Scofflaw Bazaar No. 2

We used to do all of our holiday shopping via Amazon, but now we're way more into taking advantage of all the awesome and creative folks that make amazing things in our own fair city. We're also not interested in having drones show up at our home.

We're bringing together a few of our favorite local shops and artists to make your holiday experience as delightful as possible. Grab brunch, check everybody’s name off your holiday shopping list (including yours!), then relax and toast your amazing productivity with some excellent cocktails. Spirits will be raised, cheer spread, and fireplaces roared.

Here’s the skinny on our carefully curated, thoroughly delightful vendors:

South Social & Home

South Social & Home is a design company that focuses on interiors, events, and styling. Dean Renaud, the style maven behind South Social & Home, will be bringing various housewares and gift items.

Dovetail

Julie Ghatan curates this unique West Town boutique that offers locally made and vintage goods for men and women. Dovetail will be bringing vintage bar and glassware for sale at the Bazaar.

Laura Lombardi

Laura Lombardi is a jewelry designer working from her studio in Fulton Market, Chicago. You’ve likely seen her designs at Urban Outfitters, Dose Market, or Eskell. Pieces of her latest collection will be available at the Bazaar.

Bottle & Branch

Heather Shouse of Bottle & Branch keeps it simple, seasonal and sustainable. It’s a motto and product that has some of our favorite restaurants choosing Bottle & Branch for arrangements and installations (Girl & The Goat, Perennial Virant, Carriage House, The Bristol, Belly Q, Balena and The Gage). Why should restaurants have all the fun? Bottle & Branch will have a variety of arrangements available for purchase.

Paper Moon

Paper Moon is a local, small batch, wholesale bakery offering a variety of all natural, old fashioned baked goods, pastries, and confections. You may have spotted Ana the Baker, Paper Moon’s proprietress, at various Logan Square late night watering holes with her baked goods wagon! Paper Moon will hawking a selection of specially made Scofflaw Gin gummies! 

*Co-op Sauce

Concepted as a fundraising project by Mike Bancroft (a.k.a. the Sauce Boss), Co-op quickly grew into a legitimately piping hot (get it?) sauce company. Crafted in small batches with hand picked ingredients sourced straight from farmers in the Midwest, Co-op makes some of the best sauces in town. Half of all profits benefit Co-op Image, a free arts and entrepreneurship organization for Chicago youth, and employs former program participants in the making and sale of the sauce. It’s truly great sauce for good! 

The Bus Shop

We’ve always loved the vintage garb the folks from The Bus Shop sport, but when they posted a photo collage of Twin Peaks and stated that it “this pretty much sums up our fashion aesthetic,” we were irrevocably hooked. Because they bring their own space, which is about the size of our entire back room, we know they’ll have something(s) for everyone.

Bottles of Scofflaw Gin will be available for sale at the bar. 

*Updated 12/4/2013

The Ghost of Bonny's Returns... Again!

The ghost of Bonny’s returns again for Scofflaw’s 2nd Annual Bonny’s Halloween Party. Join us at Scofflaw on...you guessed it, Thursday, October 31st, as we host the spirit of your favorite late night dance party. This incarnation happens to include Bonny’s OG DJ crew. Too many initials for you? Sorry, we were trying to sound cool. What we really mean is that Superfriends (PreFosh & Huggies Supreme) and Major Taylor will provide the soundtrack for your spookiest dance moves.

Costumes are encouraged, and so it’s only fair that our regular cocktail menu be costumed*, too. We lead by example. Expect $3 “Mallory” shots (In the good ol’ days, this was Bonny’s ‘House Shot’: Malort + Campari), plus $3 PBR drafts and $5 highballs. Bring an extra couple bucks just in case the “tamale guy” manifests for late night eats...

*And by costumed, we mean wearing an invisibility cloak. Like, not there. So leave your fancy pants at home and enjoy the shots n' beers, because we won't be serving the regular cocktail and food menus on Halloween. 

Stock Mfg. Co. Collaboration

On Sunday, September 29, from 4-7pm, Chicago clothing brand Stock Mfg. Co. will debut their latest collaborative clothing series at Scofflaw!

This time around, Stock Mfg. Co. has teamed with some of Chicago’s best bartenders — Scofflaw's own Danny Shapiro, plus Robert Haynes (Analogue, R. Franklin’s Original Recipe Malört) and Austin Skiles (La Sirena Clandestina, The Barrelhouse Flat) — to create three distinctive items of clothing, each with a unique functionality relevant to industry workers.

With this collaboration, the intent was to design and produce a cohesive ‘look’ that functions on either side of a bar — Haynes designed a button-down shirt, Skiles focused on a pair of suspenders, and Shapiro created a pair of pants. Each garment was built specifically to suit the needs of these working bartenders, but remain stylish enough to wear everyday.

In honor of the release of these items, each bartender has created a special punch that will be served at the event:

Scofflaw's Royal Daisy (Danny Shapiro) - Death's Door Gin, Combier Orange Liqueur, Lemon, Orange, Cava, Mint 

Perpetual Jive (Robert Haynes) - Old Heaven Hill Bourbon, Lime, House Made Falernum, Plum Bitters, Ginger Beer 

The Bracer (Austin Skiles) - Olmeca Altos Plata Tequila, Luxardo Bitter, Honey Syrup, Lime, Orange Bitters

All garments will be available exclusively on stockmfg.co, and each will retail for under $100.

Do Good, Drink Good!

This Wednesday, Scofflaw is teaming up with the Colorado’s own Oskar Blues Brewery and Left Hand Brewing to raise money for victims of the state’s devastating and massive flooding.

Oskar Blues will be bringing some Homeskillet, their limited edition black IPA, and we’ll have lots of Left Hand brews. We will also set up a donation station, and monetary contributions made that evening will be rewarded with brewery swag and good karma.

Wednesday, September 18th at 7pm. 

Beers To You!

We’re not trying to say that this upcoming holiday Monday isn’t the bee’s knees. Holidays are great! But, we will say that we’re a little bit more excited for the following Monday, when we host a Founder’s Brewing Night!

We’ll be featuring a whole slew of phenomenal drafts:

Pale Ale
Inspired Artist Black IPA
Breakfast Stout (w/ chocolate & coffee)
Curmudgeon (Old Ale)
Backwoods Bastard (Scotch Ale aged in bourbon barrels)
Devil Dancer (Triple IPA)

But wait, there’s more! We’ve also got a few truly rare and spectacular bottles for your Founder’s drinking pleasure:

KBS (Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels)
Doom (Imperial IPA aged in bourbon barrels)
Bolt Cutter (Barley Wine)

In the words of our estimable beer expert, Kris Nagy, “People gonna get drunk.” Well, that’s really up to you, and we always encourage you to drink (a lot) responsibly!

If you’re not familiar with Founder’s Brewing Co., then you should know that they are one of Kris’s favorite breweries. Mainly because they do it all, and they do it well by producing a wide range of tasty beers from their year round lineup as well as seasonal and limited releases.

And when you come in to raise a glass on Monday, September 9, make sure one of those glasses is filled with KBS, one of Kris’s personal favorites. As he says, “there is good reason it’s one of the most sought after beers in the world: it is delicious.”

Our Libs Are Sealed... Mostly.

Brain teasers keep your brains healthy, and we really want you guys to maintain your healthy brains. We're making it a little bit easier to exercise your cranium muscle by giving you some cool Mad Libs to occupy the waiting period before we open up our new spot.

Email us your best/weirdest/most boring/funniest attempts and we'll share some of the entries on our blog! Send to: ourlibsaresealed@gmail.com

Happy Libbing! We even got you started by filling in the first blank...

Scofflaw + Das Radler

We’re a city of transplants, so let this post serve as a reminder that it’s time to pop your Father’s Day card in the mail. And while you’re at it, make some plans to eat like a dad this Sunday (Dads and encased meats, are we right?!).

Scofflaw is teaming up with The Radler, Logan Square’s newest Bavarian Beer Hall, on Sunday, June 16, to offer our customers the deal of the century: one Radler Thüringer sausage with mustard and a market vegetable salad free with the purchase of a Stiegl Radler ($6).

Each sausage is made with love by The Radler’s own Nathan Sears. Get a sneak peek at the offerings of this not-yet-open sausage shop, plus enjoy our newly extended weekend hours (we open at noon on Saturdays and Sundays, y’all)!

Vegetarians and vegans, we’re not leaving you out in the cold; Our regular food and cocktail menu will still be available all day.

Sing the Oskar Blues on Thursday

We hope you’ve spent the past few days cleansing your palates, because we’re opening up about some cool happenings we’ve got planned for Chicago Craft Beer Week (May 16-26).

This Thursday, we’re joining forces with The Rocking Horse to give beer lovers two locations to taste and appreciate some of the finest suds available from Oskar Blues, plus score sweet brewery swag. 

Feel like you just might want to appreciate these beers a little too much? We got you. We’ll be running a shuttle between Scofflaw and The Rocking Horse from 6pm-9pm, so you can take advantage of all the beer bounty available.

The Oskar Blues beersperience starts at 5pm, right when we open, so make sure you bring your photo ID to work, folks. Entry is free (but you need to make a purchase to ride the shuttle).

Oh yeah, and the beers:

Scofflaw

On Tap: G'Knight Imperial Red and Chaka (one of two barrels making its way to Chicago!)

In Cans: Dale's Pale Ale Stovepipes (19.2oz!)

Rocking Horse

On Tap: Yella Pils, Gubna IPA and Oak Aged Smidy

In Cans: Dale's Pale Ale Stovepipes (19.2oz!)

BREAKING NEWS!

Stay tuned right here as we redact our redactions in the months to come...

Allagash Beer Brunch!

Have you always dreamed of having brunch at Scofflaw? Perhaps you remember eating Chef Mickey’s brunch specialties back when he was at Longman & Eagle, or maybe you just imagine how beautiful the bar might look in the morning (alright, afternoon) light. Either way, here’s your chance: At 1pm on Saturday, May 25th, we’re hosting a beer brunch with Allagash Brewing Company in honor of Chicago Craft Beer Week.

Our resident beer geek, Kris Nagy, has been a longtime fan of the Portland, Maine, brewery because of their top-notch classic Belgian-style brews. “I don’t like assholes. I try to stay away from them,” Kris says. “Their stuff is incredible, and they’re really cool people.”

Some cool things about this brunch:

• Curieux, the Belgian-style triple brew that’s aged in bourbon barrels, is Kris’s favorite Allagash beer.
• Scofflaw is getting a Methusalem of the Tripel Ale. (That’s a 6 liter bottle for anyone not fluent in beer.)
• The first beer Allagash has ever done in foudres (big oak tanks), is called FV 13, and only two barrels were sent to Chicago. Check out who got just enough to pair with the fourth course of their beer brunch... (We did).
• A representative from Allagash will be there, so you can ask them what it’s like to live in Maine. (They’ll probably be like, “It’s wicked cool, ay-yuh!”)

As you know, Scofflaw doesn’t usually do brunch, and because we only have 20 seats at this event, your ticket inherently comes with some bragging rights. We’ll open to the public at 5pm that evening.

Realize your Scofflaw brunch dream for only $75 per person (excluding gratuity). Each ticket includes brunch and a copy of Allagash: The Cookbook - signed by Rob Tod, the founder of Allagash. If you’re not already running over to Scofflaw to purchase your tickets at the bar, check out the menu above. Or if you’re stuck at your desk, shoot an email to Kris Nagy (kris@scofflawchicago.com) and reserve your ticket electronically.

Chicago Reader's Key Ingredient Cook-Off

We’re endlessly entertained by the Chicago Reader’s ‘Key Ingredient’ series, which answers burning questions like, ‘How do I incorporate bull’s testicles into more of my dishes?’ So we were extra stoked when they asked us to make them some cocktails while twenty-six Chicago chefs go head to head in a live Key Ingredient cook-off. 

So, we invite you to turn off Iron Chef and go ringside on Friday, May 3, 2013 at the Bridgeport Art Center. Here’s a link to ticket information and the rundown the participants.

Ps. Give Uby a virtual high-five for his contribution to this week’s Chicago Reader cocktail challenge!

Sunday Afternoon Bazaar!

On April 21st, from 1pm-5pm, we’re going to do a little day drinking at Scofflaw in the form of a Sunday Afternoon Bazaar. We’ve asked some of our most creative friends to join us with their Chicago-made goods, and they’ll be setting up shop in our back room while you grab a cocktail at the bar before perusing the carefully curated market.

Here are the vendors you’ll find at our Sunday Afternoon Bazaar:

Cities in Dust Jewelry - Chicago designer Meghan Lorenz began this jewelry line in 2010, and quickly gained a following of cool girls from the Third Coast and beyond. Her signature dagger designs have been spotted in Nylon magazine, the Urban Outfitters blog, and the Huffington Post — not to mention on fashion-forward wrists and necks all around town. Get your shopping list ready by taking a peek at her online shop here.

Grace Tran - Grace is the watercolorist responsible for all of those wonderful illustrations you see on our cocktail menu! She is also a driving force behind CAKE: the Chicago Alternative Comic Expo, and contributes to the Chicago indie comic scene under the imprint Graph Paper Products. From any angle, she’s a whiz when it comes to paper and pen (and brush), and she’ll be at our Sunday Afternoon Bazaar with a slew of Scofflaw cocktail prints and other goodies.

Stock Mfg. Co. - Stock Mfg. Co.’s mission is simple: to produce the highest quality product and sell it at the lowest possible price. Well, they’re doing that, and doing it quite fashionably — from dapper neckwear to handsome printed shirts — all in their Garfield Park factory. Normally, the garments are crowd-funded (a designer submits a style, the consuming public votes, and the product is made), but at our Sunday Afternoon Bazaar, the guys from Stock Mfg. Co. will have a slew of goods ready to take home that very day.

Some Like Us - Owner India McQuoid has been combing estate sales and thrift stores for ‘old gold’ since 1996. In 2009, she created “Some Like Us” as a space to share not only her vintage wares, but also the awesome current designer clothing she kept happening across. Now Some Like Us is a source for not only vintage Gucci, but also modern Bottega Veneta — all at prices that make each piece an everyday wear. You may have seen her at a past edition of The Vintage Bazaar, or even caught a glimpse of her private home in the Chicago Reader, but we promise you one thing: you’ve never seen the super special items McQuoid has in store for her table at our event.

Reuse Candles - Jeremiah and Michelle, dba Reuse First, are a husband and wife team dedicated to rescuing discarded items that they know have the potential to become something useful. One of the most useful things on earth is a full bottle of Scofflaw Old Tom Gin, and you’ll be very happy to know that it doesn’t have to stop being a part of your everyday life once you’ve spilled the last drop. The bottle (or any bottle, for that matter) can become a warm addition to the ambiance of your personal space as one of Reuse’s soy candles. They’ve promised to have lots of gin bottle-candles, as well as some other spirit faves, at our bazaar.

Foxglove Studio -Foxglove Studio showcases the flower power of Caitlin Kerr, who also happens to be a local rock star. Projects of the studio range from floral headpieces to elaborate mantle displays to sweet bouquets. Foxglove Studio will create affordable, lasting home arrangements for purchase at our bazaar.

Scofflaw Year One: Your Faves and Ours!

We’re so excited to be celebrating our first birthday here at Scofflaw! And what a year it’s been.

Last week we gave you the opportunity to vote your favorite food item + cocktail back into Scofflaw rotation. The polls have closed and the results are in: We heard you loud and clear! You wanted the Brisket and the Pork Loin sandwich, the Weathered Axe and the Lonesome Hero. We like you so much so for liking us so much that we’re offering all four fan favorites a spot on the menu!

Now that we know what your favorite things are, we thought we’d share one of our favorite things: Keeping up with all the Instagramming you guys do here at Scofflaw.  Below are a few of our favorite shots from Year One:

Row One: @esca77, @neonaztec, @wakingsound
Row Two: @derekrichmond , @jaymiey , @johannalowe
Row Three: @bethanytap , @deansie, @joepia

Row One: @katiestipo, @gati_k, @lnblnblnb
Row Two: @mtch, @verspertineeve, @stephanietisza
Row Three: @aliciagutierrez, @jerbil, @tamher28

Row One: @tribecalledjon, @mags56 , @chelseann27
Row Two: @tony_, @quynhniequynhquynh, @aftonmichelle
Row Three: @amandarosek, @lisakem, @reusefirst

We hope to see you tonight, and lots of other nights thereafter. Here’s to Scofflaw Year Two!

It's our birthday!

We are celebrating our first birthday next week, and we're feeling a little nostalgic for the early days of Scofflaw. And of course, we have you to thank for such a great year, so we want to get you a present! But what do you want? How 'bout your favorite dish or tipple of menus past? Let us know which food and cocktail you've missed the most (via a blog comment, Facebook comment, or tweet), and we'll re-debut the popular demand duo at our birthday party on Tuesday, March 12th.

We'll be accepting suggestions until Friday, March 8th, so don't delay!

Scofflaw Old Tom Gin

Our love of all things gin and all things cocktail has kept us busy over the past year as we cooked up some collaborative hooch with North Shore Distillery. After months of trials and tribulations (ask us about getting FDA-approval on a gin label some time), we’ve let the cat out of the bag and the gin out of the distillery with the announcement and party for our Old Tom Gin release.

Join us this Sunday, from 5pm-2am, when we’ll shake you up a Tom Collins (or two or three) and sling you a steaming bowl of Old Tom Gin-soaked mussels with fancy frites ($8 and $12, respectively). 

From Time Out:
 
Before gin-focused bar Scofflaw even opened, its partners approached North Shore Distillery, the Lake Bluff company acclaimed for its distinctive gins, about making its own version of Scofflaw’s signature spirit. After nearly a year of testing and refining, the final product is officially released this week: an Old Tom gin, a sweetened, rounder style made by only a few other producers and less popular than the sharper London Dry category. “There was a hole we could definitely fill,” says North Shore’s Sonja Kassebaum. In order to make this version better suited to mixing in cocktails, Scofflaw Old Tom Gin has a higher proof (90) than its cohorts, and is made from a unique combination of botanicals, including juniper, cardamom, coriander, cinnamon, anise seed, citrus peels and—“the key element,” according to Scofflaw head bartender Danny Shapiro—osthmanthus blossoms, a tea that gives it “its distinct floral note,” per Kassebaum. “I hate to use this word,” hedges Shapiro, but “it’s really luscious.” Scofflaw Old Tom Gin will be released Sunday 10 at 5pm at Scofflaw (3201 W Armitage Ave, 773-252-9700). Taste it anytime thereafter as a shot ($6) or in a Tom Collins or Martinez cocktail ($8), or purchase it for $35/bottle.
 

Valentine's Day at Scofflaw!

In honor of Valentine’s Day, Chef Mickey is creating the most decadent ice cream sundae ever to be served in a gin-focused Chicago cocktail bar, and it’s perfect for sharing (though no one is saying you have to share): a big bowl piled high with vanilla ice cream, chocolate ice cream, strawberry ice cream, Luxardo hot fudge, smoked caramel, pineapple-strawberry sauce, amaretto whipped cream, almond brittle, and Luxardo cherries.



We’re going the extra romantic mile by serving this Sweetheart Sundae with a bottle of cava, all for $50. If you’ve got room for more (but we’re not sure you will), our regular dinner and cocktail menus will also be available.

Oskar Blues Beer Dinner

Our Oskar Blues Beer Dinner is just around the corner! And in an extra special twist of delicious fate, this brewery also has an entire farm and will be supplying all the meat on this special menu. Here are all the vitals for this brewtally tasty event, which is sure to help you keep the winter Blues at bay:

Monday, February 18 @ 6:30pm

Featuring meat from Hops & Heifers Farm

Tickets available at bar; $65 per ticket (excluding gratuity).

 

The Menu

Hors D’Oeuvres

Smidy Black Lager

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Hot & Sour Crispy Pork Soup

Dale’s Pale Ale

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Beef Carpaccio, Farm Fresh Greens, Pickles

G’Knight Imperial Red

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Sweet BBQ Glazed Pork Belly, Slaw

OSKAr The G’Rauch Smoked IPA

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Big Crazy-Layer Cake

Ten FIDY Imperial Stout

Fan Fiction Sneak Peek: Here's How!

Ending With ‘Party Mixes’

All the creations of the drink mixer’s skill placed before up to now have been for solo portions, one joy producer for one man. But there are many occasions when a liquid structure that will withstand the attacks of ten or a dozen or even fifty of your thirst maddened friends must be prepared.  

Browse among these generously planned liquid masterpieces — you will find them more interesting and far more tempting than the solo variety. Here’s happy days!

W.C. Whitfield, Here's How

We’ve gone through Here's How and chosen eight cocktails we think are the cat’s meow, so stay tuned to the blog for swell sneak peeks of what we’ll be slinging at our next Fan Fiction fête on Monday, February 4th, 5pm-2am. That's tonight!

Fan Fiction Sneak Peek: Here's How!

Food for Drink — Not Thought

“The next family of drinks with which you are likely to have a convivial acquaintance is distinguished by the fact that it offers food values as its principal reason for existence."

“Perhaps a very considerable number of their prtisans use their egg and milk content simply as an excuse for getting the hard liquors that go along, but this will always be a moot question. However, many mild drinkers really like the smooth blandness of the egg and milk concoctions, furthermore, the medical fraternity is prone to plug for them as ‘builder-uppers’ in disguise. And so they will always ‘go over big’”

W.C. Whitfield, Here's How

We’ve gone through Here's How and chosen eight cocktails we think are the cat’s meow, so stay tuned to the blog for swell sneak peeks of what we’ll be slinging at our next Fan Fiction fête on Monday, February 4th, 5pm-2am.