9MST0201HD Main Streets with John McGivern: Lincoln Square, Chicago Transcript

- John McGivern: I am in a neighborhood with the old-world charm of Europe, tucked away on the north side of Chicago. 
§ §

- Announcer: John McGivern's Main Streets thanks the following underwriters:
[gentle music]

- Woman: Greendale is proud to be the inspiration for John McGivern's Main Streets. This historic village is a real place, where all are welcome to gather, to shop, to enjoy. Charming, vibrant, joyful, welcoming! You've just gotta see Greendale. 
§ § 
§ I'm on my way § 
§ Oh, it's time to hit the road § 
§ I'm on my way § 
§ This is the freedom I live for §
[upbeat music]

- Man: Remember when the American Dream was being able to say, "I made that, I built that.” Wouldn't it be great if your kids and grandkids chose a career that provides that kind of pride with good pay, but without a ton of student loan debt? A four-year degree isn't the only path to success. We need talented people to make and build on Main Streets everywhere. Skilled work isn't a thing of the past. It's a bright future.

- Announcer: Additional funding is provided by the Friends of Plum Media and the Friends of PBS Wisconsin. Thanks, friends!

- § Cause these are our Main Streets § 
§ Something 'bout a hometown speaks to me § 
§ There's nowhere else I'd rather be § 
§ The heart and soul of community's § 
§ Right here § 
§ On these Main Streets §

- John McGivern: This Chicago, Illinois neighborhood is called Lincoln Square. It is seven miles north of the Loop, two miles east of Lake Michigan, and three miles west of the interstate. This is episode one of season two. And after season one, we sat around talking about how could we improve this show in season two. And this is what we thought of. Emmy Fink, you're gonna be such an improvement.

- Oh, I don't know about that, but I've been awaiting this day for so long!

- This is Emmy Fink. She's our new co-host. She's gonna be sharing the kind of information I shared with you last year. We're splitting some responsibilities.

- Some historical stuff.

- You're doing--

- Answer your trivia questions.

- Yes, you are.

- I'm gonna do some real digging. Alright, so what I've come up with is Lincoln Square is about 40,000 and growing. It's very diverse. And the very best part-- you're gonna love this-- come with me! Come on, you, too, come on.

- Already bossy, yeah. Come on!
[lively music]

- Emmy: You're not gonna believe this.

- Server: Welcome to Himmel's. Here's a nice giant pretzel for you.

- Look at this thing!

- It's huge.

- Server: A little bit of Düsseldorf mustard and a little bit of butter here for you.

- Thank you.

- Thank you very much.

- You're welcome.

- The reason I brought you here is because this neighborhood has deep German roots. And the pretzel was invented in Germany, so it only made sense to come here. Now, here's the thing. Do you know what the pretzel symbolizes?

- Um, I don't.

- Eternal love and good luck, which I think is perfect for our first show together because it kinda seems like a first date.

- This symbolizes eternal love and good luck. So we should celebrate this.

- Let's break some bread.

- Can we? Look at this.

- Lincoln Square is bursting with German flair, thanks to the immigrants who came looking for rich farmland. 

Now no one does German heritage better than right here. Willkommen to the DANK Haus, a multicultural center right here in Lincoln Square. They have classes. They have exhibits. It's a museum, a language school. It's a one-stop shop. It's a trip to Germany without all the luggage.

- This is Yolanda. And you're not Gene.

- Yolanda Luszcz: I am not. I'm Gene's daughter.

- You're Gene's daughter. You're understated when you call it a sausage shop. You realize that?
[laughs]

- It's a full-service grocery store. We make over 40 varieties of sausages, hams, and deli meats ourselves.

- Gene Luszcz: What, you fall asleep over there?

- Can only go so fast, Gene.
[Gene laughs]

- John: Gene, is this your first time?

- Gene Luszcz: Fifty years I've been doing.

- 50 Years! It's a beautiful store.

- Yolanda Luszcz: Thank you. Most of the items here are made by us. And a lot of the items here are very specialized, very European in nature, and very difficult to find.

- What are you putting in there?

- Gene Luszcz: That's the spices.

- Is it secret spices?

- Gene Luszcz: Secret.

- John: This is the originals?

- Gene Luszcz: They've been in four generations.

- Four generations.

- Gene Luszcz: This is confiscated. Nobody got it.

- Nobody sees it? Okay.
[laughter]

- Gene Luszcz: Nobody got it.

- John: Good.

- Yolanda Luszcz: Even though we are in a big city like Chicago, it's a definite nice social neighborhood.

- John: Right.

- We love it.

- John: What are you throwing that into?

- That's a stuffer.

- Stuffer.

- Raising them, hit it hard, so there is no air.

- No air. Wow! Gene, you're strong.

- Gene Luszcz: I love my job.

- John: Good.
[Gene laughs]

The building has your name on it. I'd love it, too. This place is great. The roof is perfect.

- Yolanda Luszcz: We take our best-selling products up here so people can enjoy them. And then, if people like them, they can buy them on their way out and grow them at home.

- Gene: All they can do is they can buy the product, taste it, whatever, blah-blah-blah.

- John: And buy some more!

- Gene: And buy some more. That's our goal. Our goal: Buy some more!
[laughing]

- Yolanda Luszcz: So, this is kabanos. I haven't met a child that doesn't like this.

- I must be a child.
[Yolanda laughs]

I love it.

- Takes a little bit of technique. You just pinch it.

- Oh, wow!

- The old twist.

- Okay.

- Gene Luszcz: Another 25 years, you'll be alright.
[laughter]

- This is Gene. He's the best. You're good television right there. Wow! This statue was commissioned in 1951 as a memorial to the namesake of this neighborhood. A nationwide contest happened to pick the design. And I've got one thing to say. Okay. I know that Abe Lincoln was like six foot four, but this guy, this guy is like seven and a half feet tall. Yeah, yeah. My mother would've called this whole thing an exaggeration. That's what she would've called this. This is ridiculous. Are you a pharmacist by trade?

- Anthony Qaiyum: I'm not. I was a religion major by study.

- Let's talk about that.

- I'm the fifth generation owner of this business, but in the second family to own it.

- Can we first talk about what an apothecary is?

- An apothecary is an old-fashioned word for pharmacist. Our modern version of apothecary is the expertise of a pharmacist, but with the best products from around the world.

- This is an amazing shop to walk into because it's, for a moment, overwhelming.

- Anthony Qaiyum: Overwhelming is our thing. But that's why we have people to help you out.

- It's too bad that our audience can't experience what you do when you walk in and smell because the smell in here is remarkable.

- Anthony Qaiyum: It's true, thanks. I love the products, but I love smell. That's one of my favorite things about the business.

- And, next door, it feels different.

- Anthony Qaiyum: The idea was to make an adjoining boutique space.

- John: So, never once have I used one of these. It's like really nice jewelry.

- It is what my grandfather used, both of my grandfathers. So Caswell-Massey, they made the fragrance that George Washington wore. And I'm not joking, this is the fragrance! Number Six is the one that George Washington wore. And I happen to love it. I wanna smell like George Washington, right.

- John :
[inaudible]

We have tea blends, and we have the original recipe books that date back from pre-1900.

- John: So, the Tea Lady, do you mind that name?

- Lisa Frye: Oh, I love it! It might have been a little self-coined, so I know about it.

- Oh, so you named yourself.

- Yes.
[laughs]

- How many varieties are there?

- Lisa: We have 170-ish SKUs. It's always growing.

- What are you making today?

- Lisa Frye: This is a 'Breathe Free' respiratory support. So, it's perfect for allergy season. The irony is the Breathe tea makes me sneeze. 
[John laughs]

I know that it's working then because it's directly affecting my respiratory system. Breathe out when you stir, and in, look away. So you just did it. You made your first herbal tea blend in the apothecary.
[John sneezes, Lisa laughs]

- Oh, my Lord, I'm healed. Thank you, I can go home.
[laughter]

- Emmy Fink: Now, if I lived here, this would be my go-to place. Wells Park is over 15 acres, and it was named after Gideon Wells, who was a member of President Lincoln's cabinet. Now, back in 1910, the park was only eight acres. Now it has doubled in size. It is the gathering hub for recreation, sports, and fitness. And it is a perfect outdoor music venue.

- I am excited about this next one. It's the economic engine of this neighborhood and the largest employer in Lincoln Square. It's quite a bit of responsibility to have this job at this school.

- Jim Newcomb: It is. This is the largest community music school in the country.

- John: Amazing!

- And it's a Chicago icon and a folk icon, internationally. We are the largest producer of world music in Chicago. We are the largest producer of folk music, obviously. And we're one of the most consistent overall producers of music in the city. So, the Old Town School was founded in 1957, and the idea was really that people should make music together.

- John: Can we talk about a typical season of classes in this school?

- Jim Newcomb: We teach 13,500 students a year. We have harp, banjo, a lot of piano students. And then, of course, our wiggle worms classes, which are just teaching basic music to the littlest kids. We believe that music is, especially when you're learning, is best done together.

- Yeah.

- Many of our teachers are nationally recognized in their instrument, and we're just lucky to have them.

- Yeah.

- Jim Newcomb: This space is the one that's been called the "Carnegie Hall of folk music" because there's just really nothing else like it. And we have 250 shows here at Old Town a year, and we have free concerts every Wednesday night, world music Wednesdays, because we want people to enjoy it.

- It's Thursday. I did nothing last night.
[laughing]

Does it make a difference what building you're in as to what you play or?

- Jim Newcomb: The only rooms that that really have a distinctive purpose are dance rooms.

- Has that always been part of the programming here, as well?

- It has; Dance has always been a part of it. One of the things about Old Town, which I probably should have mentioned to you, is on your first day here, you're gonna leave knowing how to play a song.

- Really?

- Jim Newcomb: Yes.
[strumming guitars]

See? Jim: It's the neatest thing to see somebody-- whether they're 4 years old or 50 years old or 80 years old-- light up because they're able to play something that they've always wanted to play.
[strumming guitars]

- I love a neighborhood where there's always a festival or a celebration going on on the weekends. And Lincoln Square is one of those neighborhoods. Can you guess what fruit has its own festival celebrated right here in Lincoln Square? Yes, I said fruit.

- Emmy Fink: John, that would be Apple Fest. It's a 30-year-long standing tradition that brings the Lincoln Square community together every fall. There's apple crafts, apple pie, apple cider. Even apple pizza. Now, that's a new one for me.
[gentle music]

- Like, 1986 is when we met; Is that when we met?

- That is correct.

- We did a show together in Chicago called Sheer Madness. So, in 1990, you guys moved here?

- Paula Flanagan: We did.

- John: Were you like, "Oh, let's move to Lincoln Square?"

- Paula Flanagan: No, I got lost going to the pediatrician. Our daughter was tiny, and I came on the street on Ainsley, and there was this house.

- Andy Flanagan: The block had the entire cross-section of the city of Chicago.

- Can you talk about what it's like to live in this neighborhood?

- Well, I would say it's really, it's very neighborhoody. There's lots of little shops. On our block, everybody knows everybody else. Our kids have grown up here.

- Andy Flanagan: We love the Square. We love that whole street.

- Paula Flanagan: Isn't it lovely? It's definitely a destination.

- John: And you use that area.

- Paula Flanagan: We do.

- One of the things that makes living in Chicago really cool because you don't have to go all the way downtown and be in the Loop to get a neighborhood central business district.

- John: But in the 31 years that you've lived here, have you seen, like, a growth in Lincoln Square?

- Lots of young families have moved into the neighborhood.

- So Paula and Andy, I remember this as your back porch.

- Paula Flanagan: It was.

- Is that a comfortable couch, Andy?

- Andy Flanagan: It was last night.

- Was that always open?

- No, we opened that up, too. That was one of the first things we did.

- The bookcases, the stained glass. It's really gorgeous.

- We're gonna stay until the earth looks level.

- I am so glad that we did this neighborhood. When we were picking a neighborhood, I picked because of you guys.

- Andy Flanagan: Thanks, John.

- The Flanagans. That's right, I'm walking underneath the L, the elevated train. That's how people get around in Chicago. When I lived in Chicago, I lived in the South Loop. I lived in the third floor of an apartment building where I could reach out the window. I almost lived on the L. In fact, here it comes. Take a listen.
[train clunks loudly]

And when I was on the phone, and that happened, people would usually say, "John, are you vacuuming?" I was like, "No, I live on the L." Because that's the sound you would hear: the elevated train.
[festive horn music]

Salsa's Family Market, because people call you Salsa?

- Jorge Rosales: No, no, no, no.
[laughs]

Salsa's came from my mother-in-law. She likes to make salsas. And that's how we call it salsa.

- John: Is this a large Latino population in this neighborhood?

- Jorge Rosales: Not anymore. Back in the days, it was a lot of Latinos around here. It was like a little town where everybody knows each other. Everybody says 'hello' to another person. So, that makes a small businesses like mine success.

- This is what people come here for, isn't it?

- Jorge Rosales: On the top shelf, we have guacamole and pico de gallo.

- John: You told me that's the best guacamole ever.

- Jorge Rosales: You have to try.

- You have no idea how much I love this. I swear, I didn't make him do this. I really didn't.

- No, he's gonna pay double. If he's gonna like it, he's gonna pay double.

- I'll pay double.

- Okay.

- I will. So we have the other one, the chili de árbol, which is really, really spicy. You wanna try it?
[Jorge laughing]

You say you like it spicy.

- Como se dice "hot as hell?"
[laughter]

- Jorge Rosales: ¡Muy picante!

- John: ¿Muy picante?

- And a lot of these are your mom's recipes?

- Laura Rosales: Yes, you know, when mom make it, it's the best.

- There you go. So, these are the tortilla chips. So we're gonna put some cheese in it. So, we're gonna grab the homemade green salsa.

- John: Soak them up. Some red onions?

- Yeah, a-ha, sour cream, onions, cheese, and avocado.

- ¡Muy hermosa!

- Jorge: There you go.

- John: Esto tuyo y esto mío. Chilaquiles from Jorge, and I helped. So, I made this one.

- That one is spicy!

- John: That was what you did. Now, I wanna make this at home, right.

- Jorge Rosales: I told you.

- The striped pole has a distinct purpose. Can you guess what it's used for? I'll give you a hint: It's not a flag pole. I know it has flags on it, but that's not the purpose. Guess.
[playful music]

- Emmy Fink: This is a maypole, and there are a lot of interpretations of what this means, but it is gathered around on May Day, which is celebrated on May 1st. And it symbolizes everything that spring brings, the warmer weather and the celebration of Mother Nature.

- Lutz Bakery calls themselves a Chicago tradition, and since they opened their doors in 1948, I tend to agree. 

They specialize in European pastries in the Konditorei tradition. Okay, what's a Konditorei? It's a type of bakery in central Europe, where it's customary to come in in the middle of the afternoon for a sweet treat and a cup of coffee. It's customary, it's a tradition, and guess what? It is in the middle of the afternoon. So, okay, okay... Goodbye, see 'ya. Love a tradition.

- Emmy Fink: Celeryville or Pickletown? Either could have been this neighborhood's claim to fame since early agriculture focused on the production of celery and pickles. Farmers would bring their prize produce by wagon down to Chicago, and they nicknamed the area "the nation's celery capital." 

The Budlong brothers opened their pickle company in 1850. And 75 years after it opened, it was one of the largest pickle companies in the world. I'll eat to that. Mm, delicious.
[upbeat music]

- What are you serving here?

- Darnell Reed: Actually, we serve food from all over the south. So we serve fried chicken, shrimp and grits, biscuits and jam, biscuits and gravy, beignets. A lot of things from the south.

- What has to stay on your menu?

- Well, shrimp and grits for sure.

- Do you know this food because you're from the south?

- Actually, I know this food because Luella's my great-grandmother. She's from Mississippi, so she's the reason we named the restaurant Luella's Southern Kitchen. She moved to Chicago in the '40s. There's a lot of things that she used to make for us and we kind of modeled the restaurant after her. We opened in February 2015. She passed away October 2015. So, she approved of the food.

- If you were to walk in here on an afternoon and look at your menu, what's the first thing you'd order?

- If I'm coming in here for like a brunch or something like that, I'd probably try our French toast. We do a different flavor every month. We bake the bread in-house. We come up with different toppings, and people really enjoy it.

- John: So you made this?

- We make the cream cheese bread in-house, so we just dip it.

- Soak it up.

- Part of the reason we cut it this way is just so people would know you can't buy that anywhere. It's homemade, kind of, "Just let it do its thing."

- Yep.

- I wanna just take a peek.

- John: Look at that.

- It's nice and gooey. And that's what people want with the French toast. So now, pick 'em up. We just stack them three high.

- John: That's a half a loaf of bread right there.

- Yep, we hit them with the topping. You have the pastry cream. It's just a streusel topping, just to add a little crunch. Then, we'll have the fresh strawberry compote.

- John: And it's beautiful. And one person. This is a serving for one?

- I've seen people finish that and order something else, but, for the most part, people, people share.

- John: Mmm! Oh, and the strawberry. This is delicious.

- Thank you.

- We're so happy that you brought this up from the south.

- Oh, thank you, thank you.

- Luella would be proud. So, I was looking for the Book Seller: S-E-L-L-E-R. No, I was wrong. Take a look. I hope they have books in the basement.
[gentle music]

Talk about whose shop and what's in here.

- Maggie Johnson: This is primarily a jewelry shop. The owner is a woman named Suzanne Miranda. She got really inspired by her travels. That's where the name comes from. She's kind of a nomad at heart. Loves to travel around the globe. But as far as Ant, a bunch of tiny people can come together just like a bunch of ants can come together, and if they have a mission, they can move something big working together. So there's a lot of unique pieces. So that's a big mission to showcase that. And also just to bring attention to global artists that aren't as successful commercially in the US. Giving them their shot to show their collections.

- It's really great. It's so varied what's in here.

- Maggie: It's one of the only places in the United States where you can get most of these designers.

- Can we look at some of your favorite stuff?

- Here's some of our Iskin collection. They make the earrings that are super cool and they make all this laser-cut leather as well. It is just so lightweight.

- It looks like it's gold or plated anyway. And what it really is, as Maggie told us, it's as light as air and it's leather.

- Just try stuff on for fun. We're cool about trying anything on in here. And the look on people's face when they put one of those on, and they're used to wearing heavy jewelry, is crazy.

- This piece?

- These are from Columbia, handmade. The interior is really amazing, as well. A designer that I absolutely love is Lakshmi. She makes all of these incredible pieces on a farm in Columbia.

- Like, these are so perfect right here. I love the fact that they're really light and that they would be great for my sister-in-law, Catherine. She would be so happy that this weighs absolutely nothing. So, I'll be back. I am on Lincoln Avenue in the middle of Lincoln Square, and it seems like everything around here is named after Abe. Can you guess how many things are named after Lincoln in a three-mile radius from where I am standing? Can you guess? Come on, guess, yeah. Lots of Lincoln.
[playful music]

- Emmy Fink: Now, this is not exact science, but we counted 17 places within a three-mile radius of Lincoln Avenue with the name Lincoln. So, we've got Lincoln Park, Lincoln Zoo, Hotel Lincoln, the Lincoln Eye Clinic, and my personal favorite, the Lincoln Ice Cream Company, which-- where is that place, again? Let's go.

- John: We're at Timeless Toys. Tell your story. It's a good one.

- Scott Friedland: So, Timeless Toys opened in 1994, and my father was actually the CPA for the store. Twenty years later, they had started looking towards retirement, and my dad goes, "You know what? I think I know a guy." Walks over to my desk and says, "How do you feel about buying a toy store?" And I was like, "Well, that sounds awesome. That'd be great." Here we are. We're 28 years into this, and we're having a great time.

- And did you know much about toys before you stepped into this job?

- I knew I loved toys. I knew that I was a five-year-old at heart.

- So, there's everything from board games to puzzles to Legos, classic toys. It's a little bit of everything. See, these would freak me out as a kid. Look at this.

- Pulled a rabbit out of a hat, didn't I?

- Scott Friedland: People used to come to Chicago, and they would shop Michigan Avenue and these big stores, and then, they realize, like, "Oh, these stores are everywhere." So now, we're getting a lot of tourists to come out to Lincoln Square because it's this little European-style street with mom-and-pop shops and people love it. It's a unique experience that you're not gonna get anywhere else. We're not here to find what the most popular toy is for your kid. We all have the background in childhood development to be able to help your kid progress to the next step of their life.

- This is great. It's a robot hand.
[clicking]

This is cool, robot hand.

- This thing is so much fun! My four-year-old loves it. I have to admit that my wife and I have played it without our kid before. Another great music toy that I love. It's for our budding DJs. Scratch the disc.

- No.
[laughing]

- You have the, like, classic View-Master, the Speak & Spell from the '80s, the Etch-A-Sketch. One of my favorite things of all time is every day, there's adults that walk in here, and they're like, "Oh, I had that!" And it brings back memories from when they were a kid.

- Battleship. I like to be the red. I would win a lot.

- I come to work early every day because I'm excited to get here. It's a lot of fun.

- You bring joy to people's lives.
[upbeat music]

- So, Emmy, we made it through.

- That was really fun.

- Episode one. It was really fun. Thank you so much. I'm so excited that you're part of this. And you know what I noticed during this episode?

- What?

- What's going on?

- Well, didn't somebody tell you?

- Was it from that pretzel?!

- I did love the pretzel. I'm eating for two.

- You're seven months pregnant, you are?

- Are you gonna be able to do this without me for a couple weeks?

- For a couple weeks. But you'll be back with the baby. We loved Lincoln Square, didn't we?

- I loved it here.

- Here we go. Episode one in the can! It's the best.

- Yes! 

§ There's nowhere else I'd rather be § 
§ The heart and soul of community’s §

- John: In a three-mile radius...
[mumbles]

[imitating Sir Mix-a-Lot]
- § I like big bumps and I cannot lie §
[laughing]

- Breathe Free.

- John: Breathe Free? 

- Mm-hmm. Liar.
[crew laughs]

Lutz Berry calls the...
[laughing]

Lutz's Bakery calls themselves a... Oh, my God. Could be the end of it.
[laughing]

- Announcer: John McGivern's Main Streets thanks the following underwriters:
[gentle music]

- Woman: Greendale is proud to be the inspiration for John McGivern's Main Streets. This historic village is a real place, where all are welcome to gather, to shop, to enjoy. Charming, vibrant, joyful, welcoming! You've just gotta see Greendale. 

§ §
§ I'm on my way §
§ Oh, it's time to hit the road §
§ I'm on my way §
§ This is the freedom I live for §
[upbeat music]

- Man: Remember when the American Dream was being able to say, "I made that, I built that." Wouldn't it be great if your kids and grandkids chose a career that provides that kind of pride with good pay, but without a ton of student loan debt? A four-year degree isn't the only path to success. We need talented people to make and build on Main Streets everywhere. Skilled work isn't a thing of the past. It's a bright future.

- Announcer: Additional funding is provided by the Friends of Plum Media and the Friends of PBS Wisconsin. Thanks, friends!

- Crew: And the first thing John is, what's he doing?

- Eating. Yum, I'm glad to be back at work 'cause it looks like I starved all winter, doesn't it?

- Yes.
[laughs]

- Shut up.
[laughs]