The proposed Roots Handmade Pizza and Bleeding Heart Bakery & Cafe restaurants at 1916-24 W. Chicago Ave. get a close look in the latest East Village News, including comments from news.eastvillage.org and facebook.com/eastvillagechicago . The newsletter also invites members to the annual East Village Association holiday party Dec. 6 at Wooden Gallery, 1007 N. Wolcott, looks at vintage window restoration, and provides updates on the Chicago Bowl concert space at 1850 W. Chicago and the former St. Boniface Church at 1358 W. Chestnut St. The December 2010 issue can be downloaded here . The newest EVA News advertiser is Panon Service of Chicago . Holiday happenings Dec. 4 Wicker Park Choral Singers look to the sky with the concert “Star of Wonder” at 3 p.m. in Wicker Park Lutheran Church, 1502 N Hoyne. Dec. 4-5 Do Division Holiday will offer sales from stores along Division Street from Milwaukee to Leavitt and trolley rides to Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Sale at Pulaski Pa...

President's Message | By Greg Nagel    Many of us in this neighborhood nest in our nest egg. By nest I mean that our home is our castle, our sanctuary, and the place where our families eat and sleep. Our home and the associated lifestyle in our neighborhood are important, and are worth protecting and shaping. By nest egg I mean that for most of us our home is our single biggest investment, and our financial security is largely tied to our property value. Right now in America, 1 in every 5 homes is upside down: We owe more money to the bank than what the home is worth. It has been a very hard and scary market, and I'm sure many of us our do not have the sense of financial security we did five years ago when our homes were worth more. Financial security can be as important to everyday happiness as a clean, comfortable neighborhood environment. A high-end grocery store can improve our lifestyle. A low-end liquor store can detract from our lifestyle. Developments can improv...

Scott Weiner, co-owner of The Fifty/50 Restaurant at 2047 W. Division St., describes the restaurants he and partner Greg Mohr are developing at 1916-24 W. Chicago Ave. In a Jan. 3 vote, East Village Association members will advise Ald. Joe Moreno on support of the plan. By Scott Weiner   Roots Handmade Pizza   Roots Handmade Pizza is a concept based on food from restaurants that have become institutions or icons in Greg Mohr’s hometown area, the Quad Cities. The main focus of the food concept will be hand-tossed pizza. In addition to being made from fresh, high-quality ingredients, what sets this pizza apart from others is a unique spice blend and dough texture. Everything from the pizza sauce to the sausage will be made in house. We will make homemade mozzarella, fresh pastas and numerous specialty sausages, as well as feature great salads. From the dessert spectrum, we will be serving homemade organic ice cream and a plethora of organic desserts, which will all be made next...

Jerzy Kenar's sculpture "To Communicate" at Andersen Community Academy   Blend your artistic and culinary tastes on Monday, Dec. 6 at the East Village Association holiday party. The annual neighborhood get-together this year is a potluck dinner at the Wooden Gallery, 1007-15 N. Wolcott. The event is BYOB and starts at 7 p.m. E-mail the name of the dish you will bring and the number of people attending to holiday@eastvillagechicago.org . Sculptor Jerzy S. Kenar has operated the Wooden Gallery as his studio for the past 30 years, and EVA members can view a retrospective of his work there. The 62-year-old Polish-born artist produced the familiar mound sculpture facing Division Street at the Andersen-LaSalle II school campus, 1148 W. Honore. Monumental Kenar installations in Chicago include wooden sculptures in international-arrivals Terminal 5 of O'Hare Airport and the Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State St., and the granite Black History fountain at ...

Neal McKnight is not voting as an East Village Association board member on a restaurant proposed at the end of his block. But he has been participating in the discussion, and here he offers a personal view about why it's an important debate.   By Neal McKnight   My wife and I have two daughters and we live on Winchester Avenue in East Village. Mom lives across the street and some of my best friends in the world are my neighbors. We have lived here since 1995, longer than some and much shorter than others. Over the years we have seen waves of development roll through the neighborhood, some of it good and some of it bad. The recession has slowed development in the neighborhood in the last couple of years, but recently new developments have been proposed along Chicago Avenue. The latest proposal is for a 250-seat bar-restaurant at the northeast corner of Chicago and Winchester avenues. I think the hours and size of this business will alter the character of my street and ...

Minutes for Nov. 1, 2010 membership meeting submitted by Dana Palmer Bend Yoga & Movement Studio Meeting commenced 7:05 p.m. Mary Clemmons with Bend Yoga did a brief presentation of her business. Bend Yoga is located at 906 N. Damen Ave. and was started last September. It is a drop-in studio and offers classes everyday of the week. Chicago Green Windows Dan Nehm was a guest speaker on window repair and energy efficiency. Nehm supported old-growth wood and repairing old windows versus replacing them with new ones. He argued that old windows can be fixed for a reasonable cost and can be as energy efficient as new windows if storm windows or weather stripping is installed. Holiday party The December Holiday party is approaching and the board will discuss time and location at next board meeting. Chicago Bowl Pete Shapiro with Chicago Bowl presented his proposal for a bowling alley, restaurant and music venue at 1850 W. Chicago. Shapiro and his group are in need of ...

Minutes of Nov. 8 board meeting submitted by Greg Nagel Roots/Bleeding Heart Greg Mohr and Scott Weiner presented plans for the Roots pizzaria and Bleeding Heart Bakery cafe at the northeast corner of Chicago and Winchester. The project is building to be LEED certified, maintaining facade, and will have valet parking. It will not apply for a PPA license. Bleeding Heart will have 100% electric ovens to reduce emissions, adding stairwell in front to take deliveries through front loading zone. Roots will have an estimated 60/40 food to liquor mix. No music is planned for Roots outdoor patio or Bleeding Heart rooftop deck. Concerns noted in the meeting: Location abuts residential street. Is Roots really more of a bar than a restaurant? Noise from Roots outdoor patio and garage door style windows on Winchester face. Alley concern with incoming/outgoing deliveries, late night pizza/ organic ice cream pickup window on Winchester, garbage cans/ bins in a narrow alley. Aaron Bilton ...

Greg Mohr and Scott Weiner with publicist Dave Andrews   The owners of The Fifty/50 sports bar will ask the East Village Association to support rooftop seating at the Bleeding Heart Bakery breakfast cafe they are developing at 1916 W. Chicago Ave. EVA board members reviewed their plans Nov. 8 and suggested ways to minimize the neighborhood impact of Greg Mohr and Scott Weiner's next-door companion project, Roots Handmade Pizza at 1924 W. Chicago Ave.: Eliminating a delivery window on Winchester Avenue. Extending the Third Coast Valet loading zone on Chicago Avenue. Closing large retractable windows on Winchester during night hours. Redirecting Winchester's current one-way northbound traffic. The 60-seat rooftop patio facing Chicago Avenue is likely to face a member vote Jan. 3, since it requires a special-use permit. Roots would have sidewalk tables on Winchester and a rooftop garden, which current zoning allows. The design from Space Architects is similar to a res...

The Snowberry playlot at 1851 W. Huron would be converted to a dog park in a proposal to be aired by the Commercial Park Advisory Council . A meeting will discuss dog-friendly areas at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 16 at Commercial Club Playground fieldhouse, 1845 W. Rice St.

It's true, says carpenter Dan Nehm: They don't make windows like they used to. "Old growth wood has properties that keep wood from rotting," Nehm told East Village Association members Nov. 1, passing around a densely grained block of reclaimed wood to support his view. Windows from the 1940s and earlier are restored in Nehm's business, Chicago Green Windows . A reclaimed window demonstrated his system, weatherstripped with glazing putty and thick bronze strips, both made locally. A wood storm window matched the vintage look, with a new screen-window track built in. Even energy-efficient modern windows have an ecological downside: "Once the seals fail they have to be thrown away," Nehm said. "They're great for energy efficiency, not so great for the environment." Vinyl windows not only allow few repair options, they're prone to damage from winter cold and summer heat despite their billing as maintenance free. "Be careful when you he...

Scott Weiner, Vinny & Michelle Garcia, Greg Mohr (metromix.com)  A Chicago Avenue pizza restaurant from the owners of the Fifty/50 sports bar is on the agenda at Monday's meeting of the East Village Association board.  A representative of the project will attend the 6:30 p.m. meeting at Leona's Restaurant, 1936 W. Augusta, said EVA planning co-chair Scott Rappe. Scott Weiner and Greg Mohr tell Metromix Chicago they plan a spring opening for a 200-seat pizzaria at 1924 W. Chicago Ave., with an adjoining Bleeding Heart Bakery coffee shop next door at 1916 W. Chicago. The location has been on EVA's radar lately. A restaurant at the Chicago & Winchester corner passed a May 2009 vote and city zoning change, only to lose development backing in the recession. It failed review at the start of the year as a potential drycleaning plant, and in 2007 as a condo site. Roots pizza, with a planned March opening, would serve Quad Cities-style pizza (doughy thin crust c...

Schools in the 1st Ward will have representatives on hand to discuss programs and enrollment from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday at Nazareth Family Center, 1127 N. Oakley, according to Ald. Joe Moreno. The e-mail announcement links to a list of 16 elementary and 4 high schools , both public and private. Parents have till Dec. 17 to apply to Chicago Public Schools' selective enrollment schools and career or military academies, including LaSalle II Magnet School . Also, a document shredding truck will be available this coming Tuesday till 8 p.m. at the 1st Ward office, 2058 N. Western. Parking will be free at Red Hot Ranch, 2076 N. Western. Moreno keeps open hours to meet with constituents on Tuesday nights.

A 16-lane bowling alley, restaurant and performance space at 1850 W. Chicago got the unanimous support of East Village Association members in a Nov. 1 vote. Chicago Bowl developer Peter Shapiro took questions from the 50 people attending in the ping-pong room at Happy Village, 1059 N. Wolcott . If 1st Ward Ald. Joe Moreno sponsors a Public Place of Amusement license, the venue at Chicago and Wolcott could open in early 2012. Shapiro will make another presentation at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Commercial Club Park fieldhouse at 1845 W. Rice St., which shares an alley with the Chicago Bowl site. Shapiro suggested his business would support park improvements. The former Chicagoan plans a renovation of the 23,000-square-foot AAA Distributing Co. auto warehouse along the same lines as his Brooklyn Bowl , a former factory in the gentrifying Williamsburg district of the New York borough. Shapiro came armed with a written testimonial from borough president Marty Markowitz. The restaurant ...