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Show: Gaida “Gaida Hinnawi’s first album, Levantine Indulgence, captures a sensibility that radiates expansively outward from the Fairuz and Umm Kalthoum songs she learned as a child,” writes Peter Margasak. “She’s rooted in classical Arabic and folk sounds as well as vintage Lebanese pop, but working with jazz musicians—in particular trumpeter Amir ElSaffar, a longtime collaborator who was very involved in the making of the record—broadened her vocabulary further, resulting in some surprisingly breezy hybrids.” Gaida also plays Wednesday at the Old Town School.
Dinner: Cafe 28 You could easily drive right past this Cuban-Mexican eatery, inconspicuously located near the Brown Line tracks on Irving Park, but Raters are high on the eclectic food, big portions, and reasonable prices. “One of the best restaurants in the city for the money,” says one.
