twin Range Rovers are parked outside. a valet smiles softly. you simultaneously feel out of place and right at home here.
is this an architectural treasure? a furniture store? or a restaurant? 3 Arts Club Café is all three. this tiny bistro situated inside Restoration Hardware in Chicago’s Gold Coast feels like a spectacularly decorated dream. this place reminds you of the country club of your childhood. the one where few people of color are in sight. where the wine flows freely and the laughter of the elite chimes without a care in the world. where your glass is never empty and the warm glow of chandelier light coats your skin, making everything feel warm and fuzzy. you split a truffle grilled cheese and arugula salad with your plus one. it’s yummy and satisfying and somehow just the right amount. but it does not by any means defy expectations. in fact, in a space this beautiful, it’s underwhelming. glasses clink, light jazz echoes around the room, and you wish you had ordered dessert just so you could spend a few more minutes in this room. you find yourself thinking that your parents would see this place as classy and chic. but suddenly it hits you. while the food is okay, and the service is great, would this restaurant survive were it not for the gloriously beautiful design and decoration of its interior? not in a city like Chicago, where good food isn’t quite enough to make the mark. the building that the 3 Arts Club Café exists in has a rich history. the café itself is aptly named after the building’s former inhabitants, the Three Arts Club of Chicago. it was a club and residency for women in the “three arts” of music, drama, and fine art. famous as a Chicago landmark, the building opened in 1915 with 92 residence rooms and an on-site restaurant. the Club provided residency for female artists up until its closing in 2004. and now, all that remains of the Three Arts Club is the café with the same name. all remnants of what once was are now lost to the upscale home furnishing company that bought the space. although folks like Jane Addams and rich women from elite Chicago families like the Armours and McCormicks once had their hands in the Three Arts Club, it still could not be saved. the building itself is glorious. it is the type of fancy we’ve all dreamed of existing in, even if just for a moment. i find myself wishing I had seen this space in its original glory before it became an interior decorating lab for the high-class. i long to disappear into its history. to meet its former 13,000 female residents, or even to share a bottle of wine with one of them. it reminds me too much of the upper class I grew up surrounded by. but my family wasn’t always well-off. not until I was about 6 or 7. but things changed a lot then. new cars, new house, new lifestyle. suddenly kids at summer camp were insisting on knowing what my dad’s yearly salary was. restaurants like 3 Arts are nothing new to me. honestly, they feel more normal than I’d often care to admit. don’t get me wrong. it’s not that the 3 Arts Club Café, Restoration Hardware, or even the building itself are inherently elitist. in fact, during my evening here, most of the people in the room are fairly young and seem happy to be where they are. but it also seems cliché. like i could pause the movie and begin to pick apart its flaws at any moment. it’s human to love beautiful things and want to exist in proximity to them. but I can’t help but wonder what the catch is. while some people are barely getting by, i’m spending $17 on a grilled cheese and gasping in awe of the carved marble fountain directly to my right. but this is the world that we live in. only those well-off enough to be here, and feel comfortable here, would ever make their way into this space. and as a place that used to service artists, and female artists at that, another treasured space has been lost to the lack of money to sustain it. 3 Arts Club Café couldn’t help but remind me that money does indeed make the world go ‘round.
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some of my writing.some opinions, some journal entries, some samplings of the inside of my mind. Archives
February 2022
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