Marcia Frost

I try to make it in to Chicago as often as possible, but no matter how often I do go there I always seem to find new things. In this case, it wasn’t only the restaurants that were new to me. I was meeting with my publisher, Dale Winespeare, at Cocktails and Joints for the first time. We checked into our rooms at The James Chicago , a hotel I always loved for its modern comfort. This time they gave me a two bedroom suite, which I settled quickly in before meeting Dale to go to Tavernita , a new restaurant with an exciting new cocktail program. Tavernita doesn’t just make unusual cocktails for individual customers, they make cocktails for kegs. They also make their own sangrias and sodas, and serve wine on tap. We were lucky enough to get to try a little bit of everything and I was quite impressed. I liked the Booty Collins, consisting of green tea-infused Absolut Vodka, passion fruit, lemon and cayenne. I also loved the nutty flavor of the Comandante Big Nose with hi...