasta being tasty.
Thanks for asking.
The article I read about in the other Chicago newspaper reported that the Signature Room got about $4milion in taxpayer funds during the pandemic. This has become something of a refrain for restaurant closings. Whine, get government aid, close anyway. Was that cranky? It was cranky, but don't even get me started on the airlines.
ReplyDelete"I have the residual memory of a kind of insidery smugness, knowing you can pay $5 for a beer and gaze out from the 96th floor, or $15 for admission and no beer two floors below."
ReplyDeleteDing, ding, ding! I used to take friends and family there for the view, rather than the top of the Sears Tower. Often skipping the beer, but making sure the ladies visited the restroom...
We ate there once. It wasn't a remarkably good meal, but it was good enough and a delightful experience, and I thought eating there once was required for residents, like getting a city sticker for the car. ; )
Ah, your unremitting grudge against the owners of The Berghoff. While it is certainly well-founded, my own feeling is that I'm unwilling to let their decisions in 2006 keep me from enjoying an establishment that was one of my favorites. We actually haven't been there in a while, but a few years ago, it was very similar to the way it always was, and I surely appreciate the ambience in a restaurant that's been right there since 1898. I'd be happy to order the trio of sausages and a beer right now.
(Alas, even when the EGD garden is at its most private, you've got pests like me lurking in the bushes...)
Never went to the Signature, but I did go to the Top of the Rock after prom.
ReplyDeleteNice column, Neil, especially the turnaround at the top where you decided to go with the good vibes.
ReplyDeleteI had one of those "fancy dates" at the 95th with the love of my life...where I should have popped the question, but didn't. Took er to the "old" Pump Room, too, but as I recall we ended up in some sort of tiff. And now she's gone...
Bonus for the quick Joycean quip.
As always, a big goddamn thanks for writing.