Chris LaMorte had a meeting with Patty Rothman, the owner of More Cupcakes in downtown Chicagoand naturally sampled one of her sweet treats. Then he was off to Tru for a sit-down meeting with Anthony Martin, the high-end restaurant's executive chef.
LaMorte also had a cup of Starbucks coffeea grande, served blackin the morning and another in the afternoon.
Welcome to a normal day in the gay life of this Lakeview resident who is the Chicago editor for UrbanDaddy.com .
UrbanDaddy is a free daily e-mail devoted to showcasing the city's nightlife, food, style and more. As its website boasts, UrbanDaddy's "goal is to be your friend. The kind of friend who knows everyonethe maitre' d at all the right restaurants, the bouncers at all the right clubs, the addresses of all the great parties. And the kind of guy who lives to share the wealth."
UrbanDaddy e-mails daily reportsand LaMorte is the Chicago writer.
UrbanDaddy now hits 13 markets, including Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Miami and San Francisco, among others.
"The prose has to really fit our voice, our style, and also offer the audience what it is looking for. We're very, very aware of what our audience wants and needs," said LaMorte, who has watched subscribers to the Chicago version grow from zero to more than 100,000 in less than three years.
"It's meant for young, sophisticated, mostly men"and mainly the straight world.
"We don't write in this testosterone-fueled, frat boy, jocky way. We are delivering a sophisticated takeand gay men in particular appreciate that," LaMorte said.
So what about a gay version of UrbanDaddy?
Perhaps, he said.
"We have had people ask us if we would ever start a gay edition. What I try to do is write so that we're not exclusive of anyone, but our target audience is the straight male, 25 to 35," he said.
LaMorte graduated from Crete-Monee High School in 1988, and then received a B.A. in communication from DePaul in 1993. He earned his M.S. in journalism from the University of Illinois in 1993.
LaMorte also was the senior producer/dining editor at Metromix.
"This is where my writing career has led me," said LaMorte, who was the first online editor at Westward, the alternative newspaper in Denvera job he held for about four years.
LaMorte and his partner, Rob Grossett, 45, a radiologist, have been together for 15 years.
THE STATS
Name: Chris LaMorte
Age: 40
Regimen: Works out up to four times per week at Equinox Gym
Art and music: LaMorte found a passion for art through his partner, Rob Grossett. LaMorte also enjoys contemporary art and photography.
Pets: Two French bulldogs, Winston and Thurber
Quote: "This is not a nine-to-five job and I'm always looking for a story. I'm writing every day, and that's a challenge. This is the most challenging and also the most rewarding job I've ever had."