Essential Chicago
Bartender wisdom
Five of the city’s most talkative and skilled mixologists spill on what you need to live well in the metropolitan Midwest.
By John Dugan
Photographs by Marina Makropoulos
STEPHEN COLE The Violet Hour
(1520 N Damen Ave, 773-252-1500)
“For me, no matter what city I live in, you need to know your niches, those places you take friends when they’re in town, the kind of places that make you feel at home. There’s nothing better than the pork-belly ramen at Urban Belly. I’m from a small town in the Midwest—Bowling Green, Missouri—and it kind of makes me feel like I’m back at home.”
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