July 10--Got the summer-in-the-city blues because you can't get out to Saugatuck or Sister Bay or Beaver Island as often as you'd like? Cheer up at Cindy's, the new indoor/outdoor restaurant perched atop the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel. It's got what the hotel's website rightly describes as the "relaxed ambience of a Great Lakes beach house with a view."
Roman and Williams, the New York firm behind the fascinatingly detailed and witty design that helped transform the old men's club into a boutique hotel, gives Cindy's an easy elegance that seems unforced and natural, yet everywhere you look there are telling elements that intrigue and sometimes amuse.
Diners sit on sturdy benches pulled up to chunky and deceptively plain tables of ironwood that evoke childhood memories of backyard picnics. Overhead, a conservatorylike roof of glass strung with tiny lights lets you feel you're at a fair eating under the sky. Large globular lights hang from wooden supports that look rather like stylized anchors. A comfy metal-framed sofa, just like the kind found on countless porches, boasts crisp blue cushions and is fronted by a table topped with weathered slate. A row of Windsor chairs casts ribbed shadows on the weathered floor below. Beds of smooth rounded stones line the circular tublike fire pits on either end of the huge patio, which sports dramatic views of the city's storied skyline, Millennium Park and Lake Michigan.
But the restaurant's crowning design touch might be its knowing way with good art. Andy Warhol's 1982 "Mrs. Pritzker," a portrait of hotelier John Pritzker's mother, Cindy, hangs in the private dining room. Looking around, it's hard to believe "Mrs. Pritzker" gazes out at what once was an open and unused roof (indeed, the original roof is some six feet under Cindy's flooring; all the mechanicals are housed in the space between). Way to hide the business end of the big city to make way for a perfect summer lounge.
Stay in that beachy mood: Nandini Khaund, Cindy's "spirit guide" offers up the restaurant's classically summery Kick in the Daisy cocktail to mix at home.
wdaley@tribune.com
Kick in the Daisy
Makes: 1 cocktail
This drink was created by Nandini Khaund for Cindy's, the rooftop restaurant at the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel.
1 1/2 ounces Espolon Reposado Tequila
3/4 ounce each: fresh watermelon juice (see note); fresh lime juice
1/2 ounce each: Ancho Reyes Ancho Chile Liqueur; simple syrup (see note)
1/4 ounce Licor 43
Pinch of Maldon sea salt
Lime wheel (garnish)
Shake all ingredients, including salt, with ice. Strain over ice into a rocks glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.
For watermelon juice: Cut watermelon into pieces big enough to fit into a blender. Blend and strain through a chinois. Keep in a cruet or sealable bottle; it will last for 2 days.
For simple syrup: Combine equal parts water and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to boil, and boil until sugar dissolves completely. Take off heat; let cool.
