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Michael Hutchins
Via Gelato Cafe
July 31st 2010
1853 Tower Drive
Glenview, Ill 60026
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Julius Meinl
July 31st 2010
Addison / Southport
Chicago, Ill
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Megon McDonough
Megon McDonough
Date Posted: March 14 2010
Written By: chicago jazz
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Union, S.P.A.C.E., And Megon McDonough
by Randy Freedman
On a bitter cold Friday in mid-January I headed North from Chicago to the bordering suburb of Evanston to have dinner and hear veteran Chicago vocalist/multi instrument musician/song writer Megon McDonough perform at the relatively new Union Pizzeria/ S.P.A.C.E. (Society for the Preservation of Art & Culture in Evanston) music venue located at 1245 Chicago Avenue.
I found metered parking right on Chicago Avenue within a half block of my destination and was elated to see the metered parking was free after 6 pm, so another trip into the single-digit temperatures to feed the meter would not be necessary.
Nearly the entire Chicago Avenue front of Union is comprised of huge clear glass windows stretching nearly floor to ceiling that invite the attention of passersby to Union’s striking interior. The front door leads to a small reception station.
Union accepts no reservations and can get very busy, so an early arrival is recommended if you are attending a show at S.P.A.C.E. Lining the front windows on the inside are comfortable looking sofas and tables. The high ceiling is unfinished and lofted. A rectangular bar to the left effectively doubles as a room divider marking the entrance to the dining area.
In the center of the room is a huge wood-burning pizza oven which commands attention, especially when seated at the bar, from where red sparkling flames within the oven can be clearly seen. There is bench seating along one entire wall with four-top tables and modern chairs in the room’s center. The lighting is overhead and very soft. The dining area can be noisy when full.
The menu includes (in addition to the signature pizza) salads, soups, sandwiches, and tapas-like hot and cold “small plates.” There are American favorites like macaroni and cheese side-by-side with Mediterranean influenced original chef’s creations and enough meat, chicken, fish and vegetable choices to satisfy most diners. The beer and wine lists are extensive.
I began my meal with a “small plate” of “roasted brussels sprouts, sunchokes (which were new to me––they tasted like a cross between a potato and a turnip) and Neuskes (a famed American producer of applewood-smoked meat) bacon.” The sprouts and sunchokes were cooked perfectly giving them just the right texture and the bacon added a delicious smoky flavor.
Next I had the Quattro Formaggi pizza (four cheeses––mozzarella, fontinia, parmesan, and provelone over traditional red sauce). The cheeses and sauce combined to provide mouthwatering tang and depth, but the extraordinarily tasty wood-fired pastry crust was the star of the show. I finished my meal with Vairhona (an American manufacturer of world-class chocolate) panna cotta (literally “cooked cream”) with brandied cherries for dessert.
The chocolate flavor was very dark and with the creamy texture contrasted beautifully against the slight tartness and crispness of the cherries. Service was very polite, quick and efficient at Union, almost too much so. Despite the pressing need to turn tables, Union must be sure to allow patrons enough time to savor their great food. Dinner completed, it was now show time.
S.P.A.C.E. is directly in back of Union in the same building, but you must enter through Union off the street. There is a corridor just inside the Union entrance that leads to the S.P.A.C.E. entrance without walking through the dining area of the restaurant. S.P.A.C.E. also has overhead lighting and shares Unions vaulted, unfinished ceilings. There is a large raised stage extending almost the entire width of the room and backed by a curtain covered brick wall.
One wall is covered with acoustic dampeners and there are two small wet bars at either side of the back of the room. Three rows of small tables and plastic chairs are in front of the stage, followed by rows of chairs only. Because all the seating and tables are portable, S.P.A.C.E. can adjust the room configuration to best suit each particular musical artist and their audience.
Sightlines are unobstructed anywhere in the room, which was fortunate, as all seats were full and many people were standing. Urban contemporary singer-songwriter Sue Fink opened the show with a short set. Then pianist Peter Polzak took his place on stage at the piano and the capacity audience eagerly awaited McDonough.
Megon McDonough began her career as a Chicago folk/rock singer/songwriter with four recordings on Chicago label Wooden Nickel while still a teenager.
In the 1980s she won a Cable Ace Award for her musical performance on an HBO iceskating special. McDonough’s first venture into jazz was her 1998 recording titled My One And Only Love, which won her critical acclaim from Jazz Times, The Washington Post (“Here we find McDonough in her true element...”) and others.
Taking the stage to loud applause, McDonough and Polzak immediately began a medley of songs associated with jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald: “It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing),” “A Tisket, A Tasket,” “S’Wonderful,” and “Hello Young Lovers.”
This earned McDonough and Polzak their first standing ovation of the evening. The audience quieted as McDonough explained her intention to pay tribute to other female vocalists that, like Fitzgerald, had influenced and inspired her.
With large doses of warm humor and personal charisma, McDonough bracketed song medleys from the hits of great female jazz vocalists like Billie Holiday, Edith Piaf, Doris Day, and Judy Garland with remembrances and reflections that were sometimes hilarious and other times touching. Blessed with an awesome voice, McDonough uses it wisely. She never tries to out-scat Ella, get overly cute, or treat jazz standards as untouchable museum pieces.
Instead, McDonough interprets them with immediacy and respect tempered by humor, and demonstrates why these standards are timeless. Following the end of her performance and after a second standing ovation McDonough returned to the stage to sing the sad Irish ballad “Danny Boy” for her encore and left, as the saying goes, “not a dry eye in the house.”
Ultra-modern and hip, Union Pizzeria/ S.P.A.C.E. combine to present Evanston and North Shore patrons with one of the most unique dining and music experiences in the Chicago area. It is a venue well worth a special trip the next time your favorite national or Chicago-based musicians play there.
For more information contact:
megonmcdonough.com
Chicago freelance writer Randy Freedman is a jazz connoisseur, photographer, food critic, humorist, and devoted music fan. He is a regular contributor to Chicago Jazz Magazine.
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