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Drink Sun Feb 28 2010
A Drinkable Chicago Dog by Way of Brazil
The Gold Coast's Drawing Room is my newest favorite destination for cocktails. It is a much more relaxed space than its connection to nightclub Le Passage would suggest, and spirits are serious business here.
On my most recent visit, I had the pleasure of table-side cart service driven by the formidable skills of Chief Mixologist Charles Joly. One of the cocktails Joly crafted for me and my friend was the Chicago Dog Caipirinha, The Drawing Room's take on the national cocktail of Brazil. A basic caipirinha is built from a muddle of lime and sugar and filled out with cachaça, a distillate of fermented sugarcane juice.
When I first noted the Chicago Dog on The Drawing Room's menu, I thought I had discovered my first hot dog-infused cocktail. Had Drawing Room mixologists figured out how to fat-wash the Cabana cachaça they use with classic Vienna Beef wieners? Then I noticed that the Chicago Dog Caipirinha was marked "vegan friendly."
I was disappointed only for a second to learn that the Drawing Room eschews encased meat with its Chicago spin on the Brazilian cocktail. Rather, Joly and his team expand considerably the profile of the typically bright, sweet concoction by incorporating sport peppers, cucumbers and a rim of celery salt. A half rim of celery salt would suffice, but otherwise the Drawing Room caipirinha is well-rounded and memorable with its mellowed sweetness and subtle piquancy. This is no ballpark refreshment but very worth seeking out nonetheless.
The Drawing Room is located at 937 N. Rush St., 312-266-2694.
