"At the Violet Hour"

Last November, I went to National Harbor, Maryland for the annual conference of the National Council of Teachers of English.

Michel:  Elizabeth, you're just assuming that this is all from your point of view!

Elizabeth:  No, I am simply setting the scene.

Michel:  From your perspective as if I was not a part of this blog post.

Elizabeth:  I am getting to you!  Don't worry!  Anyway, while there, I ended up cabbing to Old Town Alexandria, Virginia to meet my college friend, Harsh, for drinks before grabbing dinner with him, his boyfriend, Rashad, and one of Rashad's friends.  Harsh's bar of choice was a DC speakeasy called PX.  Now, unless you count the Green Mill, I had never been to a speakeasy, so I didn't know what to expect, let alone how to direct the cab driver.  It ended up being one of the coolest things I've ever done.  PX is only marked by a blue light on the side of a building....

Michel:  You're taking a long time getting to the part of the story that includes me.

Elizabeth:  Ok, fine.  Anyway, there is a blue light, a door that only opens a crack until the host confirms you are on the list, a dark staircase, and the tiniest yet coolest secret bar that I'd ever been in.  Harsh opened my eyes to the greatness of speakeasies, and so when he and Rashad came to Chicago for Memorial Day weekend to visit friends and play tourist, I wanted to return the favor.  Michel (see, there you are) suggested The Violet Hour (winner of the 2015 James Beard Award for Outstanding Bar Program).

 

Yay for visits from friends!

Michel:  The Violet Hour is a speakeasy in Wicker Park that has, rather than a sign, an ever-changing mural and a single lightbulb to designate its location.  It opens as 6:00 p.m., but on the inside it is perennially 11:00 p.m.

Elizabeth: Or twilight, described by TS Eliot as the violet hour in "The Waste Land", the poem from which the bar derives its name.

Michel:  Yeah, but it feels later than that to me.

Elizabeth:  We arrived at 5:45 p.m., giving us the number 2 spot in line.  Each group is brought into the bar one at a time through giant, heavy, grey curtains which serve to split up the seating areas.  Along the wall are the house rules:

1. No cell phone use inside lounge.
2. Proper attire is requested.
3. Please, no baseball hats.
4. Sorry, no reservations.
5. If you have a party of four, we'll give you four chairs. If your party is eight, we'll arrange eight chairs for you. No "party add-ons" without prior notification.
6. No O-Bombs. No Jager-Bombs. No bombs of any kind.
7. No Budweiser. No light beer. No Grey Goose. No Cosmopolitans.
8. And finally, please do not bring anyone to The Violet Hour that you wouldn't bring to your mother's house for Sunday dinner.

It was easily the coolest place I'd ever been.

 

Michel:  This place is the idealized movie speakeasy brought to life minus the torch singer.  The atmosphere is so cool that everyone within it is as cool as Frank Sinatra and Lando Calrissian combined.  However, The Violet Hour is not just ambiance without substance.  It is also an establishment that serves some of the greatest cocktails we've ever had.

Elizabeth:  It's been long enough that I don't remember all of the cocktails that we had.  However, the most exciting moment for me was when I did a dealer's choice on a tequila, lemon, and ginger cocktail that was beautifully smooth and delicious!

Michel: I had a mezcal cocktail that was easily the best drink anyone ordered that night.

Elizabeth:  I think the rest of us would disagree with you as I'm pretty sure that all of us felt that about our drinks, too.

Michel:  I didn't just mean at our table.  Out of everyone in the world, I ordered the best drink that night.  Don't feel bad.  No one ordered as well as me.  It's ok.

Elizabeth:  You just keep telling yourself that, darling.  After our cocktails and some pretty smashing bacon wrapped dates, we headed to dinner at an Italian restaurant near Second City where Rashad and Harsh were meeting friends for the late show.  It was good, but the star of the night remained our cocktail hour at The Violet Hour.  And getting to hang out with Harsh and Rashad, of course!  And it is important to note that Rashad has viewed with amused exasperation Harsh's love of speakeasies until now.  The Violet Hour changed his mind!

Come back and visit soon!

Michel:  Toward the end of August after catching up over dinner with my high school friends, Justin and Hayley, and Hayley's boyfriend, Josh, we went back to The Violet Hour, and we are happy to report that it remains wonderful.  Unfortunately, we have no photographic evidence of this visit.

Elizabeth:  Despite it's cool charm and delicious cocktails, The Violet Hour has yet to be featured on Best Bars in America.  It's certainly worthy of a spot.