The new bar will impress any cocktail connoisseur. more ›

- It's finally happened - the rumors are true. The fabulous cooks behind Sunday Dinner Club are opening a restaurant. Christine Cikowski (our very occasional contributor) and Josh Kulp announced to Chicago Magazine that they are going to open Honey Butter Fried Chicken, which will serve... you guessed it: fried chicken topped with honey butter. Which is apparently an incredibly decadent taste treat. The restaurant won't open till next year, and Sunday Dinner Club will continue to operate. more ›

Eighteen years ago, one of Chicago’s most authentic rock ‘n roll bars opened its doors. more ›

Ira Koplowitz and Nick Kosevich, the duo behind Bittercube, will be dashing through town this weekend, making stops at two Lush Wine & Spirits locations. The Milwaukee-based outfit will be demonstrating its line of cocktail bitters at the Chicago Avenue Lush tonight from 6 to 8 p.m., and again from 6 to 8 p.m. on Sunday at the Lush in Roscoe Village. more ›

Winemakers, distillers and brewers have been aging their handiwork in barrels for centuries. It does magical things. Seeing an opportunity to experiment, bartenders have recently adopted the practice, too, aging cocktails in large batches using barrels obtained second-hand from distilleries. Hearing that a barrel-aged Manhattan recently appeared on The Violet Hour's menu, we paid a visit to taste what all the fuss is about. more ›

In May 2010, Topolobampo hosted the release party for Del Maguey Mezcal Vida, the latest offering from the renowned brand of Oaxacan Mezcals. Vida de San Luis del Rio, as its full name goes, has since become a darling of the Chicago bar scene. Vida is starring in a number of hit drinks right now; Big Star's Oaxaca Vieja, Violet Hour's Heads You Lose, the Drawing Room's Los Muertos and WaterShed's Italian Hurricane (which we recently reviewed) are just a few examples. more ›

We often fantasize about chaining Mike Ryan (of Sable) or Stephen Cole (of Violet Hour) to one of our radiators and forcing them to teach us bartending. A wholesome dream, shared by every Chicago booze lover, but also probably illegal and dangerous - after all, what if you got drunk and they escaped? Now, you can get the same results without the possibility of arrest, violence and property damage. more ›

Ladies, if you're trying to figure out how you're going to kill some time this weekend, consider putting together your submission package to become the next "Miss Wicker Park." If you're female, unmarried, between the ages of 21 and 36 (Cougars need not apply, apparently), and living in Chicago or any of the collar counties, you can throw your tiara into the ring for the chance to win a thousand bucks and the title of Miss WP as well as all the privileges that go along with it. If it's preferred seating at Big Star or Violet Hour, we might sign up ourselves. more ›

We ran our very first Properly Sauced nearly two years ago. So, after a bit of research, we were shocked! shocked! to discover that we had never written about what is arguably our very favorite cocktail: the Mai Tai. more ›

A couple weeks back Rob and I attended a tasting of Rosangel, a new infused tequila from the makers of Gran Centenario, at Nacional 27. Rosangel takes Gran Centenario's reposado tequila — aged for 60 days in port barrels — and then is infused using hibiscus flowers. The result is a pinkish-colored tequila with the faintest sweetness imparted to it from the flower petals. more ›

Our Ideal Manhattan, the end result of trial and error over the years, balances power with a soft finish. And it's pretty darn easy to make. more ›

We all know how nuts everyone is about grilling during the summertime. But for us the best part of season is consuming frosty beverages. What's more invigorating after a hard day's work than sitting down with an ice-cold bottle of something in your hand? Today's New York Times has a pair of articles on favorite summertime beverages, and wouldn't you know that Chicago-area people figure in both of 'em (because if there are two things we've mastered in this town, they're how to cope with frigid winters and wilting summers). more ›

The Gawker-affiliated travel site Gridskipper took a look at the local dining scene yesterday. Laura pointed out to us - and after reading the post we concur - that the tone of the post strikes the balance between "yeah, that's about right" and "this is why people in New York shouldn't write about Chicago." Seriously, they consider moto to be overrated, when we found it to be the most fun we've had in a restaurant in years. And Violet Hour is so six months ago, according to them. more ›

Remember in Moulin Rouge when Ewan McGregor's character drinks some green liquid, the camera tilts to a canted angle, the crazy music starts playing, and you felt like maybe someone had slipped a hallucinogen into your popcorn? The green liquid, of course, was absinthe, and its purported psychoactive properties have been well extolled by the likes of Oscar Wilde, Outkast, and Johnny Depp. more ›

There's a new absinthe on the market called Lucid that's catching on at places like the Violet Hour, Lumen, and Delilah's, namely because Lucid is the first Grande wormwood-based absinthe available in the States since before Prohibition. Now, we've tried the "green fairy" and it was an experience we'll never forget, so we researched Lucid for details on how much thujone (the active ingredient from wormwood) it carries. Turns out, not much at all: under... more ›

It's easy to forget that, with all the hype recently bestowed to the Violet Hour since it opened months ago (much of it warranted, we'll preface), that this city was already teeming with master mixologists before Toby Maloney blew back into town. Case in point, at the recent "Chicago Iron Bartender" competition, Sepia's Peter Vestinos beat out a packed field including Nacional 27's Adam Seger, Tim Lacey of Spring Restaurant Group, and Otom's James Macknyk... more ›

We intended to write a post this week on making our own tomato sauce as something to do with all the tomatoes in our garden, but we never got around to it. As you can see, it's pretty easy to do, and if you click here you'll see the recipe we used. We ran the sauce through a food mill to give it a coarse texture and remove excess water with the intent of using... more ›