Along With Beer-Battered Cheese Curds and Plenty of Pappy
25 bottles Pappy Van Winkle are right here.
And where is here, exactly?
Wrigleyville.
Yes, where you’d probably least expect it, there’s a fancy new cocktail bar and restaurant from the team behind Billy Sunday called Mordecai. It’s open now, so take a look. Just try not to break anything.
Right next door to Hotel Zachary lies two floors of vintage-inspired decor and black-and-white photos of the space’s namesake, the Cubs’ legendary three-fingered pitcher, Mordecai Brown. Enter on the first floor, where a long wooden bar overlooks shelves of spirits which are guarded by round, golden screens reminiscent of a speeding fast ball.
It’s there where your night will start with a Duped By Three Fingers cocktail with bourbon, carob and gunpowder tea bitters, paired with the most aesthetically pleasing cheese curds you ever did see. They’re covered in bonito, togarashi and black garlic aioli, of course. Chef Jared Wentworth is having his way with other ballpark classics, too, such as goat bratwurst with 18-hour sauerkraut and Cracker Jack donuts with caramel popcorn Bavarian cream.
Then, if you’re lucky, you’ll move upstairs for a more Pappy-filled experience. Barman Alex Bachman will be showing off his collection of rare spirits by offering whiskey flights and the oldest Old Fashioned you’ve ever had. Or you can sample a pour from one of the vintage bourbon bottles, some of which date back to the 1930s.
If you ask nicely, of course.