White-Hot Pacific Standard Time Starts Lunch Service Today in River North

— River North’s California-inspired hotspot Pacific Standard Time kicks off weekday lunch service today. The daytime menu features hits from the dinner menu as well as sandwiches including the addition of a burger, soups, salads, a three-course prix fixe, and non-alcoholic cocktails. Read through the full menu below.

— Walton Street Kitchen + Bar, the fancy new Gold Coast restaurant from the people behind Gemini with a first-floor lounge where ownership plans to serve a large Scotch selection, has an opening date: September 12. Stay tuned for more details in time for opening day.

— Wine Enthusiast honored two locals as its “Top 40 Under 40 Tastemakers of 2018”: Derrick C. Carter, sommelier and wine buyer of 57th Street Wines and owner of his consulting company DerrickCWestbrook LLC, and Shelby Allison, co-owner of Lost Lake and co-founder of Chicago Style and the Chicago Period Project. The Tribune has more.

— Machine, the forthcoming Wicker Park restaurant from the Headquarters Beercade owners in the Taus Authentic space, now has a chef and beverage director: Trevor Hoyte (IPO) and Aneka Saxon (former Violet Hour bar manager), the Tribune reports. It’s slated to open in mid-fall.

— LA-imported cocktail and karaoke bar Blind Dragon is already living up to its hype as a celebrity draw. Drake spent three nights there last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, including renting out the entire space for his private parties the last two nights following his concerts at the United Center. This was on the heels of bevy of celebrities, including the cast of “Shameless” and the band Arctic Monkeys, appearing over Lollapalooza weekend.

— And finally, the chef of two-week-old West Town restaurant Thai Nang is facing charges for allegedly violating the Endangered Species Act. Sittipat “Ong” Satangmongkol allegedly tried to buy 24 banned “dragon fish,” the Sun-Times reports, and is facing misdemeanor charges, although his lawyer hopes he’ll only receive probation.