Business & Tech
FAME Art-Centric Bar Coming to Wicker Park
The new bar/restaurant, on Division Street, will feature art exhibits and twists on classic food and drinks.
FAME is a fitting name for the newest bar-restaurant in Wicker Park.
The acronym stands for the Food, Art and Mixology Experience, but it's opening with a bit of celebrity behind it: HGTV personality Antonio Ballatore is designing the place, located at 2015 W. Division St. near the Wicker Park-Ukranian Village border.
Its first art exhibit is also titled "Celebrity." FAME will feature a new art exhibit every few months. General manager Adam Feichter said each exhibit aims to cover a variety of angles.
"What does celebrity mean?" he said of the first exhibit. "Is it Britney Spears falling on her ass drunk, or is it Marilyn Monroe being beautiful? We want to see every angle."
Ballatore and Chef Sam "SammyD" Demarco are friends of Feichter's, and he said they were interested in opening a Chicago location.Feichter said FAME is planning to have a soft opening this Thursday and Friday for media, friends and family, but that it should be open to the public by July 20. Check its Facebook page for updates.
The art isn't the only focus, though, as the food and drinks are expected to be top-notch. Feichter said FAME will offer infused liquors, such as cucumber vodka or a strawberry basil bourbon, and twists on traditional American cuisine.
"Everything we do here is a little twisted," Feichter said. "Think of it as traditional American food or Chicago classics twisted into a new-school realm."
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