Aviary

The Aviary 955 W. Fulton Market 312-226-0868 Hours: 6 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. - Wednesday through Sunday Rating: 4 out of 4, Already hot You probably can't afford The Aviary. At least, you probably don't think you can. I know I didn't. With the team from Alinea at the helm and Grant Achatz's much-hyped Next basically sharing the space, my 24-year-old starting salary didn't stand a chance against this futuristic cocktail kitchen, right? Well, kind of. While it may not seem right to slap the term “accessible” on a cocktail lounge with a $28 drink on the menu, The Aviary isn't as scary...

Few cocktail menus stray into savory territory. Sure, you have your trusty bloody mary at brunch, but for the most part, sweet, floral and herbal notes take the lead. So it may turn a few heads to see the latest trendy drink ingredient in Chicago is a vegetable - celery, to be exact. "You are seeing a lot of celery bitters around these days," said Charles Joly, the recently named beverage director at The Aviary in the West Loop. The Aviary's Micah Melton developed a cocktail (simply called "Celery")

Got some money to burn to ring in 2012? Fans of Grant Achatz's Next restaurant, The Aviary cocktail lounge and the Office, it's basement bar, should know that both are available for rental on New Year's Eve. On Dec. 1, Achatz posted the following on his Facebook page: "Here's something different for New Year's Eve: One Golden Ticket each to Next, the Aviary and the Office. Rather than get the tired champagne at midnight toast, why not rent out: Next for you and 61 friends; Aviary for you and 84 friends; the Office for you and 17 friends.

Got some money to burn to ring in 2012? Fans of Grant Achatz's Next restaurant, The Aviary cocktail lounge and the Office, it's basement bar, should know that both are available for rental on New Year's Eve. On Dec. 1, Achatz posted the following on his Facebook page: "Here's something different for New Year's Eve: One Golden Ticket each to Next, the Aviary and the Office. Rather than get the tired champagne at midnight toast, why not rent out: Next for you and 61 friends; Aviary for you and 84 friends; the Office for you and 17 friends.

Few cocktail menus stray into savory territory. Sure, you have your trusty bloody mary at brunch, but for the most part, sweet, floral and herbal notes take the lead. So it may turn a few heads to see the latest trendy drink ingredient in Chicago is a vegetable - celery, to be exact. "You are seeing a lot of celery bitters around these days," said Charles Joly, the recently named beverage director at The Aviary in the West Loop. The Aviary's Micah Melton developed a cocktail (simply called "Celery")

Bar Toma 110 E. Pearson St. 312-266-3110 Tony Mantuano's Italian-inspired Gold Coast eatery is serving espresso and pastries by morning and pizza and gelato by night. Slurping Turtle 116 W. Hubbard St. 312-464-0466 Groupies of chef Takashi Tagihashi are packing into this new River North noodle bar. The Aviary 955 W. Fulton Market, 312-226-0868 The hot-since-it-opened West Loop cocktail lounge keeps tempting with photos of new drinks such as the "Hot Chocolate" and "Popcorn" on its Facebook page.

Enclave is attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the most people wearing sunglasses in the dark. With the help of rapper Lil John, who will appear at the club for his third time in 10 months, will be there to help. The previous record is held by 424 people. We at RedEye thought of some other Chicago bars and restaurants who could attempt to break other world records. Most people wearing dark-rimmed glasses: The Whistler Most men wearing blue collared shirts: Chicago Cut Steakhouse Most people lurking...

Next's El Bulli menu debuts Next debuted its fourth and possibly most elaborate menu yet, a tribute to the famous (and recently closed) restaurant El Bulli in Spain. On Sunday, Kokonas announced via the restaurant's Facebook page that dinners during open week (starting Feb. 8) would be sold to randomly selected Facebook fans that e-mailed a designated e-mail address. Season tickets for El Bulli plus the restaurant's next two menus have still yet to be released on nextrestaurant.com.

Plug my name into any major search Internet engine and glaring at you, somewhere below entries for Facebook and Twitter and RedEye, will be the following words: Emily Van Zandt is a lightweight. Last fall, a blogger found it odd that a nightlife writer would feel buzzed after three cocktails and a glass of champagne in under two hours at The Aviary. In his mind, it was a rookie night of drinking. My 20something conscience felt immediately moved to prove the Internet otherwise.

EAT HEALTHY INDIAN COOKING CLASS Bombay Spice Grill 450 N. Clark St. 312-477-7657 Spice up your Saturday with chef Sunil Kumar, who demonstrates marinating techniques for chicken tikka and recipes for chickpea hummus, kale tofu stir fry and sweet mango lassi - all made with Indian spices linked to health benefits - in this hands-on class where you finish by dining on the low-calorie results. 2-4 p.m. Saturday. $45. Phone RSVP required. CHICAGO CHEF WEEK 2013 Various locations The week-long food fest featuring three-course prix-fixe lunches...

The Aviary 955 W. Fulton Market 312-226-0868 Hours: 6 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. - Wednesday through Sunday Rating: 4 out of 4, Already hot You probably can't afford The Aviary. At least, you probably don't think you can. I know I didn't. With the team from Alinea at the helm and Grant Achatz's much-hyped Next basically sharing the space, my 24-year-old starting salary didn't stand a chance against this futuristic cocktail kitchen, right? Well, kind of. While it may not seem right to slap the term “accessible” on a cocktail lounge with a $28 drink on the menu, The Aviary isn't as scary...

All it takes is a 2 a.m. visit to a strip on Hubbard, Clark, Halsted or Milwaukee to know exactly how Chicago drinks: hard. The city has a documented reputation. Nearly 20 percent of adults age 18 or older in Chicago have engaged in binge drinking in the previous month, according to a report last year from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And while the state isn't currently No. 1 in overdoing it -- that classification goes to Wisconsin -- the Land of Lincoln does come in at No. 5 in the Centers' nationwide rankings.

2008 was the year of bacon. In 2010, we went gaga for Stephanie Izard's Girl & the Goat . Though 2011 may go down in history as the year you spent an obscene amount of time trying to get tickets to Next while you were supposed to be working, Grant Achatz's restaurant isn't all that made it a notable year in dining and nightlife. Twenty years from now when we reminisce over a futuristic cocktail encased in a sphere of ice (Just kidding, you can order that at The Aviary now)