“I have fish and alcohol stewing in my fridge!” Rachael Smith of Bar DeVille announced on my voice mail. Challenged with sardines by Robbie Guevara of the Revel Room, she’d decided to eschew more expected spirits like aquavit, and when she called she was steeping a tin of Matisse sardines and some cayenne pepper in a bottle of Ranchero tequila.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Guevara’s choice of ingredient for Smith had been inspired by the sardine tattoo that forms a cuff on her left wrist. There’s no big story behind this particular tat, she told us, though she’s fooled many a customer by telling them it’s Chicago’s first piece of scratch-and-sniff body art. But she felt comfortable enough working with fish that she wanted to “double down” on it. So she ventured to Joong Boo Market to pick up a fresh one for her garnish: a piscine head (she used whiting), and for good measure a bit of fin.
Though she’d strained the infused tequila through cheesecloth, it left a telltale oil slick on the alcohol’s surface. But despite the unpromising spirit, Smith judged the cocktail “really tasty.” In fact, she said, it’s “so delicious you’re going to guzzle it right down.”
Smith has challenged Austin Skiles of Barrelhouse Flat and Lone Wolf, the forthcoming bar from Stephen Cole, with potted meat. As Leopold Bloom famously recalls, what is home without it?
