Play Bingo with Bill Kurtis at Madame ZuZu's

Journalist Bill Kurtis will be at Billy Corgan's Teahouse in Highland Park on Monday as he calls the monthly "Celebrity Bingo Night" for 30 lucky players.

Billy Corgan Gets Tea House Sign Approved

The Smashing Pumpkins' frontman put a 44-inch neon sign in front of his Highland Park tea house without permission from the city. The City Council okayed it on Monday.

The City of Highland Park approved the neon sign in front of Billy Corgan's tea shop months after the shop opened. Madame ZuZu's opened last September in Ravinia. Owned by the Smashing Pumpkins' frontman, the cafe soon began displaying a Corgan-designed, neon sign in the front window, which is prohibited by Highland Park city code, according to The Highland Park News. The sign is 44-inches tall. Instead of asking for a presentation for the variance request, the Highland Park City Council unanimously approved it at Monday night's meeting, according to The Tribune. Moments later, Mayor Nancy Rotering thanked Corgan for opening the tea house in Highland Park. In a letter to Patch, blogger Bob Levi wondered why the variance was approved so …

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Sue Roses

3:22 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013

I agree totally. It is not about the whether the sign is nice or not, but how the rules are applied. There have been numerous businesses that have inadvertently broken a sign code, were called on it, and had to go to the added expense of replacing it, some with less padding in their pockets than Mr . Corgan . Either change the codes or apply them equally . The exceptions seem to only be made for …   more ›

Check Out Photos from Ravinia Block Bash

The Ravinia Neighbors Association hosted its second annual block party to celebrate the Ravinia Business District in Highland Park last weekend.

The Ravinia Neighbors Association hosted the second annual Ravinia Block Bash last weekend "Even better than the first," as Ravinia resident Carolyn Cerf put it, the event was MCed by Terri Olian and included performances by the Highland Park High School jazz ensemble, Ravinia's own solo vocalist Sean Harris, the Makkai Ballet School and the Village Music Store Band.  An array of prizes, donated by Ravinia businesses, were raffled throughout the day while children will played games and jumped around in the bouncy house.  Tea samples were handed out by Billy Corgan's new tea house, Madame ZuZu's, which celebrated its grand opening on Tursday. In addition, local non-profit organizations like Tails of Hope, the Historical Society, The Art …

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Editor's Notebook

Dreams Do Come True

The afternoon of Sept. 13 was a surreal one as I had my picture taken with my idol, Billy Corgan—and enjoyed a performance at his new Highland Park tea house.

"The impossible is possible tonight." That's exactly what I was thinking Thursday as I sat mere feet from my idol, Billy Corgan, at his new tea house in Highland Park. My colleague and friend, Angela Sykora, and I decided we'd take our computers and work from Madame Zuzu's in the off chance that Billy would be there. It's one of my dreams, of course, to sit down with him, have a cup of coffee (or tea), and chat. So we got our tea, set up our computers and went to work. That's one of the many things I love about working for Patch—that we can work from anywhere. I just happened to glance up and there he was—the Smashing Pumpkins frontman, just casually talking to customers and friends. I stayed as calm as possible, trying to focus on my work…

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Angela Sykora

9:26 am on Friday, September 14, 2012

An exciting day at the Patch mobile "office" indeed! And the tea was delish. Highly recommended!   more ›

Billy Corgan's New Tea House Opens Thursday

Madame ZuZu's arrives in the Ravinia Business District in Highland Park this week, and the neighbors couldn't be more excited to see what the Smashing Pumpkins' frontman has in store.

The hip tea house owned by Smashing Pumpkins' frontman Billy Corgan and Ravinia Wine Shop owner Sharon Mackin-Norberg will open its doors in the Ravinia Business District on Thursday. Madame ZuZu, located at the former Post Office in the Ravinia neighborhood of Highland Park, will offer a dozen international teas as well as Intelligensia coffee, desserts from Highwood's Bent Fork Bakery and swanky seating, according to Eater Chicago. The renovated space includes "a long dark wood bar, black-and-white flooring, metal plating on the ceiling, red walls, deco lighting and a piano," Eater Chicago reports. Ravinia residents couldn't be more excited. "People have been waiting with bated breath for it to open," Ravinia resident Caroyln Cerf said…

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Doug Purington

3:52 pm on Thursday, September 13, 2012

Welcome, Madame Zuzu's and Billy Corgan, to the Ravinia Business District! We applaud your addition to the vitality of our charming Ravinia and wish you much success. Doug Purington, Publicity Director Ravinia Neighbors Association   more ›

Renowned Literary Minds Help Celebrate Library's 125th Anniversary

Authors Jonathan Eig, Joseph Epstein and Elizabeth Berg joined musician Billy Corgan and other award-winning artists at a packed reading at the Highland Park Public Library on Sunday.

"Today Show" correspondent Mike Leonard told the packed crowd at the Highland Park Public Library on Sunday his inspiration to pursue a creative career came from this city. The broadcast journalist, who has filed over a thousand stories and has traveled the globe to report, explained that he had undiagnosed dyslexia when he was a child and sat "in the back of the back of the classroom."  That is until he went to a Ravinia concert in 1964 and saw Bob Dylan perform. "I couldn't move for two hours," Leonard said of the performance. "I decided that night I was going to be creative." Leonard, who read the lyrics to "Mr. Tambourine Man," was one of a dozen renowned creative minds that celebrated the library's 125th anniversary by reading …

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Rain Doesn't Stop Flood of Fans at Chicago Comic Con

For some celebrities it's fun; others are all business

There was a good bit of smudged makeup and more than a few damp capes, but the weekend rain couldn’t keep die hard fans away from the Chicago Comic Con in Rosemont. It was the culmination of months of preparation for many, including Mike Perri of Kenosha, Wisc., who started planning his costume just after the 2010 comics mega-convention, organized by Wizard World, ended. With beads of sweat dripping from his Batman beak, he posed over and over again in photos with children, fellow conventioneers and solo at Comic Con, held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. "Some of it I bought, some of it I made," Perri said. "I don't even know how many hours I spent on it." For Perri and for many others striking poses throughout the crowded …

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