Chicago, River North, Part 1

Some places in our Around America series are so big and boozy that we need to return and explore some more. That's definitely true of Chicago. In our last Chicago posts, we stayed in The Loop at the historic Palmer Hotel, ate and drank at Exchequer, and finished the night taking some blues at Buddy Guy's Legends with a number of double Seven and Sevens.

This time we'll go just north of The Loop, across the Chicago River to the River North neighborhood, arguably more congenial to a cocktail lover's taste. But before we take on a night of drinking, it's best to grab a bite to eat, so we headed into River North's Green Door Tavern for a burger.

The Green Door Tavern, which was established 101 years ago, is a quintessential Midwestern neighborhood pub, loaded with blazing neons, advertising road signs, and Hamm's Beer clocks. The venerable tavern was very busy when we got there, so we were seated in the little wing of the building on the Huron Street side. Like good Wisconsinites, we ignored all the televisions playing games devoted to the various Chicago sports clubs.

Since we knew it would take a bit of time for our food to arrive, we ordered the Green Door's mainstay cocktail, the Old-Fashioned. Of course, this is a Chicago tavern, not a Wisconsin supper club, so the Old-Fashioneds came the old-fashioned way, with whiskey. They have two versions, one traditional and one made with ginger syrup. I had the first, Cindy had the second. Let's give you the recipe for the latter.

First, make some ginger syrup. Peel your ginger root with a spoon (yes, a spoon) and cut it into 1/8 to 1/4 inch slices. Mix 1 cup of sugar with 3/4 cup of water in a saucepan. Heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves. Add 1 cup of the peeled, sliced ginger to the pan and heat until the mixture comes to a light boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and allow the mixture to simmer for 15 minutes. Take the syrup off the heat and let it steep and cool covered for at least one hour. Strain the ginger slices from the syrup and bottle. It will last in your refrigerator for two weeks; add two tablespoons of vodka and that same syrup will last two months.

Drink: Ginger Old-Fashioned
Establishment: Green Door Tavern
Location: Chicago, Illinois
First Connoisseur: Cindy

2 ounces bourbon (Green Door uses Old Forester)
1/2 ounce ginger syrup
2-3 dashes of Angostura bitters

Add all ingredients into a mixing vessel without ice. Stir to combine. Add ice to mixing vessel. Stir a few revolutions to cool down the drink and incorporate a bit of melt water from the ice. Strain into a rocks glass that contains one large ice cube. Garnish with an orange peel swath or cherries if you like.