When you’re looking for that dimly lit nook to snuggle away the winter blues, the first thing you have to decide is how dark is dark enough.
Dark enough for a sultry date
Geja’s Cafe (340 W. Armitage Ave., 773-281-9101)
Lovebirds have cooed over pots of gooey fondue in the low-lit recesses of Geja’s for the past 44 years — but don’t think it’s just an accident of chocolate-dipped strawberries and flamenco guitars. In 1971, when owner John Davis relocated to this Lincoln Park subterranean space, he switched the bright incandescent bulbs to ones with an orange tint, casting a soft amber glow that’s designed to enhance the attractiveness of your sweetheart. If you’d like to take things down a lumen or two, request Booth No. 23 — the darkest table in the place.
Dark enough for a secret rendezvous
Wang’s (3317 N. Broadway, 773-296-6800)
A red lantern casts a glow over the front door, luring you into this East Lakeview hipster cocktailing demimonde, where sultry meets kitschy. Wrapped in the faded silk robes of an ersatz ’40s Chinese restaurant — down to the yellowed pages of the wall calendars and vintage wallpaper — you’ll find a whiff of decadence in freshly snipped orchids garnishing pomegranate martinis and in the torn pages of period erotica plastered on the restroom walls. Candlelit tables are perfect for that discreet rendezvous — and an occasional blast of fog from the weekend DJ’s smoke machine helps maintain deep cover.
Dark enough that you might need a cane
Moody’s (5910 N. Broadway, 773-275-2696)
This Edgewater burger mecca started saving electricity way before compact fluorescents: It simply uses weak-kneed 25-watt bulbs and cranks up its two fireplaces for ambient light. Once a little smoke from the open kitchen gets into your eyes, crunching from Moody’s peanut shell-strewn floor is practically the only way to tell when your server is approaching your table. “I tried brightening it up, but everyone was complaining,” said Jake Kahoun, Moody’s manager. For maximum privacy he recommends Booth No. 5 near the back fireplace. “That’s the make-out booth,” he says.
— Chris LaMorte
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Rock, rolled
ROCK CRITIC GREG KOT
Music and moderation rarely go together. Rock in particular is best when it pushes — or pushes past — extremes.
There’s no better live act anywhere than the Jesus Lizard, a quartet that rocks like a wrecking ball. Singer David Yow loses his mind and most of his clothing while singing from atop the outstretched arms of his happy-to-help fans in the audience. Friday-Saturday at Metro, 3730 N. Clark St., $25; etix.com
As for extreme makeovers, you can’t get better than Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova of the Swell Season. Not that they’ve changed their music, but the perception of the duo has shifted radically in the last year. They were the obscure underdogs who made a little movie together (“Once”). One Oscar victory later, they’re touring as bona fide stars. Dec. 3 at the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress Parkway, $42.50 and $30; ticketmaster.com.
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Rum’s the word
Whether you’re a pirate raiding the high seas or a college student out on the town for that first (legal, of course) drink, nothing mixes quite so beautifully with a night of hedonism, debauchery and the occasional grass skirt than that old devil called rum.
“It’s about the lifestyle it evokes,” said Tad Carducci, one half of New York-based mixology consulting duo The Tippling Bros. “You can’t help thinking you’re escaping to this tropical place.”
Rum is usually made from any type of distilled sugar (Austria even produces a nice beet rum), but the kinds most Americans are familiar with come from distilled and fermented sugar cane juice or, more likely, sugar cane molasses.
The white stuff: Light rums are typically not aged very long — often just 60 days. Generally speaking, they’re not terribly complex — though a good one might be subtly citrusy — but you’ll find this type provides that extra heat your winter rum punch needs to thaw your toes. Be warned: If you’re noticing aromas of jet fuel, or if it burns your mouth, that rum’s a definite yo-ho-no.
Good bets for light rums: Don Q Cristal or Rhum Clement Premiere Canne
The dark side: Dark and amber-colored rums are aged longer in oak barrels (frequently with a bit of caramel added), which imparts more complexity into the spirit. The best ones have their sweetness and tempered citrus notes, a silky mouth feel, and are great for sipping on the rocks — with just a squeeze of lime.
Good bets for dark rum: Kilo Kai or Mount Gay Eclipse.
— Chris LaMorte
OLD-SCHOOL RUM COCKTAILS
It has been 65 years since Trader Vic’s poured its first mai tai, but you can still taste the same wacky Polynesian menu of cocktails at its Chicago outpost (1030 N. State St., 312-642-6500), including a multi-straw rum punch called the rum keg (with dark and light rums, apricot and passion fruit juices).
NEW-SCHOOL RUM COCKTAILS
“Rum is the new sweetheart, as far as the American palate,” said Carducci, who adds that the latest trend is for rum to be mixed with other spirits. He and a fellow mixologist have created a rum-and-tequila margarita at River North hot spot Mercadito. It’s called the Big Nose Goes to Mexico, named after Carducci’s pirate alter ego (don’t you have one?), Admiral Big Nose. When you’re after a little heat this winter, this drink’s served flaming.
BIG NOSE GOES TO MEXICO
Makes one cocktail
Squeeze juice from half of a fresh lime into a mixing glass or tin; save lime shell. Add 1 ounce blanco tequila, 1 ounce reposado tequila, 1/2 ounce dark, full-bodied rum, 1 ounce orgeat syrup, 1 ounce guava puree or nectar, 2 dashes Angostura bitters. Add ice and shake voraciously for 10 seconds.
Fill a rimmed* double old-fashioned or Collins-style glass with cracked ice. Strain the drink over the ice.
Place the spent lime shell, pulp side down, on top of ice, making sure that it sits fairly level. Carefully pour 1/4 ounce 151 proof rum into the lime shell. Light the 151 using a long wooden match.
Flip the lime to douse flame before drinking.
*Hibiscus-salt rim: Mix 2 parts crushed dried hibiscus flower (or substitute hibiscus tea) and 1 part course salt (such as kosher) in a shallow dish. Moisten rim of glass with water or juice from lime. Dip the rim of glass into the mixture.
