Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/215745
F ront Runners Nancy Goldberg hosted dancer Rudolf Nureyev (who was in town for a performance at McCormick Place) for dinner at Maxim's in January 1964. That Je Ne Sais Quoi "I t was like being in Paris," recalls society doyenne Mamie Walton of the December 1963 grand opening of Maxim's at 1300 North Astor Street. Tucked in the basement of the Bertrand Goldberg –designed Astor Tower Hotel, the Art Nouveau–style bistro served as an exact replica of the legendary Maxim's de Paris and is remembered fondly by Walton (whose husband famously surprised her with a new Ford Phaeton outside the club on her 50th birthday). Maxim's quickly became the place to see and be seen, with regulars like Douglas Fairbanks and Audrey Hepburn and dancers Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn, whom restaurant owner Nancy Goldberg hosted for a party the evening of January 27, 1964, that lasted until the wee hours of the morning. Now, more than three decades after the restaurant's closing, restaurateur Brendan Sodikoff is thrilled to restore the bistro and be part of history. "The room itself is absolutely beautiful," says Sodikoff of the space. "It's going to stay exactly as it is: an elegant atmosphere that is still comfortable, engaging, and fun." It's reassuring that even in an age ruled by the new and trendy, good old-fashioned sophistication never goes out of style. Maxim's is set to reopen at 24 E. Goethe St. in spring 2014. MA 12 PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF GEOFFREY GOLDBERG FIFTY YEARS AGO, CHICAGOANS GOT A TASTE OF THE BELLE ÉPOQUE WITH THE UNVEILING OF MAXIM'S. BY LINDSEY MURPHY MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 012_MA_FOB_FR_Winter2014.indd 12 11/19/13 4:06 PM