Berghoff's has closed

Sarah King · Post by **Sarah King** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 1:42 am

Yesterday was the last day we could have met for lunch at the restaurant where Rawson and Evans had lunch. Berghoff's in Chicago has closed after 120 years of serving the best German cuisine in town. I thought you should know. The word is that the bar is still open - I hope this is true.

And to think that I once had lunch at The Turf - a pub in Oxford, England, that has been in business since 1430.

Doug Bernhardt · Post by **Doug Bernhardt** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 7:15 pm

Great spot and was there a couple of years ago to see all the wall art. Had the atmosphere of another era!

Sarah King · Post by **Sarah King** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 11:25 pm

Doug,

It was indeed a spot from another era and it will be missed. It was also still a very profitable venture, they say, but the family just got tired of running it. Now they are going to go in for private catering only. Who can tell what folks will do.

Now if you really want to see some great - or at least really new and amazing art - you need to come take a look at Milennium Park - http://www.chicagotraveler.com/chicago_ ... ctures.htm

Not all great art is in the past and you ain't see nothin' till you have stood under "The Bean" officially known as Cloud Gate. Hard to describe and never to be forgotten.

Let me know when you're coming to town and we'll see if the Berghoff Pub really is still open - and maybe go look at the Tiffany mosaics at Marshall Fields. I'll show you the gold mirrored stained glass in Berwyn too. Everyday houses with exceptional annonymous art viewable from the street.

Doug Bernhardt · Post by **Doug Bernhardt** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 9:17 pm

Okay Sarah....gonna have a go "atch" here....as you probably know, I have been travelling the last few years (a couple of times per year) to London and the countryside and France and the countryside....and say what you may about modern architecture and art, but Pollacks drip paintings don't hold a candle to a Corbet or a David. The search for the "new" has led us all to believe that our societies can match and surpass the Greeks and the post classists...no way! Over here we have wall to wall big box stores and urban sprawl...over there you have community,family and a sense of responsibility to suburban living and it's architecture... visit
www.bernhardtsigns.ca/upload for a few pictures from France. That part of my site will be up for another week.

Sarah King · Post by **Sarah King** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 10:58 pm

Well, Doug, those photos are very beautiful. I think you have a great longing for the past and a wonderful appreciation for the patina of time.

I also think that the past is only really good when you don't have to live there any more. David's style was radically new in his day. The guys who sponsored the French Revolution were going to "return to the Glory Days of Greece and Rome" - and all they ended up with was the the Terror and "Madame Guillotine" and the Napoleonic Wars. Not fun for anybody - especially all the poor dudes who did the dirty work. David, you know, was one of them. And poor old Marat was killed in his bath because he had spent the last several months of his life living in the sewers of Paris hiding from his own government. Got a bad skin rash, they say.

Which is not to say that David did not paint wonderful paintings. You can be a stinker and still paint brilliantly. But David was, in his day, very, very modern. So was Chartres in its day - so was Stonehenge.

I'm not sure that Paris and London are really havens of peace, community and all. They have big box stores and urban sprawl too, heaven knows. When I was living there - in Strasburg for 6 months and Oxford for 3 years - I found that even the most beautiful place gets to be pretty ordinary after a while.

I just hope that in 300 years -or 900 - or 4,500 - somebody likes what we have built in our day as much as we like Versailles and Chartres and Stonehenge. The Cloud Gate sculpture in Millenium Park is just funny - as in humerous - and I hope it lasts as long as Stonehenge.

Doug Bernhardt · Post by **Doug Bernhardt** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 11:21 am

Touche....and a great comeback. Someday we'll get to do this in person I hope. My romantic side really shows huh! My son is living in Edinburgh right now (on the Royal Mile) and he also worries about the practical things. The beautiful city/landscapes are slipping into the ordinary. However I do like the "lifestyle" over there. 4weeks holidays every year etc. Although it was difficult in France when shopping for some art supplies, for my neice, the lights dimmed and it was time to get to the cash (pronto) as they were about to close for a 2hr. lunch break...whether or not I was still in the store!!