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Michael Johnston was fired as president and CEO of the three companies after he was criminally charged last week.

The co-founder of the music label Audiotree and owner of Schubas Tavern and Lincoln Hall has been accused in criminal charges and in a civil lawsuit of setting up hidden cameras to record his nanny and her friend.

The lawsuit alleges that Michael Johnston, 38, and his wife Kelly Johnston recorded the nanny and her friend while they were undressing or bathing. One of the cameras was hidden in a picture frame aimed at a bathtub the two were encouraged to use, according to the lawsuit.

Michael Johnston faces a separate felony charge of unauthorized video recording. His wife has not been charged.

Johnston co-founded Audiotree and bought Schubas and Lincoln Hall with his father in 2015. He was fired Nov. 12 as president and CEO of Schubas Tavern, Lincoln Hall, Audiotree and Tied House, according to a joint statement.

Days earlier, on Nov. 9, Johnston was arrested in Lake View and released from custody the next morning, police records show. A judge ordered him to have no contact with the witnesses, according to the Cook County state’a attorney’s office. He is due in court again on Wednesday.

According to the lawsuit, the Johnstons placed motion-activated cameras in private areas around the home to record the women without their consent. The nanny found the hidden cameras in February 2020 after she noticed one of them in a picture frame pointed at a bathtub.

Video shows Michael Johnston moving a camera to record a jacuzzi bathtub in the master bedroom, the lawsuit states. Johnston can be seen standing in the bathtub and reviewing the video on a cellphone to make sure it was positioned properly, according to the lawsuit.

Before leaving town, Kelly Johnston encouraged the girls to use that bathtub while they looked after the couple’s two children, the lawsuit alleges.

“We think it’s important to bring attention to the harms that can occur when someone’s privacy is violated — the longterm effects and trauma to the victims,” said Gail Eisenberg, attorney of the two women, who were roommates at the time and recent graduates of DePaul University.

She said the cameras were not normal nanny cams, which were already in areas throughout the house, but were placed in private areas like the bathroom.

The lawsuit recounts one alleged incident, two weeks after the woman was hired as a nanny in 2019. The wife told her to organize a box in their bedroom closet that contained sex toys, making the woman feel “extremely uncomfortable,” the suit alleges.

In an email, Johnston’s attorney Damon Cheronis said, “Mr. Johnston takes these allegations seriously and will continue to work through the appropriate legal process.”

The suit is seeking more than $75,000 in damages.

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A woman was killed and a man was seriously wounded in a shooting November 16, 2021 in Avalon Park. | Sun-Times file

They were driving south in the 8300 block of South Stony Island Avenue when a white SUV approached from behind and someone inside fired shots, police said.

A woman was killed and a man was seriously wounded in a drive-by shooting Tuesday morning in Avalon Park on the South Side.

The two were was driving south in the 8300 block of South Stony Island Avenue when a white SUV approached from behind and someone inside fired shots about 11 a.m., Chicago police said.

The woman, 30, was struck in the shoulder and back while the man, 34, was shot in the abdomen, police said.

They drove to Jackson Park Hospital and the woman was pronounced dead minutes later, according to police. She hasn’t been identified.

The man was transferred to the University of Chicago Medical Center where he was in serious but stable condition, police said.

No one was reported in custody.

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Spotify’s logo on the screen of a tablet. | Martin Bureau/AFP

For more than an hour Tuesday, Spotify and other popular apps didn’t work.

Users of the popular music streaming app Spotify reported widespread errors and access issues Tuesday. The service outages and other problems, which began sometime after 11 a.m. CT, appeared to be resolving as of 12:50 p.m.

The root of the outages appeared to be a networking issue with Google Cloud, The Verge reports. Users of other popular applications including Snapchat, Discord and Etsy are also reported errors.

On Spotify’s official status Twitter account, the company recently posted an update saying it’s “aware of some issues” and looking into them.

There’s been no update since then, but at the time of publishing this latest update, a Sun-Times reporter had no issues loading up or using the Spotify app. Many users across social media had reported that their music would not play or they were unable to access the app entirely.

Spotify, one of the most popular apps in the world, says that it has more than 380 million active users, including more than 170 million subscribed to the company’s premium tier offering.

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We don’t have any hate for classic Thanksgiving dishes — but why not try a new spin from Chicago chefs?Read More

Penne, pappardelle, bucatini, spaghetti, you name it. Pasta is a godsend and Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood has some of the best Italian spots serving up the best pasta on the city’s North Side. We’ll run through six spots serving up great pasta in Lincoln Park suitable for any occasion and we’ll top it off by providing an Editor’s Pick at each restaurant so you don’t have to do the heavy thinking as the menu taunts you at your table. Buon Appetito!

The Pasta Bowl

2434 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60614

With locations in Lincoln Square, Wicker Park, and Lincoln Park, The Pasta Bowl is accessible. More importantly, it’s delicious. Their LP location sits just north of Fullerton on Clark Street within walking distance of some truly elite watering holes. Whether it be a warming bowl of pasta this winter or a heaping bowl to soak up a night of drinking, you cannot go wrong with The Pasta Bowl.

Editor’s Pick: Lucky Penne add shrimp

Mixed veggies, broccoli, and penne in a spicy chipotle cream sauce, topped with melted smoke mozzarella

Sapori Trattoria

2701 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60614

Sapori Trattoria sits near the corner of Diversey and Halsted is the epitome of a true neighborhood Italian restaurant. It has great food, great wine, and an intimate atmosphere with extremely welcoming and knowledgeable staff. There isn’t a checkbox unmarked. Absolutely no bias here though, but it happens to not only be this author’s favorite Italian restaurant in Chicago, it happens to be my favorite restaurant period. I’ve been coming to Sapori for my birthday every year for the past 10 years to enjoy Chef Anthony Barbanente’s cuisine. And I’ll continue singing the praises of Sapori Trattoria as loud as I can.

Editor’s Pick: Pennette Cardinale 

Penne pasta served with grilled artichokes, chicken, shallots and sun-dried tomatoes in white wine tomato cream reduction sauce

Riccardo Enoteca

2116 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60614

The sister location to the Lincoln Park spot below, Riccardo Enoteca sits directly across the street from Riccardo Trattoria but is not to be confused with its counterpart. Though Enoteca features a menu focused on small plates and wine, their pasta selection is not to be ignored. If anything, Lincoln Parkers should celebrate having access to an abundance of incredible Italian dining mere steps away from each other from the same brilliant minds of Riccardo and Maurizio Michi.

Editor’s Pick: Bucatini allla Carbonara

Bacon, egg yolk, aged pecorino cheese, fresh black pepper

Riccardo Trattoria

2119 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60614

Riccoardo Trattoria is a well-renowned Italian restaurant with a reputation that spans well beyond the borders of Lincoln Park. The North Clark staple received the Bib Gourmand accolade from Michelin three years in a row and boasts a heavyweight menu featuring small plates, great wine, and incredible pasta dishes. Come hungry, leave happy, as there is literally nothing at Riccardo Trattoria that misses the mark.

Editor’s Pick: Fettucine Bolognese

Since its doors opened in 1988, Gianni Delisi’s family-run Italian trattoria has flourished as a mainstay on the Chicago restaurant scene. Trattoria Gianni is the premiere Italian restaurant in Lincoln Park’s theatre district and its exposed brick walls, white tablecloths, wood floors, and more give it a rustic, authentic feel. These features, plus the incredible selections of pasta, entrees, and wine make Trattoria Gianni the perfect meal for those looking to have a taste of Venice in the neighborhoods of Chicago.

Editor’s Pick: Linguine Portofino

Scallops, shrimp, cherry tomatoes, olive oil and garlic

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“Bhoomi,” the Sanskrit word for earth or land, is a modern Indian dining concept focused on fresh, organic, and responsibly-sourced grilled food. The menu features seafood, chicken, paneer, and meats bursting with flavor and crafted to treat the palette, body, and soul. As a new addition to Chicago’s Urbanspaace food hall, Bhoomi Modern Indian Grill is ready to spice up your winter with their unique, delicious modern Indian cuisines.

Image Credit: UrbanMatter Chicago

A Tribute to the Family

Founded by the husband-and-wife team of Ajit and Sukhu Kalra, Bhoomi is an homage to Ajit’s father, the legendary Indian culinary giant Jiggs Kalra. The menu is based on recipes created by Ajit and Jiggs, and introduces diners to innovative, made-from-scratch dishes presented in a stylized and contemporary way. The restaurant opened on September 15, 2021, in Chicago’s new Urbanspace food hall located at 15 W. Washington St.

“My dad and uncle were quite the grill masters, and we were a kebab eating family basking in the glow of great food in Delhi, India. That amazing aroma of lavishly spiced meat sizzling over a charcoal fire can make anyone a kebab lover, but it became a real obsessive passion for me. I was spoiled and hooked with that bounty surrounding me at all times,” says Sukhu, Bhoomi’s co-owner.

Image Credit: Bhoomi

Food Means Love

As George Bernard Shaw proudly declared, there is no love more sincere in this world compared to the love for food. The authenticity and affection passed from the kitchen to the table is an even bigger piece in Asian cultures. When asked about her favorite memories about food tradition, Sukhu immediately recalled their biweekly family cookouts on the patios “where a lot of chicken tikkas, paneer tikkas, and goat based seekh kebabs were grilled over a charcoal kettle grill. It really was a smorgasbord of kebabs that we over indulged in growing up in India.”

“Another one of my fondest kebab memories is receiving these really special 1-kg (2.2 lbs) boxes of melt in your mouth galauti kebabs at our home that were flown in from the city of Lucknow (the undisputed kebab capital of India) every month because my dad had many fans who wanted to show their gratitude to him for shining a light on their cuisine,” says Sukhu.

Image Credit: Bhoomi

Modern Takes on All the Traditional Goodies

At Bhoomi Modern Indian Grill, you won’t find heavy curries that tend to saturate Chicago’s Indian food scene, but rather an emphasis on what is, in the words of Kalra, “the greatest and most underrepresented of all Indian food—freshly prepared, grilled Indian kebabs.” Prepare your palate for bright quinoa pilaf bowls, organic phulka rotis topped with extravagantly marinated, melt-in-your mouth kebabs and housemade herb-driven chutneys. The flavors are seductively bold yet effortlessly light.

“Our menu is in a perfect harmonious balance of flavor and quality. It is the only menu (and by extension restaurant) in America that features organic, pasture raised, grass fed grilled Indian meats (kebabs). The effort that goes into our food is truly EXTRAORDINARY. We cut every Vegetable and herb from scratch. We roast our own spices and then create our own signature spice blends and sauces using those ingredients. And this happens every single day.”

If you’re in doubt, check the online reviews yourself. Because Bhoomi’s reviews sure shout out for the freshness and flavor explosion in Bhoomi food and that is no accident. And the secret? It is the 24-48 hour marination cycles before the kebab ever hitting the grill plate that create for a symphony of smooth yet complex flavors that are absolutely unique and elevated.

Image Credit: Bhoomi

Chef’s Recommended Dishes

We want you to have all the best, therefore, we checked with co-owner and chef Sukhu on what she would recommend for new guest to try.

The chicken tikka kebab. This is Bhoomi’s biggest seller – whether it’s over the quinoa bowl or the handmade phulka roti bread.
The paneer cheese is a close second in its popularity and at par with the chicken in its repeat patronage. So creamy and intensely flavored without ever being overly imposing.
The salmon. This dish is probably the superstar of the menu for its uniqueness. The salmon is marinated in toasted Indian spices, and it truly elevates the seafood game exponentially. Our patrons are definitely in agreement. Try that in a warm quinoa grain bowl.
The steak. For all of you red meat lovers, the steak is marinated for 48 hours in a unique spice blend. You’ll be delighted with the super tender melt in your mouth — indeed, a Wagyu-like experience!

Many also come in just for the sides. Especially for the gently spiced and charred cauliflower cut twice a day from the whole vegetable. A single order is almost an entire head of cauliflower. Additionally, the pasties are a big hit with their marinated tikkas in French puff pastry baked to a golden brown.

“We are fluid with the format for expansion – it could be in chicago or beyond. Perhaps a live charcoal fire. Who knows? All options are open but one thing is for sure. We want to commit and dedicate ourselves to this food from our first location will take out time to build our name and reputation before jumping into anything else. This is a passion play for us,” says Sukhu.

What are you waiting for? Come check out Bhoomi Modern Indian Grill and warm up!

Featured Image Credit: UrbanMatter Chicago

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Delicious meals, holiday lights, dusting snow… The only thing missing is a glass of red and a beautiful dress. Then, let us present you Soif, Logan Square’s newest speakeasy-inspired wine lounge debuting on Wednesday, November 17th. This new concept is brought to us by Aldo Zaninotto, wine industry veteran and owner of Osteria Langhe and Testaccio, shining light on rare bottles and limited production gems in high design space.

Uncork the Night

Soif Wine Lounge’s beverage menu, created by Aldo Zaninotto in collaboration with Soif’s Beverage Manager and Sommelier Alyssa Missurelli (Bar avec, Cafe Cancale The Purple Pig), will center around an evolving list of 50 to 60 hard-to-find French wine gems focused on small batch producers and limited production wines.

Zaninotto will use relationships he has cultivated through years in the wine industry to create a list that will highlight both classics from regions like Burgundy, Beaujolais and the Rhone Valley along with natural wines, orange wines, and a selection of grower Champagnes.

Look for exciting hard-to-find options such as the Famille Dutraive Saint-Amour 2018 “Clos du Chapitre” from Beaujolais, which Zaninotto describes as “a great representation of a new generation of vintners devoted to natural winemaking, with this specific selection being classically carbonic with a slight effervescence and a lively and smokey profile.” Meanwhile, for those who prefer a stiffer drink, the bar offers classic French spirits and aperitifs, assorted brandies and traditional liqueurs along with a cocktail list showcasing their takes on French favorites and gold standard classics.

Image Credit: Soif

Quintessential French Bites

Created by Testaccio’s Executive Chef Jacob Solomon (Dusek’s Board & Beer, Lettuce Entertain You, Second City), Soif’s menu of Les Petits Bouts, or the “little bits”, will emphasize French classics like savory gougeres filled with Alpine raclette cheese and served with bass mornay, charcuterie selections, seafood conservas and an assortment of creamy pâtes.

Soif will also offer traditional caviar service featuring options like smoked trout roe, sturgeon, kaluga and whitefish from local purveyor Rare Tea Cellars and served with crème fraîche and housemade Aleppo-dill potato chips. For dessert, guests can indulge in selections of chocolate truffles, a rotating assortment of macarons and crème brûlée served with fresh fruit, maple and pistachios.

Image Credit: Soif

Sexy Parisian Design

Taking a page from hole-in-the-wall Parisian wine bars of past and present, Erin Boone explains the intimate 34-seat bar focuses on “a saturated palette of reds, dark rose and purple to emphasize the seductive and passionate qualities of an evening destination”. Throughout the room, vintage art, mirrors and accessories collected by Aldo throughout his travel grace the walls, and a large candelabra chandelier softly lights the corner of the bar to complete that Old World feel.

Alongside elegant wingback chairs, plush banquettes recovered from beloved French dining destination La Sardine by Jean-Claude and Oliver Poilevey (recently closed after 22 years in the city’s West Loop) bring a little nostalgia to the space while providing additional seating.

Image Credit: Soif

Underground Grooves

Tucked along the back wall and framed in red velvet curtains, a DJ booth sets the tone for late nights at Soif. Curating the rotating line-up of local DJ talents and laying down tracks some nights is Booking Coordinator Alec Zaninotto (stage name ARSENE), who keeps it all in the family with his vast experience in the Chicago nightlife scene, having played at venues like Ace Hotel, Blind Barber and Fox Bar at Soho House. The music will span genres of jazz, disco, soul, reggae, and more, setting the lounge’s ambiance by transitioning from soft, laid back tunes to high-energy beats as the night progresses.

Image Credit: Soif

2456 N California Ave, Chicago, IL 60647

*Reservations are highly encouraged and now available through RESY, though walks-ins will be allowed based on capacity. For safety, staff will be required to wear masks and guests are required to wear masks while moving throughout the space.

Soif is located at 2456 N. California Ave, basement level, and will be open Wednesday & Thursday from 5:30 pm – 12:00pm and Friday & Saturday from 5:30 pm – 2:00 am. For more information, please visit www.soifchicago.com or follow them on Instagram @soifchicago.

Featured Image Credit: Soif

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A new paramedic holds a badge during the graduation ceremony of Chicago Fire Department’s class of 2021. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times file

Over a 5.5-year period ending on June 30, 2020, 340 CFD members reported their badges stolen or lost to police. Nearly 80% of those reports came from retiring firefighters.

The inspector general’s office is sounding the alarm about a troubling practice in the Chicago Fire Department apparently driven by nostalgia: hundreds of CFD badges reported missing or stolen by firefighters and paramedics within months of their retirement.

Unlike police badges that allow the holder to carry a gun and bypass police lines, CFD badges simply carry the appearance of authority with no specific power.

Sources say they are mostly valued for nostalgia, much like a Major League Baseball player would save the ball or bat used in their first hit or home run.

Over a 5.5-year period ending on June 30, 2020, 340 CFD members reported their badges stolen or lost to the Chicago Police Department. Nearly 80% of those reports, or 271, came from retiring firefighters and paramedics, 22.6% of them within six months of calling it quits.

In a five-page advisory released Tuesday, acting Inspector General William Marback suggested several probable causes for the suspicious pattern of badge thefts.

Chief among them, he said, was retiring firefighters and paramedics “committing theft of city property” and “filing false police reports to cover up the theft,” so they can keep the badges that offer the most enduring memory of their time of service.

Another possible reason, Marback wrote, is that “CFD members may be misplacing their badges and not reporting them missing or stolen until it is time to return their badges” upon retirement.

“Both scenarios constitute control and misconduct concerns,” the advisory states.

“Theft of city property and filing false police reports are crimes. Failing to immediately report a missing or stolen CFD badge is a violation of CFD general orders and the [city] personnel rules.”

In response to the IG’s advisory, CFD and the Office of Public Safety Administration have jointly agreed to tighten regulations by:

o Collecting badges from departing firefighters and paramedics and making badge surrender a condition of retirement.

o Requiring lost or stolen badges to be reported to CFD within 24 hours, referred to Internal Affairs within 72 hours and mandating the department to track those reports for “trends and operational concerns.”

o Ordering retirees who lose or destroy their badges to pay the cost of replacement or face fines, disciplinary action and wage garnishment

“The failure to properly account for CFD badges is a control risk and raises concerns for potential misconduct,” Marback said in a news release accompanying the advisory.

“The Chicago Fire Department and the Office of Public Safety Administration has offered assurance that the issue of lost or stolen badges will be taken seriously and have committed to adhering to proper protocols concerning city property and the enforcement of discipline when staff aren’t in compliance with [those] protocols.”

The inspector general’s office launched its review after receiving information in November 2018 that more than 300 badges had been reported in the previous three years.

It was “characterized as an ‘institutionalized accepted practice,’ which frequently occurred when a firefighter [was] reaching retirement,” the advisory states.

Since 2018, CFD has allowed retiring members to keep their badges for $225. But the advisory notes that the retained badge is “not the same” as the one carried by active members. It is encased in plexiglass with the word “retired” on it.

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A metal-craving menace called Muncher is one of the supernatural pests in “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.” | Sony Pictures

Ditching New York for small-town Oklahoma, the franchise delivers action and nostalgia but falls short on plot and comedy.

For all the nifty Easter Eggs we won’t reveal and all the delightful callbacks we’re not going to discuss and all the respectful tributes we won’t detail, the action-packed, frantic, loud and incomplete jigsaw puzzle that is “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” is missing one major, precious, scientific, cinematic element:

A truly involving and cohesive new story.

Since the release of the monster smash supernatural comedy hit and genuine cultural phenomenon that was the original “Ghostbusters” in 1984, we’ve seen a number of follow-ups and reboots and spinoffs, from the 1989 “Ghostbusters II” to animated series and video games and theme rides and the disappointing remake in 2016 — but this is a generational sequel to the first two films, with director/co-writer Jason Reitman (son of “Ghostbusters” director/producer Ivan Reitman) moving the story to the present day (intriguing) and relocating it from New York City to Oklahoma (perplexing).

“Afterlife” is bathed in nostalgic, Comic-Con-level worship of artifacts and props and touchstones from the original, with lingering shots of a P.K.E. Meter and proton packs and the refashioned 1959 Cadillac that became the Ecto-1, not to mention the makeshift flight suit uniforms, a billboard for Stay-Puft marshmallows and a fire pole, among other visual references. That’s all well and cool, but what’s missing through much of the movie is a sense of awe — and consistently sharp comedy.

To be sure, there are some genuine and hearty laughs sprinkled here and there, but far too often we’re growing restless (the running time is about 20 minutes longer than the 1984 film) during the run-of-the-mill chase sequences and the exposition explaining why we’re in a small town in Oklahoma and what’s about to happen in small-town Oklahoma if somebody doesn’t do something to stop Zuul and the Keymaster et al., from staging a Reunion Tour.

The main story kicks off with financially strapped single mother Callie (the always wonderful Carrie Coon), her teenage son Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and 12-year-old daughter Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) packing up and heading to the town of Summerville, Oklahoma, after Callie’s estranged father has died and left them the “Dirt Farm” (as everyone in town calls it), where he holed up and conducted mysterious experiments. It’s no great spoiler to reveal that crazy old coot was one Egon Spengler, who abandoned Callie when she was a baby, cut off contact with his fellow Ghostbusters and died alone and in debt. There’s got to be more to the story than that, right? They wouldn’t do Egon (and the late Harold Ramis) like that, would they? Of course not — but when the explanation finally comes, it just doesn’t add up. There are so many unanswered questions.

Mckenna Grace does a remarkable job as Phoebe, who is like a mini-Egon. (She talks about how she doesn’t feel things like most “normal” people do, leading us to believe she’s on some kind of spectrum, as Egon surely was.) Phoebe is the true center of the story — uncovering scary secrets in an abandoned mine, watching YouTube videos of the Ghostbusters in the 1980s and teaming up with her new friend Podcast (Logan Kim), who calls himself Podcast because he’s always Podcasting, to investigate all the paranormal gurglings and burblings all around town.

Paul Rudd lends his easy comic charm to the role of Gary Grooberson, who is the Rick Moranis/Louis Tully of this story and has a goofy, irresponsible charm, e.g., his idea of conducting summer school class is to pop in VHS copies of horror films such as “Cujo” and “Child’s Play.”

Sony Pictures
Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), his sister Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) and their friend Podcast (Logan Kim) investigate the strange doings in their small town.

Director/co-writer Reitman’s choice to set the primary story in a small, remote town in the middle of nowhere makes for a bounty of sun-drenched, Spielbergian shots, and it’s kind of neat that he’s fashioned this as primarily a kids’ adventure story a la “The Goonies” and “Super 8.” Still, as the end of the world once again seems nigh, we miss the chaos and madness in New York City.

In the climactic act, when “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” doubles down on the nostalgia, what should be a triumphant moment comes across as predictable, underwhelming and in one particular instance, more ghoulish and weird than emotionally impactful. When it’s time to answer the question of Who ya gonna call, “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” comes across as a well-intentioned and sincere but unfortunate misdial.

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