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Chicago speakeasy Janitor’s Closet cleans up with a spiffy theme

Mops, buckets and Pine-Sol set the backdrop for bartender Jef Tate’s imaginative cocktails

Tara Fitzpatrick, Senior Editor

January 13, 2020

5 Slides
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Dan Kelleghan

An unusual speakeasy that opened last year, Janitor’s Closet is inside the FieldHouse Jones hotel, where Chicago’s Old Town and River North neighborhoods intersect. To add to the authenticity factor, this space actually used to be a janitor’s closet, complete with mops, buckets and Pine-Sol boxes, items that now look extremely irreverent incorporated into the design.

The 15-seat bar aims to be a cozy, tucked-away place to hide from Chicago’s gray winter, with former Moneygun bartender Jef Tate mixing up drinks with influence from around the world served in a secret nook inspired by a tipsy janitor.

The drinks make this place a destination, and reservations are the only surefire way to get into a place you thought you’d never need reservations for: a seat next to the Pine Sol. Examples of creative cocktails include The Brown Line, with a split base of tequila and mezcal with tamarind, pineapple, citrus and black garlic on top.

Take a look inside the Janitor’s Closet.

 

 

About the Author

Tara Fitzpatrick

Senior Editor, Informa Restaurant & Food Group

Tara Fitzpatrick is Food Management’s senior editor and a contributor to Restaurant Hospitality and Nation’s Restaurant News, creating editorial content for digital, print and events. Tara holds a bachelor of science degree from the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Kent State University. Before joining Food Management in 2008, Tara was associate editor at National Association of College Stores in Oberlin, Ohio. Prior to that, Tara worked as a newspaper reporter in her hometown of Lorain, Ohio, where she lives now. Tara is a fan of food history, legends, lore, ghost stories, urban farming and old cookbooks. 

Tara Fitzpatrick’s areas of expertise include the onsite foodservice industry (K-12 schools, colleges and universities, healthcare and B&I), menu trends, sustainability in foodservice, senior dining, farm-to-table and innovation.

Tara Fitzpatrick is a frequent webinar and podcast host and has served on the board of directors for IFEC (International Food Editors Consortium).

Tara Fitzpatrick’s experience:

Senior Editor, Food Management (Feb 2008-present)

Associate Editor, National Association of College Stores (2005-2008)

Reporter, The Morning Journal (2002-2005)

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