Classic Meets Modern At Tortoise Club

By Anthony Todd in Food on Nov 9, 2012 8:40PM

You can't open a restaurant anymore without having a cocktail menu. Inevitably, this means that a lot of bars overreach, overcharge and end up making mediocre drinks, rather than putting in the time and money required to get it right. Even at the best bars, newfangled "Mixologists" are often too busy with their eyedroppers and lab equipment to know their customers, swap stories and create the kind of relationships that people value in a bartender. Tortoise Club, a new restaurant and bar set to open in River North, is planning to do things differently.

How is Tortoise Club going to be different? Rather than hiring a hotshot mixologist with a mustache and a vest, they've brought in Bobby O'Connell. He's been a Chicago bartender (at Butch McGuire's and other bars) for more than 30 years, and has deep roots in this town. He knows how to make a customer feel at home. "Meeting people, remembering names, remembering drinks, that's what I love to do," he told us. But he's not necessarily used to making drinks that you remember in the morning. "I was a Division street bartender, and I've been doing it for 32 years. I'm used to having a shot glass in one hand and a bottle in the other and pumping the whiskey out. Here, it's different."

At Tortoise Club, in addition to a bar that felt like an old-fashioned refuge from the world, the owners wanted to have a beverage program that would stand out from the crowd. That's where Eric Hay, of Wirtz Beverage, comes in. Hay worked with O'Connell to create a bar that would feel like a comfortable club while serving the drinks you'd expect from the best cocktail wizards around. At the same time, Hay did some retraining to bring O'Connell's skills up to the level that new cocktail drinkers demand. "I'm often taking bartenders who have been doing something a certain way and shaking the rust off and showing them different techniques," Hay explained.

Not every bartender with 30 years of experience wants to be re-taught how to mix drinks. Luckily, O'Connell is not your typical bartender. "The blend of me and Eric together to form the bartender is very clever and sophisticated," O'Connell said. "What he is doing is taking someone who has been in the industry for a long time and can generate a lot of business, and who knows the essentials of bar tending. Mix that with what Eric has taught me. Much of it I already knew, but he took it to perfection."

Tortoise Club is not your standard trendy restaurant. Walking into the space feels like walking into Ralph Lauren's brain. The walls are covered with tartan, there is rich wood paneling, bookshelves, a piano and, miracle of miracles, no TVs. At the same time, it doesn't feel stuffy; rather, it's like sinking into a comfortable chair at the end of a long day. O'Connell explaind: "The whole idea here is to make it feel clubby so when people walk in, they feel like they are a member of a club. They're going to feel comfortable, they're going to want to come back again and again because it's their second home."

According to O'Connell, "This is not your "shot and a beer" kind of place, it's not the place that's going to draw kids to watch football games, it's not the place that's going to play loud music." The cocktail menu reflects that feeling. It's filled with classics - you won't seen any rhubarb bitters or raspberry infused vodkas. At Tortoise Club, Hay has taken classic cocktails and ramped them up a little bit. The Manhattan is still a Manhattan, but it's made with Templeton Rye, Carpano Antica and garnished with a Luxardo Cherry. The menu includes classics like the Corpse Reviver, the Bees Knees, Planter's Punch, Negroni and Moscow Mule - all made with the best ingredients, done consistently. For a more modern twist, he's created the "Tipsy Tortoise," made with scotch, Averna Amaro, lemon and "TC syrup," made with Rare Tea Cellars tea and cocoa nibs.

As a cocktail consultant, Hay is used to coming in to train bartenders and create cocktails. What does Hay see as the most important thing for a bar to succeed? "First and foremost, consistency is key. One of the coolest tricks you can do is to walk up to a bar and ask everyone to make a margarita and see all the different directions they scatter in. That's not what the guest wants - the guest wants a consistent experience."

Tortoise Club's model promises to create a different kind of bar, one where customers have the benefits of an old-fashioned bartender. Despite the cocktail world's obsession with "pre-prohibition" bars and "speakeasies," people still yearn to sit and chat with a bartender who remembers their name. O'Connell is that bartender, and when his skills are combined with Hay's, we bet Tortoise Club will become one of the most comfortable spots for a drink in Chicago.

Tortoise Club is located at 350 N. State Street. It will open on November 19th.