The October Issue Of Chicago Magazine

I just paged through the October issue of Chicago Magazine yesterday evening. Online, of course, since Chicago no longer has mail order subscriptions. If the Chicago Tribune, which owns the magazine, does not deliver in your area, you are out of luck if you want an actual physical copy, and for some reason the Tribune does not have home delivery here in Denver. Go figure. In any case, the cover story this month is "Feed Frenzy: How Social Media Influencers are Transforming Chicago's Dining Scene." Evidently, social media influencers on sites like Instagram and Tik-Tok are having a major impact on restaurants in Chicago. In the article, it tells of a restaurant called Brews and Bites that invited a group of influencers to their establishment one evening for free food and drinks in exchange for posts that are read by sometimes thousands of followers. Many of these influencers are paid to create videos promoting restaurants on sites like Instagram and Tik-Tok. One influencer at Brews and Bites was not only promoting that particular restaurant, but everything she was wearing in the video she was filming. Followers could purchase those items, which she was being paid to promote, with just a tap on the screen. She said it is "just like killing five birds with one stone." One hospitality executive said promoting his restaurants this way was far cheaper than it cost to advertise in the Chicago Tribune back in the day. In other words, most of these influencers are producing videos that are in fact commercials, not reviews. Welcome to the modern era.

In the "Chicago Stories" section, in an article titled "Bicycle Thieves," Jean Iverson writes about buying a $700 bike that was stolen just a month later, and describes her efforts to get it back, including sending photos of the bike along with its serial number to various bike shops in case someone tried to sell it to them. And she did indeed get a call from a bike shop owner letting her know that a woman was in his store trying to do just that. She called the police, but the officer couldn't come right away. She confronted the woman, who said the bike was given to her and that it was hers. Instead of running away, she joined a man standing out in front of the store and just lingered there. Iverson photographed the couple as instructed by the police officer and texted him the photo. They appeared to be homeless and eventually walked away. Iverson took her bike and went home. The police officer called later that day and said he located the couple. The woman had another bike by then and told the officer Iverson's bike was given to her by someone named Marcus, who lived under a viaduct near Loomis, and did Iverson want him to find the guy. She said no, and thanked him, not wanting to cause more trouble for someone who lived under a viaduct and stole bikes to give to people who needed the cash. Which gave her some perspective on the incident. There was also an article titled "10 Fall Culture Events Not to be Missed." And I looked all of them over for you. I definitely recommend missing all 10 of them. Finally, as usual, there were real estate ads featuring homes and condos for sale in the Lincoln Park, Gold Coast, and other trendy North Side neighborhoods. The cheapest was $1 million, the most expensive almost $5 million. I am beginning to think Chicago Magazine caters to an upscale readership. No wonder there are so many articles about unbelievably expensive restaurants featuring menu items you need to research on the internet to learn what you are eating. And yes, the photograph on the right is still another that I took on my last visit to Chicago back in 2010. Definitely have to head back there soon.