New Orleans-style celebrations bring Mardi Gras to suburban bars
When Dawn's Beach Hut owner Dawn Humer was looking to open a second bar in St. Charles, she opted to channel the spirit of the Big Easy.
She opened Dawn's Voodoo Room in November. And this weekend, the New Orleans-style bar will host its first Mardi Gras party Friday and Saturday, Feb. 24 and 25. Patrons can enjoy zydeco and jazz music and giveaways, including masks, beads, themed garters and King Cake. Celebrants will also sip their way to Mardi Gras with traditional drinks including the Sazerac, Pimm's Cup, Hurricane, Brandy Milk Punch and Absinthe Frappe, plus classic cocktails and ice cream drinks.
"Our drinks are drinks you can't find anywhere else around here," Humer said.
Dawn's Beach Hut isn't the only local spot that celebrates New Orleans every day - or that will be marking Mardi Gras in the coming days. St. Charles' Pheasant Run Resort has its own version of Bourbon Street, which includes the casual restaurant Jambalaya. While both have been open since 1963, Jambalaya relaunched its menu on Feb. 7 to emphasize its Cajun fare.
"We wanted to get it back to a more authentic New Orleans feel," said Hal Barth, Pheasant Run's director of sales and marketing. "There's a ton of restaurants in Chicago, but there's not a ton of Cajun New Orleans restaurants, especially here in the suburbs. We've had a lot of positive feedback so far. We expect a lot of excitement with Fat Tuesday coming."
The restaurant is celebrating the culmination of Mardi Gras from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28, with a party featuring live music and giveaways of beads, masks and feathers. The Hurricane cocktail, made with Bacardi and Myers rum, orange juice, pineapple juice and grenadine and garnished with an orange slice, will be $8.50, a discount from the regular $10.50 price.
"It's a great time for people to get out, have a Hurricane, relax and enjoy if you can't make it down to New Orleans yourself," Barth said. "If you're sitting in Chicago in the winter, it just gives you the summer vibe and relaxed atmosphere that New Orleans can provide."
While it's not Cajun-themed, Bub City in Rosemont also has the Hurricane on its menu year-round. Their version blends Bacardi 8 and Appleton Estate aged rums, passion fruit puree, pomegranate syrup, and lemon and lime juices. It started as a special at the restaurant's Chicago location, but cocktail draft lines at the Rosemont space made it easier to serve it regularly. The drink is normally $11 but will be $5 for Fat Tuesday.
"A Hurricane typically has a lot of touches involved but we want cocktails to hit the table almost immediately, so having it on draft really helps out," said Bub City beverage director Diane Corcoran.
The Hurricane has proved very popular at both Bub City locations.
"It's unique, it's different, it's fun," Corcoran said. "It kind of evokes a feeling of vacation. It has those tropical flavors with the passion fruit and the rum. It takes (drinkers) on a little bit of an escape even though we're in the middle of February in Chicago."
Tokio Pub in Schaumburg is embracing Mardi Gras as a chance to try adding a new cuisine to its repertoire, which combines Japanese, Latin and American fare. The spot's Fat Tuesday celebration on Feb. 28 offers a special menu of fusion dishes such as $19 fried oyster bao, $18 shrimp and crawfish tamales and a Ragin' Cajun sushi roll made with spicy crawfish, salmon, avocado and Zatarain's mayo. They're also adding Asian ingredients to New Orleans cocktails with a Hurricane made with lemongrass-infused passion fruit syrup that Tokio Pub partner Bill Nevruz says gives it a more herbaceous quality, and adding ginger to the mix of absinthe, bitters and rye used to make the Sazerac served at adjoining spot Shaw's Crab House. The special Sazerac is garnished with a lemon twist along with a piece of candied, sugared ginger.
"The Sazerac is a wonderful drink but that little bit of crispness that ginger brings brightens up the drink," Nevruz said. "I think that really ties in well in our concept."