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/422226
photography by brian sorg at your service Hotelier Jonathan Tisch shares his passions, in Chicago and elsewhere. fan for life: "In the '70s and early '80s, my father's best friend was Pete Rozelle, commissioner of the National Football League. By the time I was 30, I'd gone to 12 or 13 Super Bowls with the Rozelles. Now I go to every New York Giants home game." dining adventures: "My wife, Lizzie, and I really enjoy looking for new restaurants. I love Gibsons Steakhouse and Nico Osteria. We're not foodies trying to fnd the next gastronomic experience, but we love the energy of popular restaurants." trotting the globe: "I could go to Paris once a week. No matter how many times we're there, we love the vibrancy and its sheer beauty." Keeping fit: "I spin fve days a week, and I'm totally addicted. A typical dinner is grilled chicken and vegetables. [But] french fries—those are my weakness." Loews isn't the only fresh face in Chicago's hotel scene, which has witnessed a recent boom in new con- struction. "This is one of the best markets in the country, but it's also one of the most competitive," Tisch says. He believes Loews's renowned service will set it apart from competitors, as will the downtown hotel's outdoor entertaining space, which he says will be larger than that of any other hotel in the city. "We know how difficult the winters can be in Chicago, so the flip side is: Let's embrace spring, summer, and fall," says the lifelong New Yorker. Expectations for Loews Chicago run high— especially from Tisch himself. By his own account, he takes after his father, Bob, known as Mr. Outside, the company's public face (cousin Jim takes after Larry, who was Mr. Inside, the one with a mastery of busi- ness details). Bob's brain tumor diagnosis in 2004 brought the tight-knit Tisch clan even closer. "We vir- tually were raised as one family, a family of seven," he says of his four cousins and two siblings (including his brother, Steve, the film producer behind Forrest Gump and Risky Business). Bob died on November 15, 2005, two years to the day after his brother passed away. The Tisch sense of responsibility extends beyond the family's business endeavors and into its many phil- anthropic causes. "My father and uncle taught us a lot about the phrase that is so often used in today's world: 'giving back,'" Tisch says. "I personally don't like that terminology because I think people hide behind that. They write a check and think they've given back. I like to broaden it by saying 'understanding one's responsibility.'" In 1990, soon after becoming CEO of Loews Hotels (a position he held until 2012), Tisch started the Good Neighbors Policy, the company's corporate social responsibility program. In 2006, he gave $40 million to the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University, his alma mater. Especially in Manhattan, the Tisch name has become synonymous with philanthropy. Will Chicago like- wise benefit from the Tisch largesse? "We always look at opportunities," Tisch replies, adding with a smile, "This may cause a lot of requests to come our way." The father of three also tends to another legacy from his father: a professional football team. In 1991, Bob bought a half stake in the New York Giants. "It really is a true American success story," Tisch says. "A kid grows up in Brooklyn with not a lot and through hard work, discipline, and risks, he's able to buy half of his hometown football team." For Tisch, the Loews ethos of responsibility is more than an inheritance, it's one of the great achievements of his own career. "Oftentimes the men and women who are taking jobs in our hotels have emigrated here because they want to embrace the American vision, and our industry really can support those goals." Even as the hotel chain expands, he says, "we will never get away from the culture that has been with us now in excess of 75 years." ma from left: The Loews Chicago hotel, designed by Simeone Deary, features a decidedly contemporary aesthetic, with local accents. below: The 400-room, 52-story hotel is set to open in March 2015. 70 michiganavemag.com PEOPLE View from the Top