Are you asking me if you should visit Roost? Do (Cockadoodle)

When I want to feel like a country boy again, I slip into my overalls, grab my red bandanna and head over to Roost, Andersonville’s newest design shop (if you still can’t spot me among all the other overaller’s, I’ll be the guy with the piercing blue eyes [well one's blue . . .  perhaps more pale than piercing . . . and the other one's a hazel-y mud color]).  Owner Daniel Malone’s shop is positively roost-ic (sorry) with a vibe that takes me back to my high school years listening to Kenny Loggins*, playing chicken with our tractors and fighting over girls.  They were good times (if only we were allowed to DANCE!).

Roost offers a fancy-free but fun mix of mid-century pieces, original art and country-industrial furniture and accessories, including decorative ceramic cocks, vintage tool boxes and my favorite piece, a long, low and eminently lie-able slate-blue mid-century sofa.  Malone’s friends (he’s six degrees from practically everybody) are breathing a sigh of relief that the paths have widened in the long-time collector’s apartment (it would take only minor tremors to topple the stacks of cool that had begun to form and it would surely take more than a few good men to rescue those who might be trapped in the funtry rubble).

So wild things, if you want to see a selection of roosters in all shapes, sizes and colors, head over to Roost.  Make a day of it starting with breakfast at neighboring cottage-country breakfast joint M Henry where Malone also works (something tells me he might need a little rock and roll right about now).  Try Fannie’s Fried Egg Sandwich (a word which apparently only has one h), a delicious combination of egg, gorgonzola cheese and crispy bacon.

5634 N. Clark St., 773-450-1290

To read more about Roost, check out my short piece in the Winter CS Interiors, available free in most design boutiques and at the Merchandise Mart.

* Do you remember that truck movie Kenny did the music for?  The one with the Stallone and that kid from General Hospital?  Not so good, was it?