Hot Sauce

Known for his innovative work in the kitchen, Grant Achatz continues to spice things up at his new cocktail spot.

Foodies know superstar chef Grant Achatz for his boundary-pushing Chicago fine-dining destinations.

At Alinea, currently ranked the No. 6 restaurant in the world by Restaurant Magazine, he uses cutting-edge science to craft emotional, multi-sensory experiences like plates on top of pillows of lavender-scented air. Last spring, he unveiled Next, an ultra ambitious encore that requires online tickets in lieu of standard reservations and has an ever-changing menu that rotates between the food of another place and/or time (next up: Thailand).

In April, Achatz entered the cocktail world with The Aviary, a lounge presenting mind-bending drinks such as a server-shattered ice balloon that spills an Old Fashioned into a rocks glass. Here, Achatz dishes on his inspirations, Chicago’s cocktail scene and what he likes to quaff after a long shift.

What drove you to open a cocktail lounge? “Cocktail culture in America has gained a tremendous amount of momentum over the last five years. But everybody was gravitat ing to pre-Prohibition cocktails and bartend ers with handlebar mustaches — traveling back in time. We saw an opportunity to do the same thing we’d done with Alinea in terms of gastronomy to help push the cocktail movement into the future. We’re basically challenging every aspect of the cocktail world, including the vessel in which it’s served, and really trying to make it interactive, fun, delicious and progressive.”

What doors do cocktails open for you creatively? “Well, I think it’s important to realize that anything can compose a cocktail. That’s what The Aviary is trying to express. Classically, within the cocktail world, there’s a foundation of about five drinks. Everything else is a variation of that. It’s kind of like the mother sauces in French cooking. But we’re approaching it more conceptu ally: If we want to involve an esoteric flavor like truffle, which is clearly not a classic cocktail ingredient, we can say, ‘Hey, truffle goes really well with Campari. Let’s make a black truffle negroni.’ We can push them in any direction we want.”

Where do you like to drink locally? “My favorite places are The Violet Hour, The Drawing Room, Sable Kitchen & Bar and a bar called the Whistler. And then there’s a little restaurant in Bucktown called Duchamp. It has a really solid cocktail program.”

What’s your poison? “The one criteria is that it’s a well-made drink. If you’re going to have a Sazerac, it’s got to be in perfect balance. And if you’re going to have a sour or something shaken with an egg white, then that frost has got to be creamy and huge. Otherwise, it really doesn’t matter. I don’t have a go-to spirit. I’m not that guy who goes, ‘Oh, I can only drink gin’ or ‘I can only drink bourbon.’ Whatever is well crafted, I’m open to it.”

So you’re not the guy who takes a pull off a bottle of Johnny Walker Red after a long shift? [Laughs] “No, that’s not me.”