Jan. 14--What would it take to get you to rappel down the side of the 27-story Wit hotel?
For retired restaurateur Ina Pinkney, Chicago's legendary "Breakfast Queen" and Chicago Tribune columnist, and Dan Rosenthal, president of the group that owns Trattoria No. 10, Sopraffina's Marketcafes, and Poag Mahone's, it's a fundraising activity for Chicago's Respiratory Health Association to mark the 10th anniversary of passage of a city ordinance that banned smoking inside most public spaces, including, eventually, restaurant bars and taverns.
Pinkney and Rosenthal, shown here in a Photoshopped illustration sent in an announcement email from Rosenthal, helped organize the restaurant community to support the ban. They now plan to go down the Wit together as part of the twice-yearly Skyline Plunge.
"I've skydived and skied on a glacier. This is easy," quipped Pinkney, who owned iconic West Loop restaurant Ina's until she decided to close it in 2013.
She and Rosenthal are looking for other members of Chicago's restaurant community to join them in the challenge or to support the cause from the ground with a donation.
"Come take a 'Flying Leap' with Ina and me!" read an email from Rosenthal. "What the hell...it's only 27 stories."
Rosenthal said he and Pinkney hope to raise at least $30,000 between them. The last Skyline Plunge, held in September, brought out more than 50 participants and raised more than $70,000 for lung health, according to the association's Web site. Click here to register.
wdaley@tribpub.com
Twitter @billdaley
