Mike Sula has an extensive profile on mixologist-proprietors Toby Maloney and Jason Cott of The Violet Hour, the hot Wicker Park high-end cocktail lounge. Highlights:
1) Maloney grew up in a log cabin
2) Avec sous chef Justin Large designed the snack menu
3) Their “Blue Ridge Manhattan” was inspired by a pulled pork sandwich and is made from Laphroaig scotch, rye, vermouth, and hickory-infused peach bitters
4) Cott and Maloney met bartending at Eugene in New York. Fact: Eugene is in the same building as MenuPages’ New York headquarters!
For the sake of Total Knowledge™, here are links to basically everything that’s been written about TVH in local media, starting with Mr. Sula’s blog post from four weeks ago on The Food Chain:
• Waiting for the Hour [Food Chain]
• Hush Hour [TOC]
• The Violet Hour [Centerstage]
• The Hour of hush and wonder [Metromix]
• Violet Hour [Yelp]
• The Violet Hour [LTHForum]
And, of course, Cocktail Connoisseur: The Violet Hour’s Toby Maloney [Reader]
[Photo: some cocktails at TVH, captured semi-surreptitiously by appaloosa/flickr]
