Slideshow, Chicago Reader

Cocktail Challenge: Tartar sauce

Kate Schmidt — Mon, 13 May 2013 04:00:00 -0500

Challenged with tartar sauce, Annemarie Sagoi creates a potable tribute to fish-and-chips. by Kate Schmidt Challenged with Tartar sauce by Scofflaw's Uby Khawaja, "I was going to go the fish route," says Annemarie Sagoi, a bartender at Big Star and the Charleston. Instead she went for "a tangy, herby flavor profile" akin to tartar sauce itself, using the savory spirit aquavit as a base and "a lot of lemon" to recall fish-and-chips; sea salt and a vinegar-based celery shrub round out her tribute.…

Cocktail Challenge: Kombucha

Kate Schmidt — Thu, 02 May 2013 04:00:00 -0500

Scofflaw's Uby Khawaja juices up the fermented tea with Old Tom gin. by Kate Schmidt Challenged with kombucha by Sable's Alex Renshaw, Uby Khawaja of Scofflaw turned to fashion designer and Big Star bartender Frog Greishaw, who brews her own from a "mother" (aka a SCOBY, for symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast). "I'm always using different flavors," she says—in this case, ginger, which Khawaja employed as an effervescent topper for his cocktail, the Tomfoolery.…

Cocktail Challenge: Chalk

Kate Schmidt — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 17:15:00 -0500

Challenged with chalk, Sable bartender Alex Renshaw volunteers the applejack-based Teacher’s Pet. by Kate Schmidt "That's edible?" an onlooker asked Sable bartender Alex Renshaw as he readied his ingredient, chalk. "It's nontoxic, at least," he said, then proceeded to use colored sidewalk chalk in powdered form as a thickener for his cocktail, the Teacher's Pet.…

Cocktail Challenge: Balsamic vinegar

Kate Schmidt — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 16:30:00 -0500

Lisa Selman of Little Market Brasserie adds some vinegar to a cocktail that only looks like a mimosa. by Kate Schmidt Genuine balsamic vinegar—which is made not from wine but from unfermented grapes aged in a succession of wooden casks, from oak to juniper—has been produced in northern Italy since the Middle Ages, when it was used as a tonic. Challenged with the condiment by Balena's Natalia Cardenas, Lisa Selman of Little Market Brasserie employed it in similar fashion, combining it with aged tequila, house-made ginger syrup, and mole bitters for an eye-opener that only looks like a mimosa.…

Cocktail Challenge: Lentils

Kate Schmidt — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 11:30:00 -0600

Balena bartender Natalia Cardenas makes a horchata-inspired cocktail with white lentils. by Kate Schmidt Challenged with lentils by Blackbird's Mary Rose Braun, Balena bartender Natalia Cardenas started with the legume itself, making some white lentils (aka urad dal) spiced with cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and a little coconut milk. From there, she says, "I was inspired by horchata," the taste and texture of the cooked lentils having reminded her of the Mexican drink made from rice water.…

Cocktail Challenge: Cod milt

Kate Schmidt — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Challenged with cod milt, Blackbird's Mary Rose Braun makes an elegant cocktail of fish sperm. by Kate Schmidt Caviar and other types of fish roe are considered luxury foods, so why not dress up cod milt, the male fish's sperm sac (semen included)? Challenged with the stuff by Red Door's Jay Schroeder, Blackbird bartender Mary Rose Braun based her elegant layered cocktail on pisco, garnishing it with boba pearls—tapioca balls of the type used in bubble tea—soaked overnight in aged rum.…

Cocktail Challenge: PEZ candy

Kate Schmidt — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 17:00:00 -0600

Red Door's Jay Schroeder beheads a childhood favorite. by Kate Schmidt Who knew that PEZ originated in Vienna, Austria? Red Door bartender Jay Schroeder, that's who.…

Hardcore band Single Mothers sell their life on the road

Leor Galil — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:06:00 -0600

Buying band merchandise has become such an integral part of the live-music experience that these days musicians have to apologize if they don't have any records, apparel, posters, and whatever other things one could possibly sell. It's pretty common to go to a concert and pass by a merch stand clogged with an overabundance of paraphernalia, and if you attend shows with any regularity all the T-shirts and CD jewel cases kind of blur together.…

Cocktail Challenge: Shiitake mushrooms

Kate Schmidt — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:00:00 -0600

Masa Azul's Jenny Kessler makes the Shiitake Flip. by Kate Schmidt Challenged with shiitakes by Rodan's Eric Chaleff, Masa Azul spirits specialist Jenny Kessler combined disparate elements—mushrooms, blueberries, egg white, warm spices—in her dusky tequila cocktail. Who's Next…

Cocktail Challenge: falernum

Kate Schmidt — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 13:00:00 -0600

Rodan’s Eric Chaleff soothes his flu with falernum by Kate Schmidt Eric Chaleff, Rodan co-owner (and guitarist in Bloodiest), had a bad case of the flu when he mixed up this cocktail featuring his ingredient, falernum. Perhaps inspired by his chills, he made a warming drink with two types of tea: a rose marzipan black tea he used to infuse two kinds of rum, steeping the mixture for more than 12 hours; and a Korean grain tea made of pine nuts, walnuts, rice powder, millet, and chestnuts.…

Cocktail Challenge: egg white

Kate Schmidt — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 16:00:00 -0600

Adolfo Calderon whips up the gin and raspberry Snow White by Kate Schmidt "Girly looking," said Adolfo Calderon of Public House when asked to describe his cocktail. Challenged with egg white by his fellow bartender, Monica Dim, he whipped up a drink inspired by the fairy tale.…

Cocktail Challenge: plum

Kate Schmidt — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 11:30:00 -0600

Public House bartender Monica Dim crafts the Professor Plum by Kate Schmidt "It takes you on a vacation," Public House bartender Monica Dim said of the cocktail she devised to feature her ingredient, plum. Beginning with freshly extracted juice from the fruit—including the skin, for color—she set out to concoct an escape from an overcast fall day in Chicago.…

Surfing Sandy

Kevin Warwick — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 18:05:00 -0600

Lake Michigan's turbulent waters offer die-hard surfers a prime opportunity to shred some waves by Kevin Warwick At the end of October, when the remnants of the devastating winds of Hurricane Sandy began churning the Great Lakes, a handful of men—a 45-year-old high school teacher, a 26-year-old engineering student, a 27-year-old union plumber, a 45-year-old concrete mason—suited up and made a beeline for the lakefront. Shrugging off weather warnings, they aimed to seize the opportunity provided by howling winds that would eventually beget 21-foot buoy readings in the middle of the lake and eight-foot surfable waves.…

One last look at the old Seminary Co-op Bookstore

Asher Klein — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 12:39:00 -0600

The Seminary Co-op Bookstore closed its doors yesterday, to reopen next week a block away in a larger, airier, and far more accessible location on the first floor of a building next door to Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House. Much like reading itself, the move looks better on paper.…

Cocktail Challenge: soy sauce

Kate Schmidt — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 17:00:00 -0500

Rockit's Gina O'Brien makes the Simply Soy by Kate Schmidt "Soy sauce?" Rockit Bar & Grill bartender Gina O'Brien asked, dismayed, after hearing her challenge from Karl Fernandez of Old Town Pour House.…

On the restaurant scene: a garden for a gray day and more

Kate Schmidt — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Back in August, when we were shooting a Cocktail Challenge with Carnivale bartender Luis Rodriguez, executive chef David Dworshak invited us back for a tour of his "baby," the rooftop garden he started about five years ago. Like many local chefs—including his old boss Mark Mendez—Dworshak favors locally grown ingredients, and tries to use them whenever possible despite the restaurant's imposing scale (it seats 800), drying, freezing, and otherwise preserving them.…

Cocktail Challenge: Parmigiano Reggiano

Kate Schmidt — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 11:30:00 -0500

Challenged with Parmigiano Reggiano, Tony Fernandez of Old Town Pour House serves a cheese-course cocktail by Kate Schmidt "At first I was excited. It's one of my favorite foods," said Old Town Pour House bartender Karl Fernandez of his challenge, Parmigiano Reggiano.…

Cocktail Challenge: yellow mustard

Kate Schmidt — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 15:00:00 -0500

Challenged with yellow mustard, Spiaggia's Brendan Smith makes a dessert cocktail with the condiment by Kate Schmidt "I hate yellow mustard," Spiaggia bartender Brendan Smith protested after the Palm's Mike Freeman challenged him with the condiment. But thrown a curve, Smith went with it, devising a take on an old-school Brandy Alexander.…

Riot Fest: You can't go wrong with a Ferris wheel and Gwar

Leor Galil — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 15:55:00 -0500

There's something about a Ferris wheel that can put anyone in a good mood. Cursive front man Tim Kasher sounded just as downcast as ever on Saturday afternoon at Riot Fest, when his band rolled out its thundering, cathartic posthardcore tunes, but his between-song patter was practically giddy, at least for him.…

Cocktail Challenge: peanut butter

Kate Schmidt — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 16:00:00 -0500

Challenged with peanut butter, the Palm's Mike Freeman concocts the PB&J, for "P-nut-Bourbon Julep" by Kate Schmidt Challenged with peanut butter by Patrick Henaghan of Michael Jordan's Steak House, Mike Freeman, a bartender at the Palm, thought of breakfast—he likes his pancakes with peanut butter and maple syrup. "I kind of ran with those two components," he says.…

Cocktail Challenge: chicken bouillon

Kate Schmidt — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 15:20:00 -0500

Challenged with chicken bouillon, Patrick Henaghan of Michael Jordan's Steak House flies the coop by Kate Schmidt "I could have killed him," said Patrick Henaghan after Carnivale bartender Luis Rodriguez challenged him with chicken bouillon. Instead Henaghan, a barkeep at Michael Jordan's Steak House, conducted a tasting of "fake chicken flavor" in six different forms.…

Cocktail Challenge: caraway seeds

Kate Schmidt — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 19:00:00 -0500

Caraway seeds are "the main star" in Luis Rodriguez's Carnivale-esque cocktail by Kate Schmidt When Carnivale bartender Luis Rodriguez received his challenge, caraway seed, from the Paramount Room's Allison Hagio, he says the first thing he thought of was a pastrami sandwich, the meat piled high on pumpernickel bread. As it happened, Carnivale executive chef David Dworshak had some house-made pastrami on hand.…

Look at these pictures of awesome lowriders right now!

Tal Rosenberg — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 15:38:00 -0500

This past weekend the Chicago Urban Art Society and the Chicago Lowrider Preservation Fund presented the second annual Slow and Low Community Lowrider Festival. Photographer Alison Green was on the scene to snap shots of the event, and she and photo editor Andrea Bauer made this very cool slide show of the very low rides that rolled through Pilsen over the weekend.…

We made it through Lollapalooza

Leor Galil — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 14:10:00 -0500

It's pretty standard to see concerned souls fervently preaching to the masses as they descend upon big rock festivals, and Lollapalooza definitely makes the cut. Just before noon on Saturday outside Lolla's main entrance, I saw a fan lambast one street-side sermonizer for shopping at JCPenney—to which the headstrong evangelist replied, "You're gonna be shopping in the devil's hell pretty soon."

The megaphone-toting preacher's words stuck with me throughout Lollapalooza.…

Cocktail Challenge: Spam

Kate Schmidt — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 18:00:00 -0500

The Paramount Room's Allison Hagio makes a palatable potion with "OO Spam juice" and rum by Kate Schmidt "Spam!?" wrote Allison Hagio, challenged by Nahm Kim of Sunda with the precooked meat product immortalized by a Monty Python skit. Unfazed, Hagio, a bartender at the Paramount Room, grilled the stuff with fruit and used the rendered fat and liquid in a reduction she calls "OO Spam juice"—"OO" for the Old Overholt rye she added to it along with maple syrup.…