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Posted: Tuesday, 03 November 2009 7:13AM
Chicago restaurant scene loses two mainstays
Steve Miller Reporting
WBBM Newsradio 780
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CHICAGO (WBBM) -- Two mainstays of the Chicago restaurant scene are closing down: Nick's Fishmarket, which was in the Loop for more than 30 years, already is closed. And Don Roth's Blackhawk in Wheeling will be closing at the end of the year.
"It was a very emotional afternoon," Bob Vorachek, general manager of Don Roth's Blackhawk in Wheeling told WBBM. The Wheeling restaurant is the last of a line of restaurants owned by the same family for 90 years.
The original Blackhawk opened at Wabash Avenue and Randolph Street in the Loop in 1920.
The staff got the word yesterday afternoon that the restaurant was closing.
Ann Roth, the widow of Don Roth, is pushing 90 and Vorachek says she decided it was just time.
Vorachek says what most people will remember was the famous spinning salad bowl.
"The little spiel that stuck. For 54 years we've been doing it the same way...
"We mix the salad six times, only three times now, three times later in order not to bruise the tender greens."
"Waiters spun the big bowl of fresh greens at each table, adding the special Blackhawk Dressing with its "21 Secret Ingredients" and tossing it only six times, gently, so as not to bruise the tender greens. They topped each serving with anchovies or shrimp," according to the restaurant Web site.
The final spin of the salad bowl will be New Year's Eve.
In 1926, the Blackhawk added new dance orchestras to the menu and, i n 1939, "Big Noise from Winnetka" was composed at the Blackhawk, according to the Web site.
The Wheeling location opened in 1969.
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