How Does Gwyneth Hit Chicago and No One Hears About It?

Earlier today, Gwyneth Paltrow sent out her GOOP newsletter highlighting some of Chicago's choicest restaurants, hotels and shops while she allegedly was in town last weekend to "visit my bff from high school."

A lot of local sites, even Contact Music (maybe because of her burgeoning country career? Or just because she's uber cool?!), picked up the story. We love that the A.V. Club called her a "one-time head-in-a-box," referring to her gruesome demise in Seven. But here's what: If Gwynnie was really in town and hit all of those spots, don't you think someone would've reported on it or that Twitter would've been all, well, a-twitter?

Whether she hit all those places on the list, we can confirm she did, in fact, dine at the Publican, which she called a high point. "It’s my ideal kind of menu, with oysters, roast chicken, fries, and lots of delicious sides." It's kind of funny how she described Schwa, which she said was the "absolute highlight" of her trip as looking condemned from the outside. No one said Gwyneth wasn't perceptive.

She said she stayed at the Elysian, hit the spa and dined at Balsan. When we called to confirm, we were told they have a strict confidence policy and couldn't say yea or nay. We'll just have to take her word for it. As for the rest of the list, she got tips from "a couple of super in-the-know Chicagoans." Looks like they could've fact checked a bit better, because, as The Feast points out, they got the address wrong for Longman & Eagle, instead sending them to Riccardo Trattoria (at 2119 N. Clark). Looks like her hipster following might be in for a surprise when they end up in Lincoln Park instead of Logan Square.

Gwyneth Paltrow [Photo: AskMen]