Results tagged “drink”

It's Labor Day weekend, but that doesn't mean all of us are grilling for possibly the final time this season. Here are some events, tastings, dinners and special offers to keep you busy this weekend and beyond:

So far this week we've already given you the heads-up on the mado/Webster's Wine Bar/Bluebird collaborative dinner and the Chicago Botanic Garden's Pepper Weekend. 'Course the big thing for us is the Publican/New Holland beer dinner Sunday. If those three don't tickle your fancy, try these events.

Koval Distillery in Andersonville has been making some noise of late, as the city's only distillery. They've also been making some amazing spirits and liqueurs, from what we tasted a couple weeks back at Uncommon Ground Devon's Friday Farmers Market.

We recently received a sample of Mount Gay Extra Old, a fine aged rum from Barbados we'd never tried. On the rocks it's superb: a true sipping rum with hints of burnt sugar and spice, and a subtle floral scent. Actually it reminded us a lot of bourbon. That started us thinking ...

“The Year in Review” is an apt, if overused, phrase this time of year. Coupled with what turned out to be a busy and eventful 2K8, and we’re hard pressed to distill what we found most newsworthy into a limited number of words. We can’t whittle it down to just our favorite dishes, restaurants, chefs or events. Frankly, those types of stand-alone year-end recaps bore us.

We've always wanted to make Hot Buttered Rum. Partly because of the name. Well, admittedly, any name that makes us giggle is a go. Like Hot Cross Buns. Or Hot Buttered Rump. Anyway...Trader Vic's Book of Food and Drink had a recipe and we gave it a go.

Word has it that the Pontiac Cafe -- Wicker Park mainstay and the first big patio in the area where it was possible to witness firsthand the ebbing of the artist residents and the rise of corner banking and hip chain store patrons -- will be closing its doors for the last time October 17. Let's see, all we have left now is Double Door and Subterranean to keep us coming back to the Six Corners. Get in now and drink now, because another icon is going down. What a bummer.

Survival of the Fittest:

The Hyde Park Bar Louie, at 5500 S. Shore Dr., was closed on Wednesday by health inspectors. Inspectors had previously visited the establishment in September and ticketed the restaurant for offenses but gave them time to fix them. When they visited again on Wednesday and found flies and mouse droppings, they shut the place down.

"Bar Louie had more than a week to correct their problems and remain open, but they ignored the Dumpster Task Force warnings and did not make enough effort to correct the problem," said Josie Cruz, deputy commissioner of the department's Rodent Control.

DEBATE

We love a good mojito and aren't opposed to playing with the recipe just a little bit. Over the weekend we put together some strawberry mojitos to cool us down. Enjoy these outside as a nice twist on this hot weather favorite. And if you've never grown your own mint, this is the perfect to do so as you'll always be ready to whip up this fresh cocktail.

The Kentucky bourbon brand erected a billboard across from Wrigley imploring, "Save our Ballpark's Name." The website listed on the sign, www.saveourname.com, includes a petition demanding that Wrigley remain Wrigley forever. Additionally, Beam will be handing out t-shirts and other paraphernalia around Wrigleyville with the "Save Wrigley" theme all summer long. But didn't the Tribune Co. already say that the Wrigley name wasn't going anywhere? Guess that's the problem when big corporations try to go guerrilla.

We have to admit we're a bit caught off-guard by an email we just got from the Empty Bottle:

'Tis the season for free champagne tastings. Get started tonight at the Artisan Cellar (located on the first floor of the Merchandise Mart) with a sample of some rare bubblies from 4-6 p.m. Learn all about the history of smothered foods from author Wilbert Jones, the author of Smothered Southern Foods. Jones' lecture, "Smothered - Southern Style" is being held Saturday at the Chicago History Museum, sponsored by the Culinary Historians of Chicago. The lecture...

Hearts all across Chicago were broken last January when Zephyr closed its doors. We walked past its former space a few days ago and wouldn't you know, construction workers were busy building what looked to be another restaurant. Alas, it won't be Zephyr 2.0 but rather an Irish-style bar and restaurant (pictured), opening in March 2008 (to their best estimate). The workers didn't know what it was going to be called. New York Times writer...

When the weather turns, we tend to switch up our beer choices. Colder weather typically calls for heartier brews: monster ales, porters, and stouts. Now we love a good stout as much as anyone, but as someone with not a drop of Irish to be found in our genealogy, we like to explore the darkest of beers. Often, the sweet flavor and clingy, slightly sour finish in stouts comes from the addition of lactic acid...

In what's become an annual feature here at Chicagoist and a personal favorite, we canvassed the staff for some of their best recipes and put together a potluck of amazing proportions to fascinate your taste buds, amaze your family (even the ones entranced by the football games), and bring about peace on earth - or at least in your family - for a few hours through the miracle of tryptophan, simple starches, and sugar...