At the northwest corner of Addison and Wolcott, the storybook-like “mushroom house” appears to grow out of the sidewalk. Squat plaster walls, dotted with abstractly shaped windows, are capped with a steeply pitched shingled roof. Von Hartz has become a sort of caretaker for Moelter’s mushroom, unchanged since the 60s and showing its age. “I think Charlie has very fond memories of being here,” he says, “and wants to see it kept intact....

Rich Hein/Sun-Times Media Alderman Danny Solis said he’ll work with the mayor—any mayor, even if it’s Karen Lewis. Every now and then, I have one of those eye-opening revelations when I realize the world’s different than I thought. Go, Karen, go! So I babbled on as best I could: Well, you’ve been a loyal supporter of Mayor Rahm’s. And he’s, like, against everything Karen Lewis represents. So, you know—wouldn’t you fight like hell against her ideas should she get elected?...

2612 W. Lawrence 773-878-9898 nhulansbakery.com Runner-Up Ba Le

When Charlie Trotter invented the kitchen table a quarter century or so ago, it was a way to bring diners into the life of the fine-dining kitchen. And the border between us (eating) and them (cooking) has been increasingly porous ever since. 42 Grams finally brings the kitchen into the lives of the chef and his hostess wife—the restaurant is literally downstairs from the apartment of chef Jake Bickelhaupt (who worked at Trotter’s) and his wife, Alexa Welsh....

Last month Chicago Tribune transportation writer Mary Wisniewski did a major service to the cause of bike equity in our city when she reported on a massive discrepancy in the number of tickets being written to bike riders in African-American communities compared to other neighborhoods. In the wake of this news, two local cycling advocates offered to share their experiences of “biking while black” in our city, and told me they’re determined to hold the Chicago Police Department accountable for ending its unfair enforcement practices....

Jillian Sandler I mean, are there two more unhealthy foods one can combine? A burger with a doughnut bun sounds pretty atrocious, right? JILLIAN SANDLER A leaning tower of ramen I tried the lamb burger. The chef could have been a bit more generous with the smoked peppers and onions, but feta and garlicky tzatziki make for a nice Greek touch. The barrels and beer of the name are still MIA....

The music of Nashville singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier is a source of hard truths, lessons learned through a difficult life of addiction and heartbreak. The tunes on Trouble and Love, her first studio album in four years, are hardly celebratory and upbeat, but through recurring pain, loss, and loneliness there emerges a sense of hope. Today’s 12 O’Clock Track, which you can hear after the jump, is the album closer, “Another Train,” and on its surface the song is flecked by hurt: “You wrapped my arms around me / You built me up, and tore me down,” she sings, describing the end of a relationship that gave her a real sense of purpose and identity....

The music of Philadelphia MC and sound artist Moor Mother, aka Camae Ayewa, didn’t come to life for me until I had the chance to see her perform earlier this year, and suddenly her chaotic, psychedelic layers of samples and electronic noise made sense. After more than a dozen digital-­only releases, in 2016 Ayewa dropped Fetish Bones (Don Giovanni), an Afrofuturist-tinged indictment of institutional racism, sexism, and predation presented with intensity and fury, enhanced by a withering eye for detail....

A sinister familiarity bleeds through the tintypes in “Michael Koerner: My DNA,” the upcoming solo exhibition at Catherine Edelman Gallery. Silver crystals splinter across the dark-hued images, bordering oblong abstractions that overlap like Venn diagrams. These images are subtle introductions to Koerner’s personal history with chemical processes and their related traumas. Upon closer inspection, the delicate fractals appear like firework explosions or the edges of a disaster-signaling mushroom cloud, a reference to the hydrogen bomb the United States dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945, just 45 miles from Koerner’s mother’s childhood home....

La Pasadita 1140 N. Ashland

Black police officers remain caught in the middle of the explosive debate over law enforcement in the United States. But it’s often difficult for them to speak freely when they’re torn between their jobs and their communities. Evan F. Moore: What are your thoughts on the [July 14] shooting of Harith Augustus in South Shore by a Chicago police officer? Knight: I do think the Blue Lives Matter movement is sympathetic to black police officers....

AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast This guy has a pretty hard-line view of capitalism. Reader staffers share stories that fascinate, amuse, or inspire us. • About the grassroots union organizers who are bringing some energy back to Israel’s demoralized, ineffectual Left? —Tony Adler

I await few albums in 2014 with as much anticipation as I do Todd Terje’s forthcoming, cheekily titled It’s Album Time. Terje’s singles and EPs over the past couple years comprise some of the best electronic music of this unfinished decade, and his mix for the BBC’s Essential Mix series was one of my ten favorite long-playing releases of last year. Yesterday “Delorean Dynamite,” one of the dozen cuts on It’s Album Time, leaked on the wacky ol’ Internet, and the track augurs a celebrated debut LP for the Norwegian producer and DJ....

Courtesy TransTech Social Enterprises TransTech CEO Angelica Ross (right) works with an apprentice. “Why do most people use the internet?” asks Angelica Ross as she begins a presentation on freelancing. Outreach is a vital part of TransTech’s mission, as well: “It’s important just for us to be visible,” says Aubrey Schuster, administrative assistant and a longtime business management professional. “Visible to the world, and each other.” “Trans people are constantly receiving messages that they are not valuable, that there are very limited possibilities for them—that things are going to be hard,” Ross says....

various locations haberdashmen.com Runner-Up Akira

Jamie Hayes Production Mode jamielhayes.com Runner-Up Meg Musick-Makely

Going to Alice’s Lounge in Avondale always seems like a pretty good idea. It’s close to my house, the bartender—also the bar’s owner and namesake—is a sweetheart, and the endearingly gruff Fred Wood hosts karaoke (while you shine like the diamond you are, he pretends to play a cardboard guitar or plastic saxophone behind you). The problem is that you won’t be the only one singing. Half of Lakeview will have migrated west for the evening, ready to warble Train’s “Drops of Jupiter” into the microphone or spill draft beer on your shoes....

Alessandro Simonetti EMA With the end of Riot Fest, the summer music-festival season comes to a close. But you’d be crazy to think that live music around town would just stop. Tonight, Australian slacker-rock band Scott & Charlene’s Wedding play for free at the Empty Bottle. On Tue 9/15, veteran soul singer Lee Fields will be at the Bottle, while Ed Sheeran plays at Allstate Arena. And on Wed 9/17, Fay headlines a show at the Empty Bottle with a ton of local support, including Touched by Ghoul, Brian Case, Matt Jencik, and more....