Nov. 09--Whiskey, the quintessential fall spirit, is the star of The Teetotaler cocktail at Wood, the Lakeview restaurant and bar also known for its locally sourced plates and farm-raised, butchered-in-house meats. Bartender Tommy Lansaw gets creative with the ingredients at his disposal to make every drink, whether contemporary or classic, taste like something original.
On the contemporary side, The Teetotaler ($13) is autumn in a glass, combining smooth, spicy Templeton rye and Dolin French vermouth with -- more surprisingly -- dashes of Ancho Reyes chile liqueur, pineapple and nutmeg.
"This cocktail is inspired by a classic cocktail that was invented during Prohibition," says Lansaw, referring to the Algonquin, a drink that mixes rye whiskey, dry vermouth and pineapple. "(It's) a great cocktail, but I wanted to heat things up a bit. I added Ancho Reyes and nutmeg, which pair well with pineapple."
Indeed, the flavors of The Teetotaler are so beguiling that savoring the drink and then asking for another feels like due course -- taste bud research, if you will. 3335 N. Halsted St., 773-935-9663, www.woodchicago.com.
Leah Pickett is a freelance writer.
