April is not the coolest month to be looking for festivals and other mass get-togethers. But at least one event is worthy of your attention: the Chicago Cocktail Social at Galleria Marchetti on April 15 (6:30pm-10pm). The Chicago Cocktail Social gives you a chance to chat with folks from some of Chicago’s most renowned beverage programs, the people who happily make the drinks that make us all so happy.
Demonstrating their cocktailian expertise will be around two dozen bartender-mixologists, including people you have seen behind the bar at boîtes like The Violet Hour, which stood in the vanguard of Chicago’s most recent cocktail renaissance, Scofflaw, one of the finest cocktail spots in the country, and Queen Mary, Wicker Park’s historic watering hole. Because you shouldn’t drink on an empty stomach, there will be chow from restaurants including Roots Handmade Pizza, STK Chicago and Chicago’s Dog House.
If you’ve been drinking a little more over the past miserable year, now is a good time to focus on quality over quantity with some of the finest cocktails you’ve ever tasted. Proceeds go to Women United.
Dining and Drinking Editor for Newcity, David also writes a weekly food column for Wednesday Journal in Oak Park and is a frequent contributor of food/drink and travel pieces to the Chicago Tribune, Plate Magazine and other publications. David has also contributed chapters to several books, including Street Food Around the World, Street Food, and The Chicago Food Encyclopedia. Contact: dhammond@newcity.com