I have been writing for ChicagoNow for more than seven years — since July 14, 2014. I’ve tried at times to write at regular intervals, such as my series on “Kindness and Wonder,” which ran on Mondays in 2020, or my series on Rudyard Kipling’s poems, which I named Kipling Tuesdays and ran on (surprise) Tuesdays in 2019.

I like to do those series sometimes as part of getting to use the word “regular” in its original sense, “arranged in or constituting a constant or definite pattern, especially with the same space between individual instances.” as the dictionary at bing.com puts it. The original word is obviously related to the French regle, or rule.

Too often in recent decades, advertisers have tried to use “regular” as a synonym” for “plain,” that word they seem to want to avoid at all costs. Do you want the advanced, decorated, fancier version, or do you want the regular one? Do you want the extras-added version, or the plain version?

I remember my father laughing when I wanted to order a regular-sized drink in a restaurant. He knew that I was thirsty enough to need a large drink on a regular basis. In other words, I usually ordered the large.

But usual is too dull, too, for most U.S. restaurants and food labels. Since I had a tooth out at the beginning of the month, I am resorting to the things I usually do after that happens, but I am not eating my usual things or eating regularly. (I eat when my mouth feels OK and stop when it doesn’t, sometimes soon. Luckily, my blender helps.)

But I still have my standards — and that reminded me last night about a favorite story from when I was traveling.

When I was leaving London after visiting my cousins, I stopped in a railway station restaurant — i.e., a train station food stand — and ordered a sandwich and chips (fries). I suppose I was concentrating on getting the chips/fries distinction settled and making sure I would get what I expected.

But then the lad behind the counter asked, “Would you like the large size or the standard size?”

I didn’t know when my next meal was coming, whatever time zone I would be in at the time, but I knew what I wanted to say.

For the sheer joy of getting to say it — for the only time I can think of saying it in my life — I said “I’ll have the standard size, please.”

I’d love to find another standard-sized offering, no matter what it is.

Hey everyone, welcome to Cut Up a video series where I talk about my favorite scenes in movies and re-edit them or just dissect them.

This time we’re talking about a scene from the Twilight series. I ended up watching the full Twilight series with my roommate during quarantine. We were watching a bunch of film franchises that we had never seen, but were big in pop culture. So Twilight, was put on the list even though it clearly wasn’t made for us.

Twilight’s Baby Problem (CGI vs Practical Effects)

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By the 4th film we both were excited to see how they would handle the baby situation and we were really surprised at how amazingly awful they did.

Watch the video above for the full breakdown of CGI vs Practical Effects baby.

COVID-19 has changed plenty of things in the world temporarily, but the differences it’s made to the restaurant industry may stick around for years to come. Some trends are driven by the pandemic and make more sense from a convenience standpoint, while others have only been amplified by the onset of social distancing guidelines and staying at home more.

Keeping up With Pandemic Trends

The pandemic has integrated itself into everyone’s lives, even if they don’t always notice the effects of it every day. At first, restaurants scrambled to keep up with the rapid changes COVID-19 brought, but some trends turned out to be helpful during the pandemic and for future business.

1. Implement Social Distancing

Early in the pandemic, all restaurants closed down because it was difficult to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 while in close quarters. Luckily, as the pandemic started to get under control and more solutions were found, restaurants could have dine-in business again.

Utilizing outdoor seating could be one way to keep patrons safe. If you want to space out your customers to adhere to social distancing recommendations, keeping empty tables or booths between occupied ones and opening up more outside seating might be best to limit capacity without losing business.

2. Be Safe With Contactless Ordering

COVID-19 has encouraged people to embrace apps and ordering online. Being touchless as much as possible when people are concerned about their health is essential. Restaurants may start building and optimizing apps to place orders from their phones and then pick them up as they see fit.

Alternatively, some restaurants could choose to offer menus accessed by a QR code or similar method. This idea could prevent guests from handling physical menus, which would need to be wiped down after every use to maintain proper sanitization.

3. Hype Curbside and Delivery

Ordering food ahead of time and receiving it without going into a restaurant is almost effortless for consumers, so they tend to be OK with paying a delivery or pickup fee. 

Receiving food even if they can’t dine in can matter a lot to customers. Curbside is especially important to emphasize, as it cuts the costs of delivery. While hyping curbside for your restaurant, you could consider including a special deal only available for pickup orders.

Popular Trends to Watch

Customers want a tailored, individualized experience when they eat at restaurants. While this may mean more work, it could also influence how your customers think of you. If you want them to have a favorable opinion of your restaurant, consider implementing one of these tactics to aid customers in their culinary experience.

1. Offer Healthy, Convenient Food

Health is important now more than ever. Convenience is crucial for constantly being on the go, so fast-food restaurants have attempted to make their menus a bit healthier to accommodate this growing trend. If you offer alternatives that can be ready quickly, you’ll be a strong competitor for fast-food chains.

2. Build-Your-Own Dishes

Increase the likelihood of customers finding something they like by allowing them to build an entree from scratch. Giving them the freedom to choose a dish that pleases them by including their preferences can leave a good impression. 

When customers have the option to customize their food to their tastes, they’ll have a better chance of finding something they enjoy. It’s easy to implement build-your-own salads and burgers in many restaurants, too.

3. Engage Customers on Social Media

Social media marketing can drive more traffic to your pages and get more eyes on what you have to offer. Many restaurants become popular for their unique features, something that makes them stand out from similar establishments. You’ll likely have more customers seeking your restaurant to have an unforgettable experience based on your profile when you have more traffic.

Find something uniquely charming about your restaurant. Do you have an ambiance unlike any other? Do you offer something on your menu that no one else does? Once you find something charming about your eatery, be sure to broadcast it online so more people can see why you’re so phenomenal.

The Future of Food

Nobody knows what the food industry could look like even a year from now. Keep up with these trends proven to be safe and make your food more accessible and individualized to the customer. You’ll likely find more people enjoying your restaurant’s experience. People crave convenience, safety and health above all else, so as long as you prioritize those values, your restaurant has a great chance of earning more diners.

A little more than 4 years ago I wrote about this really fascinating 10,000 sq ft mansion that was briefly listed for $7.78 MM. I subsequently learned that was some kind of unauthorized listing, which is against all kinds of MLS and Realtor rules. Not sure exactly how or why the real estate agent put that listing together but it was quickly removed. Hopefully, the realtor responsible was punished appropriately.

However, this West Town mansion came back with a legitimate listing in January of 2018 at $6.5 MM. Since then it has been relisted a few times and there have been a few price drops. Most recently it was listed for $4 MM in July but still didn’t sell and they killed the listing after not quite 3 months. But then they immediately put it up for auction with bidding to run from November 5 – 10.

The auction for the home at 516 N Armour is being run by Concierge Auctions. Here is how the home is described:

Currently Listed for $4M. No Reserve. Showings daily by appointment. This show-stopping estate sits in a class of its own within busy Chicago. Incomparable privacy and top-to-bottom luxury resonates throughout every inch of this sprawling 10,000sf custom home, stretching over a triple lot and comprising three stories. The soaring 27-foot ceilings of the great room greet you upon entry, making an unforgettable impression that resonates throughout the residence. Cozy up by either of the two fireplaces that beckon from the main floor, or gather in the open-concept entertaining area with its enchanting macassar wet bar. The custom Archisesto chef’s kitchen is an absolute dream, complete with integrated Miele appliances, a breakfast nook for morning coffee with a view, and a hidden prep kitchen for easy entertaining. Bring any party outdoors to the dining area in the professionally landscaped oasis beyond the kitchen doors. Flanked with high brick walls and containing a lap pool, hot tub, and putting green, the outdoor space is as breathtaking as the indoors. A three-car attached garage completes this modernist masterpiece. Find a private retreat here, in a coveted location minutes from the West Loop, in an estate that is truly beyond compare.

What makes this particular auction so interesting though is that there is no reserve. In other words if $10 is the highest bid then it sells for $10. So it’s entirely possible that someone gets a really good deal here. However, as I always tell people, if  you want to play the auction game you really have to make a huge time investment up front understanding all the terms and conditions – e.g. commissions, incentives, deposits, payment terms, inspections, etc… – because they can be quite onerous. This is not like a normal sale where you get to do your inspection after you sign a contract.

We already know that $4 MM is probably too high a price since it already failed to sell at that price. We also know that over the last 15 years no single family homes in West Town, south of Division, have sold above $2.5 MM and this one is pretty far south and also east of Ashland. 15 have sold above $3 MM but they were all in Wicker Park. Two of those were above $4 MM, built on double lots in 2015 – at least one of which had ultra modern, broadly appealing finishes and was 7600 sq ft.

The reason I mention broadly appealing finishes is that I’ve been in this home on Armour twice and it always struck me as having some nice architectural elements but some of the finishes are not broadly appealing. For instance there is a ton of Macassar wood in the place and not everyone likes that. And the kitchen and some of the bathrooms have a bachelor pad feel to them – black, red, and shiny. So it’s anyone’s guess what it will end up selling for. I can’t wait to find out.

#ExpensiveHomes #ChicagoExpensiveHomes

Gary Lucido is the President of Lucid Realty, the Chicago area’s full service real estate brokerage that offers home buyer rebates and discount commissions. If you want to keep up to date on the Chicago real estate market or get an insider’s view of the seamy underbelly of the real estate industry you can Subscribe to Getting Real by Email using the form below. Please be sure to verify your email address when you receive the verification notice.

Sophomore Ludovick Choquette has a streak of scoring a receiving touchdown in each of the last four games. (photo courtesy goleathernecks.com)

Western Illinois head coach Jared Elliott talked earlier this season about facing perhaps the FCS nation’s toughest non-conference schedule.

After all, the Leathernecks opened the season at Ball State, a member of the FBS’s Mid-American Conference.

WIU then followed by traveling to Montana, long one of the most challenging venues for a visiting team in FCS. The Leathernecks finally opened the home schedule by hosting Eastern Washington, a perennial playoff team. And, oh by the way, EWU and Montana are ranked second and fifth in this week’s STATS Perform FCS Top 25.

“Our boys are battle-tested with the schedule we have played to this point,” Elliott told Prairie State Pigskin in late September.

Though Western lost each of those first three games, the Leathernecks started Missouri Valley Football Conference play with a stirring 38-35 comeback victory at Youngstown State.

However, comebacks fell short in losses to nationally ranked Southern Illinois (31-30) and Indiana State (37-27).

Indiana State sacked Western quarterback Connor Sampson six times. The official stats state he was hurried 10 times.

“This was a story of negative plays for us on offense,” Elliott said Monday on his show that was posted on Twitter.

Sampson did throw for a career-best 449 passing yards. His 36 completions are the second-most in WIU history.

Seniors Dallas Daniels (career-high 143) and Tony Tate (109) both were over 100 yards receiving.

Things won’t get any easier. A glance down the remaining WIU schedule shows four Top 25-ranked teams in the remaining five games. And the one that isn’t comes against in-state rival Illinois State.

Saturday’s opponent

This week’s game has WIU hosting South Dakota State, which was ranked No. 2 in the nation just a week ago. The Jackrabbits — the national runner-up in the spring FCS season — lost 42-41 to Southern Illinois last weekend.

Ironically, SIU stopped SDSU’s two-point conversion attempt to pull out the victory. A week earlier SIU did the same, stopping Western’s two-point attempt to preserve a 31-30 win.

The loss dropped South Dakota State five spots in the STATS Perform FCS poll to No. 7. Yet, the Jackrabbits remain as dangerous as ever.

Senior running back Pierre Strong rushed for 162 yards and two touchdowns in the defeat. His second TD came on an 85-yard run.

SDSU racked up 559 total yards on 61 plays (9.2 average). However, three turnovers — including the first two interceptions of the season thrown by transfer quarterback Chris Oladokun — helped turn the game’s fortunes.

Defensively, the Jackrabbits scored on a 97-yard fumble return by Malik Lofton. Yet, SDSU yielded 546 yards on 85 plays to Southern Illinois.

News & notes

Saturday’s game begins a stretch in which Western will play at home three of the next four games . . . WIU sophomore running back Ludovick Choquette has a streak of scoring a receiving touchdown in each of the last four games . . . Leatherneck senior Dennis Houston leads the FCS with 49 receptions for 687 yards (14-yard average) . . . Quarterback Connor Sampson ranks fourth nationally with 1,861 passing yards. Sampson has thrown for 16 touchdowns, five of which have gone to Houston.

Where to find the game

South Dakota State (4-1, 1-1) at Western Illinois (1-5, 1-2) Saturday, Oct. 16. Kickoff at noon. The game can be found on ESPN+ and on WIU’s Mixlr.com home page.