Paris Club

Tim Graham, the former executive chef of Tru and Paris Club, is helming the restaurant at The Langham, Chicago hotel, which is set to open in July. Located at 330 N. Wabash Ave., Travelle will serve Mediterranean-inspired cuisine in a setting that's more upscale than Paris Club but less fine-dining than Tru, a balance Graham describes as "casual elegance. " The space features a backlit wall with a 30-foot digital art display that changes from day to night, four bars arranged in a pinwheel pattern and a mix of custom and vintage seating.

Tim Graham, the former executive chef of Tru and Paris Club, is helming the restaurant at The Langham, Chicago hotel, which is set to open in July. Located at 330 N. Wabash Ave., Travelle will serve Mediterranean-inspired cuisine in a setting that's more upscale than Paris Club but less fine-dining than Tru, a balance Graham describes as "casual elegance. " The space features a backlit wall with a 30-foot digital art display that changes from day to night, four bars arranged in a pinwheel pattern and a mix of custom and vintage seating.

Paris Club, 59 W Hubbard The Wit Roof, 201 N State Vertigo Sky, 2 W Erie St The Trump Rebar, 401 N Wabash Hubbard Inn, 110 W Hubbard Old Town Pour House, 14 17 N Wells Hyatt - Big Bar, 151 E Wacker Dr Blue Agave, 579 W Kinzie The Scout, 1301 S Wabash Third Rail, 1133 W Madison The Frontier, 1072 N Milwaukee Market, 1113 W Randolph Public House, 400 N State Bull & Bear, 431 N Wells Side Tracks, 3349 S Halsted

Giuliana and Bill Rancic made a move into the Chicago dining scene last year by pairing up with the Melman siblings (Hub 51, Paris Club) and chef Doug Psaltis to open RPM Italian. This fall or winter, the team plans to open another restaurant, RPM Steak, a few blocks away at 60 W. Kinzie St. Giuliana Rancic was recently in Chicago on Saturday, April 6 for The Naked Grape Wine's "Peel It Off to Give Back" event at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum benefitting nonprofit organization Clothes 4 Souls.

Chicago Restaurant Week has announced its 2012 participants, and the list of 200-plus Chicago-area restaurants includes quite a few new restaurants. The annual event, which this year kicks off Feb. 17 and runs through Feb. 26, encourages diners to make reservations at participanting restaurants offering special menus for $22 lunches and/or $33 dinners (some offer a $44 option instead or in addition). Here are a few highlights as far as new restaurants go: Bistro Voltaire, Bombay Spice, Cantina Laredo, Farmhouse, Filini, Grange Hall Burger Bar, GT Fish & Oyster, Michael...

The first time I had steak tartare was at Maude's Liquor Bar. Hardly a late bloomer when it comes to the wonder of raw beef and runny egg  -- I was only 24. But if it hadn't been for the drinks, the crushing crowd at the bar, the desperate rush for late table reservations and hip soundtrack that surrounded Maude's when it first opened, I may never have tried it. Or oysters. Or a lobster roll. Or fried duck skin. Because, like many of my 20-something peers, I spend my time dining and drinking in bars.

RPM Italian 52 W. Illinois St. 312-222-1888 Rating:  !! 1/2 (out of 4) Take it or leave it To really enjoy reality TV, you have to suspend judgment. If you don't think too hard, it can be a deliciously fun distraction. All the glitz and glamour of an over-the-top reality TV show is embodied in RPM Italian, a new River North restaurant from Chicago's own reality TV couple, Bill and Giuliana Rancic. (He is the first winner of “The Apprentice,” she's a fixture on E!

Some of River North's hottest restaurants have their own alter-ego bars hidden away just upstairs or downstairs. Mercadito & Double A 108 W. Kinzie St. 312-329-9555 This Mexican-inspired hot spot draws dinner crowds to graze on orders of guac and tacos (think pork belly, battered mahi mahi or spicy shrimp) served on housemade tortillas. For a more intimate vibe, head downstairs to Double A, a tiny lair of a cocktail lounge where friends cozy up in club-like booths for rounds of drinks.

Giuliana and Bill Rancic made a move into the Chicago dining scene last year by pairing up with the Melman siblings (Hub 51, Paris Club) and chef Doug Psaltis to open RPM Italian. This fall or winter, the team plans to open another restaurant, RPM Steak, a few blocks away at 60 W. Kinzie St. Giuliana Rancic was recently in Chicago on Saturday, April 6 for The Naked Grape Wine's "Peel It Off to Give Back" event at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum benefitting nonprofit organization Clothes 4 Souls.

EAT Sicilian Connection Ceres' Table 4882 N. Clark St. 773-878-4882 As teenagers, chef-owner Giuseppe Scurato and Gaetano DiBenedetto (of Gaetano's in Forest Park) worked together in Sicily. Tonight, they team up again for a four-course Sicilian dinner featuring pasta with cured meats, cheese and eggplant and baked swordfish. 5-10 p.m. $50 plus tax and gratuity. DRINK Taste the Grape (FREE!) D.O.C. Wine Bar 2602 N. Clark St. 773-883-5101 September is grape-stomping time in Napa Valley and the Lincoln Park bar...

EAT Wine and Dine Mayne Stage 1328 W. Morse Ave. 773-381-4551 Conversations with food is the premise behind the Dinner Party, where you sample bites from Moto chef Homaro Cantu with a wine pairing and chocolates as host Elysabeth Alfano converses and dines onstage with three Chicago artistic directors - Andreas Mitisek of Chicago Opera Theater, Carrie Hanson of dance troupe The Seldoms and Michael Patrick Thornton of The...

Paris Club, 59 W Hubbard The Wit Roof, 201 N State Vertigo Sky, 2 W Erie St The Trump Rebar, 401 N Wabash Hubbard Inn, 110 W Hubbard Old Town Pour House, 14 17 N Wells Hyatt - Big Bar, 151 E Wacker Dr Blue Agave, 579 W Kinzie The Scout, 1301 S Wabash Third Rail, 1133 W Madison The Frontier, 1072 N Milwaukee Market, 1113 W Randolph Public House, 400 N State Bull & Bear, 431 N Wells Side Tracks, 3349 S Halsted

Some of River North's hottest restaurants have their own alter-ego bars hidden away just upstairs or downstairs. Mercadito & Double A 108 W. Kinzie St. 312-329-9555 This Mexican-inspired hot spot draws dinner crowds to graze on orders of guac and tacos (think pork belly, battered mahi mahi or spicy shrimp) served on housemade tortillas. For a more intimate vibe, head downstairs to Double A, a tiny lair of a cocktail lounge where friends cozy up in club-like booths for rounds of drinks.

New bars, clubs and restaurants open nearly every week in Chicago. With so much competition for customers, new hangouts either stand out - or they don't. Without the magic combination of location, quality and buzz, it can be hard to have staying power. Recently opened Mercer One Thirteen in River North and The Monkey's Paw in Lincoln Park are both keeping bar-like hours while putting big emphasis on their food to try and draw dinner crowds. But while Mercer has a clubby vibe in the city's trendiest bar neighborhood, The Monkey's Paw is more out of the way, where...

The first time I had steak tartare was at Maude's Liquor Bar. Hardly a late bloomer when it comes to the wonder of raw beef and runny egg  -- I was only 24. But if it hadn't been for the drinks, the crushing crowd at the bar, the desperate rush for late table reservations and hip soundtrack that surrounded Maude's when it first opened, I may never have tried it. Or oysters. Or a lobster roll. Or fried duck skin. Because, like many of my 20-something peers, I spend my time dining and drinking in bars.