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[title]Best New Restaurant cocktails Perennial Virant
How do you persuade drinkers of big, buttery Chardonnay to try a cocktail instead? Combine vodka, gin and ginger liqueur with fresh pineapple juice and butter, call it Napa Chard, and serve it on the rocks, nice and cold, big and bold. That’s only one example of what Matty Eggleston has done for the Perennial Virant cocktail program, a rotating selection of seasonal drinks that sneak in mixology magic without hitting you over the head with pretension. Eggleston recently announced he’s leaving his post for a gig with Tenzing Wine & Spirits, meaning the Chard is gone, but PV says the signature style of its cocktails won’t change. If that means incorporating fleeting vegetables, fruits and herbs into drinks as often as chef Paul Virant does into dishes, we’ll be checking in often. 1800 N Lincoln Ave (312-981-7070).
Other nominees Acadia, Ripasso, Tavernita, Yusho
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