You know there's a good PR team at work when a restaurant shows up on Thrillist, DailyCandy, JuliB, and UrbanDaddy. But who does it best? We subscribe, read, and levy judgment... so you don't have to

Today's showdown, the half-opened Eve (840 N Wabash Ave, 312 266 3383). We say "half-opened" because the new kid in town is only opening its doors for lunch right now, though dinner service begins on November 5 (perfect for all you kids in need of an unsullied environment in which to soothe your post-election day hangovers). Today's battle is an epic duel: the oft-insipid Daily Candy vs. current board leader Thrillist. Will the tables be turned? Let's find out!

Thrillist's take on...
a witty title: "All About Eve"
an overarching narrive conceit: The quality of being prolific: a philosophical exploration.
pop-culture elements obsessed over by many of our ex-boyfriends: Zeppelin, Goodfellas, giant TVs
names or resume items of involved parties: zero names, but an indication of two individuals; one other restaurant (Tallulah)
number of animals mentioned in menu description: 9 (boar, duck, crawfish, pig, goat, lobster, cow, crab, lamb). 10 if you count "sheep" as distinct from "lamb." 11 if you count "ham" as distinct from "bacon."
explanation of the restaurant's name: It's from Milton's Paradise Lost. The poem also lends its title to a Ketel One-based cocktail.
closing witticism: "[There's a private room with TVs and WiFi] for when your net-surfing & TV-watching's more prolific than your friend-making."

Daily Candy's take on...
a witty title: "Out To Lunch"
an overarching narrive conceit: Naming something is a delicate responsibility.
concepts obsessed over by many of our girlfriends: portion sizes, sparkliness, polenta
names or resume items of involved parties: Troy Graves only; two other restaurants (Tallulah, the now-closed Meritage)
number of animals mentioned in menu description: 5 (lobster, boar, duck, goat, turkey).
explanation of the restaurant's name: "We don’t know why (or how) Troy Graves... christened his latest Gold Coast venture Eve — and frankly, we don’t care."
closing witticism: "Everyone who’s anyone will be there. But we won’t drop names."

Winner: Thrillist, thanks entirely to their having taken a freshman year literature survery (or, um, existed in contemporary Western society) and being aware that Eve is a biblical character about whom Milton wrote a poem. In fact, we wonder — their writeup describes a restaurant so epically dude-friendly, did the team behind Eve pick the name in order to indicate that their resto would be the ultimate temptation of men? Maybe we're overthinking this.

Loser: DailyCandy, who continue their streak as the losing-est challenger at the PR Corral. The complete dropped ball on the name front is one thing, but selling this restaurant to "ladies who lunch" (based on portion sizes and chandeliers, no less!) feels unpleasantly hollow. Bonus points, though, for yet again winning the "correct and comprehensive naming of people and other restaurants involved" category. Thrillist — take note!

Thanks for playing, everyone! See you next time!

Eve [Thrillist]
Eve Restaurant Opens For Lunch [DailyCandy]
Showdown at the PR Corral: The Bristol [previously]
Showdown at the PR Corral: Duchamp [previously]
Showdown at the PR Corral: Piccolo Sogno [previously]

You know there's a good PR team at work when a restaurant shows up on Thrillist, DailyCandy, JuliB, and UrbanDaddy. But who does it best? We subscribe, read, and levy judgment... so you don't have to

Today! Today is opening day of that much-ballyhooed, much-buzzed, much-delayed valhalla to the drunken epicure: The Bristol. We've been sitting on our hands for this PR Showdown, since some e-PR outlets took the early-opening bait (Thrillist and Juli B ran their items on September 15 and 16, respectively), but we had a feeling the others would catch up. Which they did: UrbanDaddy dropped their pitch yesterday, and DailyCandy's popped into our inbox all perkily this morning. So how do they do?

Thrillist's take on...
a witty title: "Meet Your Scratch"
an overarching narrative conceit: the average man's notion of making something from scratch is popping a lunchables and drinking a capri sun.
number of chefs called out by name or former place of employment: 3: "Tri-owned by a former Tru chef and vets from N9ne & one sixtyblue"
a head-scratcher of a humorous assertion: "in Belgium, the Lord's blood is frothy."
highlighted menu item that makes us drool: "chorizo-stuffed boneless chicken wings (w/ bleu cheese cream & chicken cracklings)"
closing witticism: "[the bar serves] Moscow Mules — a drink you can enjoy without incident, as opposed to those whose pouches must be pierced with a pointy straw."

Juli B's take on...
a witty title: "Bristol Whipped"
an overarching narrative conceit: the resto is both British and neighborly
number of chefs called out by name or former place of employment: 1: "exec chef chris pandel has worked at fancy-pants restos like NYC's café boulud and chicago's own tru."
a head-scratcher of an illustration: stock photo of pastel plastic cafe chairs that we are fairly sure don't fit into the Bristol's leather-and-wood pub design.
highlighted menu item that makes us drool: "soothe your soul with comfy food like duck fat fries"
closing witticism: "get on your pony and warn them all: the bristol is coming."

DailyCandy's take on...
a witty title: "Snackdown"
an overarching narrative conceit: your late-night snacking habits are immature, at best
number of chefs called out by name or former place of employment: 3: "Operated by John Ross (One Sixtyblue), Phillip Walters (N9ne), and Chris Pandel (Tru)"
a head-scratcher of an opening sentence: "On your last trip to the The Wiener’s Circle, you smeared ketchup on your date’s face then dipped a fry in it."
highlighted menu item that makes us drool: "monkey bread (biscuits with butter, dill, and sea salt)"
closing witticism: "Weekend brunch launches mid-October. Giving you just enough time to clean up your act."

UrbanDaddy's take on...
a witty title: "Chalk It Up"
an overarching narrative conceit: you hate writing things in stone; you live your life via a metaphorical chalkboard; The Bristol is good for both guys nights and date nights.
number of chefs called out by name or former place of employment: 0
a head-scratcher of any variety: none, actually. This is surprisingly both lucid and devoid of jokes.
highlighted menu item that makes us drool: Taco-Stand Corn on the Cob
closing witticism: "From there, the game plan should take care of itself."

Winner: In an upset, we're going to anoint the crown to DailyCandy. This is in part because of how much better this entry is than DC's previous attempts, which have been shockingly bad. But they also get props for IDing the chefs by name and resume, a well-punned title, and an adorably deranged opening sentence. Wear that tiara with pride, DC:C!

Loser: What the fudge, Juli B? While this showing wasn't a total embarrassment, we were struck by the absent plugging of the other two name-brand chefs involved with the project, the totally incongruous illustrating photo, and the out-of-left-field Mister Rogers reference in the opening paragraph — not to mention the closing sentence (we do not now, nor have we ever, owned a pony). Fail. Sorry.

Honorable mention is due to UrbanDaddy, by the by, for delivering the information on this restaurant in such a way that we knew exactly what was going on in their post at all times, and precisely what every sentence was supposed to refer to. It didn't make us laugh out loud like Thrillist's (which gets the ribbon for humor), but reading UD was a breath of fresh PR air.

Thanks for playing, everyone! See you next time!

The Bristol [MenuPages]
The Bristol [Official Site]

You know there's a good PR team at work when a restaurant shows up on Thrillist, DailyCandy, JuliB, and UrbanDaddy. But who does it best? We subscribe, read, and levy judgment... so you don't have to

Today in showdown, dadaist masterpiece Duchamp (2118 North Damen Ave, 773 235 6434), which opens today. You'll note that the name of the restaurant is not, as is our wont, a hyperlink to its page in the MenuPages restaurant directory. This is because the contents of this restaurant's menu is such a complete and total secret that when we spoke directly to the nice PR folks in charge of its image, they sadly informed us that we couldn't have the menu so much as a day before opening. Because this is serious stuff, folks. This is Defcon freaking 5. Anyway, we now have the menu (note: it actually looks quite fantastic), and it will be up on the site in mere days.

Until then! Let's see what email machines UrbanDaddy and last time's loser, DailyCandy, pulled out of their hats based on the press release.

UrbanDaddy's take on...
a cutesy title: A Little Surreal
the skills of the chef: "Like the restaurant's Dadaist namesake, Marcel Duchamp, acclaimed chef Michael Taus (Zealous) unleashes his playful side, turning everyday edibles into objets d'art."
weekend gimmicks: "just so things don't get too stuffy, Taus plans to throw dress-down barbecues on Sunday afternoons, where he'll flip burgers and grill Chorizo and Egg Quesadillas."
potential downsides: "In this case, the seating is communal. We know what you're thinking: fine for Randolph Street, but sort of drag for a neighborhood spot. And you're right."

DailyCandy's take on...
a cutesy title: "Hot or Not?"
the skills of the chef: "enjoy top-notch grub prepared by chef Michael Taus (Zealous)."
weekend gimmicks: "Bust out the fat pants for Duchamp’s Sunday backyard barbecue (weather permitting)."
a completely inexplicable opening sentence: "In T-minus three months, you’ll transform your apartment into a bomb shelter replete with sun lamps and Spam."

Winner: UrbanDaddy, who did a decent enough job (points for knowing that Duchamp-the-artist was known for controversy!), but to be honest, their victory is only an externality of...
Loser: DailyCandy, in a scathing, flaming loss. It's worth noting that along with the really deeply un-parseable first sentence — Bomb shelter? Spam? Is this a reference to winter? Do we know anyone who bunkers down in their apartment during the winter and eats nothing but Spam? — and the cringe-inducing mention of "fat pants," there are also zero references to Dada, surrealism, or the artist Marcel Duchamp. And, um, we are uninclined to chalk this up to restraint on the part of the DC writer. If you catch our drift.

Thanks for playing, everyone! See you next time!

You know there's a good PR team at work when a restaurant shows up on Thrillist, DailyCandy, JuliB, and UrbanDaddy. But who does it best? We subscribe, read, and levy judgment... so you don't have to

In this inaugural edition of Showdown, we have newbie Italian joint Piccolo Sogno, which opens today. The contenders: Thrillist, DailyCandy, and UrbanDaddy. JuliB is apparently sitting this first round out.

Thrillist's take on...
a cutesy title: "On the 'Lo"
the chef, Tony Priolo: "Longtime right-hand men chomp at the bit to step up and unleash their own unique creativity -- Snoop's last words to Dre were "One day I will use Peter Frampton's voice-box to record an R&B song"."
the dining room: "like a Pier 1 exploded inside Donald Trump's penthouse."
the menu: "ambitiously pan-Italian, whisking your ambitious gut from Naples (creamy buffalo mozzarella and fresh basil studded Margherita pizza) to Sicily (wood-fired whole fish w/ sea salt and braised fennel) to Rome (slow-roasted pork in garlic, olive oil, and fennel)."
the bar: "The 100+ bottle wine list also spans the Boot, with Chianti, Brunello, Barbaresco, and more from Umbria, Piedmont, Veneto, and loads of other regions you know intimately as "In Italy, right?" Priolo's also spreading his hard-liquor wings, with 12 signature cocktails."

UrbanDaddy's take on...
a cutesy title: "Molto Patio"
the ambiance: "Complete with a lush and airy back patio, Piccolo transports you oceans away from busy Halsted Street (OK, maybe blocks). The garden outdoes former occupant Timo (no slouch in the authenticity department), and the fragrance of new junipers, and soon, fresh herbs, will have you swearing you're on a mini Roman holiday."
what to order: "we say go with a cold Menabrea. The Italian brew stands up nicely to Piccolo's wood-fired pizzas and its porchetta, Roman-style roasted pork."

DailyCandy's take on...
a cutesy title: "Dream On"
the menu: "Simplicity reigns: house-made breads, organic Northern Italian risotto grains, Mediterranean fish, San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella from Naples. The well-rounded menu includes heirloom tomato salad, crunchy pizzas, handmade spinach and ricotta gnocchi, and rosemary-marinated lamb T-bones."
The bar: "The cocktails are seasonal as well: This month try the blood orange mimosa."

Winner: Thrillist, for providing maximum information with maximum mockery of the interior design tastes of self-styled oligarchs.
Loser: DailyCandy, for providing absolutely no unique information whatsoever, and sending their email two whole days after the other two, which makes us wonder if they were even on the initial press release mailing list at all.

Thanks for playing, everyone! See you next time!

Piccolo Sogno [MenuPages]
Piccolo Sogno [Official Site]

[Photo: Showdown, via avant gardenia's Flickr]