Food What are you drinking right now?

Hot chocolate

 

We spent a long weekend in the city last weekend. Went to a very cool place that was set up like a 1920s speakeasy. It was down in a basement, door was locked to anyone outside, and it was tiny (like 18-20 people if it was maxed out). You have to make a reservation and prepay a minimum tab to get a spot. The service was phenomenal, they served a few really awesome small plates, and it had a very cool vibe.

They had a ‘dusty bottle’ menu where they would make you a cocktail using only original bottles from a certain era, like the 1930s or the 1940s. They had stuff as old as cognac from the 1880s.

Definitely a place I’ll try to go again.

 

In Chicago, but if you meant the name starts with "Ch", the answer is no.


It's the basement of The Aviary, called The Office.

5 Secrets of The Office, Grant Achatz’s Uber-Exclusive Speakeasy

 

The Library is on my list. Make reservations at The Office through Tock. We made ours for before dinner (ate at Roister), and got there 45 mins early. They said The Office wouldn’t seat early but let us hang out at Aviary for a drink first. Everyone was very down to earth and accommodating.

Though we didn’t make the reservations at the same time they all knew we were doing Roisters for dinner, so I’m sure somewhere it showed in my account history hits at Alinea and Next, so maybe that helped. But honestly no one we dealt with all evening seemed pretentious in the least. Maybe the door girl a tiny bit since she stopped us outside and said she wasn’t sure we could even wait inside until reservation time. But as soon as she talked in her earpiece to someone inside she ushered us in and everyone else was awesome. The bartender at The Office was super chill and fun, she was a huge part of what made the night.


I’d definitely recommend at least trying it out for pre or post dinner drinks. You can get out of there for less than stupid amount of money if you order standard cocktails, and there are a massive amount of good food choices to start or finish the evening with in that neighborhood. Get the black truffle explosion app, it’s straight off of Alinea’s menu, you can thank me later.