Two Chicago Bars That Are Knocking It Out of the Park: The Violet Hour and Z Bar

Have you been to Chicago lately? I think it might be one of the most exciting cocktail towns in the world and I am thrilled that we’re going back to it this week to meet two more of its mixology maestros! I’m Susan Schwartz, your drinking companion, and this is Lush Life Podcast, every week we are inspired to live life one cocktail at a time by the best in the industry. Last week, we heard from Shelby Allison of Lost Lake, a tiny slice of Tiki Heaven, in Logan Square. This week we’ll be hearing from Abe Vucekovich of The Violet Hour and Vlad Novikov of Z Bar at the Peninsula Hotel Chicago. First off, we meet Abe, General Manager of The Violet Hour in Wicker Park - probably one of the most iconic bars in the country. Winner of the James Beard Foundation Award for Best bar Program and about 1000 other awards, Abe gives us a history on how it came to be and the origin of a few of their classic cocktails.Our cocktail of the week is the Art of Choke.Ingredients:1 oz white rum1 oz Cynar3/4 teaspoon lime juice3/4 teaspoon demerara syrup (2:1, demerara sugar:water)1/4 oz green ChartreuseGarnish: mint sprigMethod:Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass over ice. Stir until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with a mint sprigYou can find this recipe, more rum recipes and all the cocktails of the week at ALushLifeManual.com, where you’ll also find all the ingredients in our shop. Full Episode Details: http://bit.ly/3aLGEYWAlways remember the wise words of Oscar Wilde, “All things in moderation, including moderation,” and always drink responsibly!-----If you live for Lush Life would you consider supporting us by buying us a coffee…Just go to buymeacoffee.com/lushlife and you can donate once or monthly to make sure we are still here every Tuesday.Life Merchandise is here – we’re talking t-shirts, mugs, iPhone covers, duvet covers, iPad covers and more covers for everything, and more!Theme music for Lush Life is by Steven Shapiro and used with permission.Lush Life is always and will be forever produced by Evo Terra and Simpler Media Productions.Until next time, BOTTOMS UP 🍸