NORTH Aaron Pollack The Dawson, Chicago It isn’t just the Cubs that make Chicago cool. “The city is now at the forefront of the culinary and hospitality industry,” says Aaron Pollack, bar manager at The Dawson, located in an old fireplace-mantel factory in the West Town neighborhood. “We’re no longer just doing what New York or San Francisco was doing.” Pollack, 34, grew up in nearby Wheaton, Ill., and started his bar career as a University of Iowa mechanical engineering major, discus thrower and shotputter. Today he puts shots in a glass. A bartender, he believes, is one of society’s last true generalists, someone who must know a little about many things and be able to talk to anyone.
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He draws on Chicago’s rich cultural mix. “One of my favorite things to do when I’m developing a new seasonal cocktail,” says Pollack, “is go to the little bodegas and Mexican grocerias in my neighborhood, Humboldt Park, and look at fruits I didn’t grow up with as an Italian-American kid. That’s how I push my boundaries.” Indeed, this genial Midwest jock is an innovative craftsman who enters worldwide cocktail competitions—in Morocco this September, for example. “I took a pay cut to come to The Dawson and really explore my cocktail game,” he says. “You make more money crankin’ beers and pourin’ shots.” Still, Pollack’s no cocktail snob. “Six or seven years ago our industry got a little pretentious,” he admits. “It was, ‘Oh, you don’t know what I’m making? Then you can’t have one!’” Today he sees—and embodies— a more welcoming approach: “I’ll tell you about it and let you try it. And if you don’t like it, I’ll make something you do like.”
Smoking Pistol n ¾ oz. Compass Box Great King Street Glasgow Scotch n ¾ oz. Carpano Antica n ½ oz. Rittenhouse rye n ¼ oz. Tariquet Armagnac n barspoon of Benedictine n 2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters n 2 dashes Dead Rabbit’s Orinoco bitters Combine and stir ingredients, then strain into an old-fashioned glass with a big cube of ice. Finally, squeeze a peeled lemon over the drink. (For an optional olfactory plus, add a spray mist of Compass Box Peat Monster Scotch, using an atomizer.)
10/12/17 1:49 PM