Overeatingfor Funandprofit
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CHICAGO’S FREE WEEKLY | THIS ISSUE IN FOUR SECTIO NS | FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 2006 | VOL 35, NO 40 Overeatingfor Funand Profit Meet PatBertoletti, Chicago’smost gifted glutton. By KabirHamid CHICAGO READER Asmoke-free failure p 12 Abizarre arttheft Section 2 J.R. Jones on LarryClark’s Wassup Rockers p 22 Joravskyonrising property taxes (yes,theyare) p 8 ChrisWare, freshold-schoolsoulfromthe southside, Hopper on Sonic Youth, ourguide to theChicago CountryMusic Festival,and more Section One Letters 3 Reviews Movies 22 Columns Hot Type 4 Larry Clark’s Wassup Rockers What Ozzie meant Music 24 The new Sonic Youth, Lizzy Mercier The Straight Dope 5 Descloux, Lagos Chop Up Has a millionaire ever been executed in America? The Works 8 Theater 26 Time for a taxpayer revolt Franz Xaver Kroetz’s Request Programme Chicago Antisocial 10 at Trap Door Theatre If your wife won’t swap, don’t let her shop Plus What Are You Wearing? 13 Our Town 12 Dustin Senovic at City Soles June 30, 2006 A failed experiment in smoke-free drinking; habitual letter writer Brien Comerford Free Shit 16 Breakfast at the Green City Market Comic Ink Well 27 Chris Ware 17 This week’s crossword: That’s an Order ON THE COVER: PAT BERTOLETTI BY SAVERIO TRUGLIA c UGLIA VERIO TR SA Pat Bertoletti Overeating for Fun and Profit One day Kendall College culinary student Pat Bertoletti hopes to run his own restau- rant. But he may never be as famous for his cooking as he is for stu∞ng his face. By Kabir Hamid t was ten o’clock on a Saturday morning room at the destination airport, but his flight have to begin shoving as many beef tamales in May and Pat Bertoletti was in the tiny had been delayed and he was getting nervous. as possible down his throat. I bathroom of an airplane, spiking his hair Upon landing in Houston, he’d be shuttled to Bertoletti got to the restaurant just before into a Mohawk with Got2B styling glue. a Berryhill Baja Grill northwest of down- 1 PM, the contest’s scheduled start time. Normally he’d wait to do this in the men’s town, where he would almost immediately Nearly 200 people were continued on page 18 2CHICAGO READER | JUNE 30, 2006 | SECTION ONE CHICAGO READER | JUNE 30, 2006 | SECTION ONE 3 m Chicago Reader, 11 E. Illinois, Chicago, IL 60611 312-828-9926 JUNE 30, 2006 f VOL 35 | NO 40 Letters @ [email protected] Publisher Michael Crystal of the ground where a street our story was ignored, Libby’s Editor Alison True lamp used to be. Frustrated by improvement over the next few Managing Editor Kiki Yablon More my inability to solve the mystery, weeks became more evident. Senior Editors Michael Miner |Laura Molzahn | Kitry Krause I proceeded home. Last week while I was on the Associate Editors Martha Bayne | Anaheed Alani Stray Jolts On my way home the horror of el and anticipating the “Buster- Philip Montoro | Kate Schmidt Libby’s yelps were screaming in and-Libby hero’s welcome” I Assistant Editors Jim Shapiro | Mark Athitakis | David Wilcox Dear Justin, my ears and a shot of her flying would receive after a long day of Web Editor Whet Moser Thank you for your article into a brick wall and then metal work, I glanced over a woman’s Staff Writers Liz Armstrong | Martha Bayne | Steve Bogira John Conroy | Jeffrey Felshman | Harold Henderson “This Sidewalk Could Kill Your garbage can flashed in my mind. “All of a sudden shoulder and caught a glimpse of Deanna Isaacs | J.R. Jones | Ben Joravsky | Monica Kendrick Dog” dated June 9. Your experi- And then I remembered the Libby started a subtitle to your story “stray Peter Margasak | Tori Marlan | Bob Mehr |Jonathan Rosenbaum ence validated two similar expe- exposed wire. I raced home and yelping and voltage” with the accompanying Mike Sula | Albert Williams riences we’ve had with our four- frantically searched the Internet something picture of a dog. The adrenaline Copy Chief Brian Nemtusak legged kids Buster (Rhodesian for “electrocution” and “side- threw her into rushed through my body as if Editorial Assistants Pat Graham | Renaldo Migaldi | Mario Kladis Michael Marsh | Tom Porter | Jerome Ludwig | Tamara Faulkner ridgeback) and Libby walks, manhole covers,” etc, pray- the brick wall Libby’s incident happened yes- Patrick Daily | Stephanie Manis | Robert Cass | Kerry Reid (Doberman pinscher). ing for answers. Although the of Wrightwood terday and not a year ago. I Todd Dills | Katherine Young | Ryan Hubbard | Miles Raymer One evening about two years search results were few in num- Tap.” rushed home so that I could read Tasneem Paghdiwala ago my husband and I took ber, they offered an explanation your article online. I was happy Typesetters Vera Videnovich | Kabir Hamid Libby and Buster for our evening to the unexplainable. to hear that New York and Archivist Eben English jog on a route that took us by the I shared my findings with my Boston have gone to great corner of Diversey and Halsted. husband, and he insisted that we lengths to eliminate the “stray Advertising Director Don Humbertson On this particular evening it was go back to the scene with a cam- voltage” problem, not surprised Display Advertising Manager Katie Falbo raining. When we approached era to take a picture of the that your story had not been Online Advertising Coordinator Renate Durnbaugh the northwest corner of Diversey exposed wires. While taking the heard until now, and grateful Display Representatives Sandra Goplin | Christine Thiel and Halsted our dogs started picture, he suggested that I point that your article could help to Brad Winckler yelping like I’ve never heard to it with my foot so that it could ensure that stories like ours do Senior Account Executives Denice Barndt | Evangeline Miller Geary Yonker before. Like you, we thought that be clearly identified in the photo. not continue to be buried Account Executives David Dincolo | Nichole Flores | Jeff Martin they were stepping on some- As I did this, my tennis shoe beneath the streets of Chicago. Greg Saint-Victor | Tim Sullivan | Laura Swisher | Dan VanKirk thing. We were immediately able touched the wires and sparks the Kimberly, David, Libby, and Advertising Assistants T.J. Annerino | Kieran Kelley to get them across the street, at size of fireflies flew in the air. Buster Suda-Blake Sarah Nishiura which time Buster seemed Several pictures later and the W. Wrightwood unfazed and Libby totally fren- smell of burnt wire insulation in Art Director Sheila Sachs zied and scared. My husband had the air, we knew that we had the Associate Art Director Godfrey Carmona to carry Libby home all the way evidence to let the local authori- Art Coordinator Elizabeth Tamny to Wrightwood and Racine. The ties know about the problem, cor- A Fickle Production Director Sean Phelan dog who was returned to the res- rect it, and educate our neighbors. Production Manager Bob Cooper cue shelter three times and final- After explaining the situation Situation Associate Production Manager Nickie Sage ly felt she was “rescued” by her to Vi Daley’s office, I learned that Production Artists Jeff Marlin | Jennifer McLaughlin |Mark Blade Benjamin Utley | John Cross | Andrea Bauer | Dustin Kimmel forever family glared at us in dis- she “was aware of a similar inci- Bert Stabler’s rather confusing Josh Honn | Mike Browarski | Nadine Nakanishi belief and distrust as if we had dent that killed a dog on Lincoln article on Intuit’s current exhibi- Editorial Design Jardí + Utensil deliberately abused her. I racked and Wrightwood a few years ago” tion, “Revelation! The Quilts of my brain trying to imagine what (how horrifying) and that the Marie ‘Big Mama’ Roseman,” is Operations & Classifieds Director Mary Jo Madden had happened to Libby and incident involving Libby “was in rife with assumptions and innu- Controller Karl David Wilt Buster. After a week of sleepless Ted Matlak’s ward.” A phone call endos [“The Mystical Other,” Classifieds Manager Brett Murphy nights, horrified by the images of to Ted Matlak’s office seemingly June 2]. While I am employed at Classified Representatives Sara Bassick | Danette Chavez Libby yelping and gyrating on offered a more urgent response as Intuit: The Center for Intuitive Bill Daniel | Kris Dodd | Chip Dudley | Janet Lukasiewicz the street corner and worried “they would send someone out and Outsider Art in the capacity Jeff McMurray | Amy O’Connor | Scott Shehan | Kristal Snow that she would never trust us right away.” of collections and exhibitions Bob Tilendis | Stephen Walker again, we let the incident go and Armed with rubber-soled coordinator, the following is my Matches Coordinator Jane Hanna rerouted our evening jog. shoes, my husband and I own personal critique of Stabler’s Operations Assistants Patrick O’Neil | Alicia Daniel Receptionists Monica Brown-Fielding | Dorie T. Greer One year later we were walk- marched to the scene twice daily article and in no way does it Robert Jacobs |Dave Thomas | Bob Tilendis ing the dogs at dawn after an for several days and kicked the reflect the views or opinions of Bookkeeper Marqueal Jordan evening’s rain on Wrightwood wires in hopes that our elected the organization. Circulation Manager Perry A. Kim toward Jonquil Park—a route officials had fixed the problem. What framed the author’s Circulation Fred Adams | Sadar Bahar | Neil Bagwell we’ve passed for five years since When the sparks continued to fly writing exercise as a muddled Kriss Bataille Mark Blade | Michael Boltz | Jeff Boyd living in the neighborhood. we decided to take our story and article was his attempt to expli- Michael Bulington |Bill Daniel | Tom Frederick Kennedy Greenrod | Nathan Greer |Scott Harris |John Holland All of a sudden Libby started pictures to the local media.