Everyone’s heard of smoked salmon and barbecue, but smoked liquor? With the help of a wood-chip-packed mini smoker, Adam Seeger of Nacional 27 is doing just that. In what he calls “getting liquor and smokes in Chicago without a special tax,” Seeger gives Scotchlike overtones to Woodford Reserve Bourbon for his Extra Smoky Manhattan, which he also infuses with Costa Rican cigars for tobacco notes. The finished spirit is combined with sweet vermouth, maraschinos and bitters (all housemade) for a take on a classic that should help with postban nic fits. 325 W Huron St (312-664-2727).

Many cooks around town dive into fall by roasting and baking bushels of apples and pears; Cru Café & Wine Bar’s Greg Biggers prefers cold-smoked fruit. Peeled pears lie on ice packs in a perforated pan placed over smoldering hickory chips—the ice keeps the pears from cooking to mush while the perforations let just enough smoke through to flavor the fruit. The smoky slices are used in a braised Kurobuta pork-belly dish along with orange-glazed carrots, a blackberry reduction and a bit of crispy sweetbreads to push the indulgence level over the top. 25 E Delaware St (312-337-4001).

Salmon, sturgeon and sable have nothing on Schwa’s smoked cobia. Chef Michael Carlson turns the firm fish-of-the-moment into the centerpiece of a complicated dish that includes Israeli couscous cooked up with watermelon juice instead of water, pickled watermelon rind, fenugreek sprouts, red pepper coulis and a shot of watermelon juice with Campari bubbles. The cobia is smoked for a half hour over a fire of applewood, sage, rosemary and thyme, and for an extra dose of smoke, there’s a bit of birch-smoked cow’s milk cheese on the plate. 1466 N Ashland Ave (773-252-1466).