18th Street Distillery and Co-op Sauce return

A witchy new fall Monday Night Foodball lineup. [View this email in your browser]( [READER Logo]( [Food & Drink]( | September 20, 2024 You know the feeling: . . . you’ve consumed the figurative equivalent of moules marinières, pâté de foie gras, beluga caviar, eggs Benedict, tarte aux poireaux, frog legs almondine, and little quail eggs on a bed of pureed mushroom—all mixed up together in a bucket.  You are one wafer-thin mint away from [bursting open at the sternum](. You reach for the Chartreuse, the Underberg, the Malört—whatever stomach-settler you favor to get you up from the table after these binges of yours. But instead, Mike Bancroft is standing there in tuxedo tails to pour you a shot of Amaro da Verde.  That’s the new spirit collaboration between Bancroft’s [Co-op Sauce]( and Drew Fox’s 18th Street Distillery, the follow-up to [last year’s Fernet Fungo](. Released under their new [Fractional Spirits]( label, it’s a boozy, herbal maceration of green rhubarb and blood orange, along with lemon verbena, mint, and angelica root, that Bancroft argues could pinch-hit for Last Word (or any cocktail impacted by the [Carthusian shortage](.  But it’s best taken straight and cold.  And that’s the way it’s gonna get poured when Bancroft’s [Sauce and Bread Kitchen]( takes over the next [Monday Night Foodball]( the Reader’s weekly chef pop-up at [Frank and Mary’s Tavern](.  Bancroft and SBK partner Ann Kostroski present a menu strategically designed to test Amaro da Verde’s digestive capabilities, starting with their Beefy Cheezy: chopped dry-aged ribeye on Kostroski’s baguette, smothered in Hook’s three-year cheddar sauce.  For the vegans, there’s a VLT on Kostroski’s pan de mie, with baconized tofu skin, leafy greens, gochujang aioli, and some of the last heirloom tomatoes of the season.  And for the Stone Agers, there’s a riff on the Wisconsin wildcat, aka the cannibal sandwich: steak tartare, with sauce gribiche, and raw onions on Club crackers—which you shouldn’t think of ordering without their port wine pimiento cheese.  Along with a carrot top and radish kimchi, and Kostroski’s griddled apple custard cake with vanilla ice cream, that’s plenty to test Amaro da Verde’s ability to green-wash the collywobbles from your vitals.  It all goes down at 6 PM, this Monday, September 23, at 2905 N. Elston in herbaceous Avondale.  Meantime, there’s a [brand-new autumn Foodball schedule]( to ponder: [Rage against the dying of the light with a new Monday Night Foodball schedule]( Check out this witchy fall lineup for the Reader’s weekly chef pop-up at Frank and Mary’s Tavern. by [Mike Sula]( | [Read more]( → [The revered, the reviled, and the taste of rubber bands]( Josh Noel aims to demystify Malört in his new book about the history of Chicago’s signature spirit. by [Jonah Nink]( | [Read more]( → [meat and cheese sandwich on a green plate]( [Co-op Sauce and 18th Street Distillery release their new Amaro da Verde at the next Monday Night Foodball]( Test the herbal liqueur’s ability to handle Sauce and Bread Kitchen’s meaty menu at the Reader’s weekly chef pop-up at Frank and Mary’s Tavern. by [Mike Sula]( | [Read more]( → [Reader Bites]( celebrates dishes, drinks, and atmospheres from the Chicagoland food scene. Have you had a recent food or drink experience that you can’t stop thinking about? Share it with us at [fooddrink@chicagoreader.com](mailto:fooddrink@chicagoreader.com?subject=Reader%20Bites&body=). [Shallot-infused ten-year Shaoxing cocktail at Minyoli]( On its own, the wine has a strong fermented soy taste that is sweetened by the more delicate shallot and balanced out by Topo Chico, Taiwanese basil, and a heavy dose of lime. Altogether, the drink has a sort of meaty umami without the saltiness or pulpy particulates of your typical savory cocktail—think the best Bloody Mary you’ve ever had but with the refresh of a limey Ranch Water. — Charlie Kolodziej [a cocktail with a basil leaf]( [Enemy Kitchen, a food truck and public art project, serves up hospitality in place of hostility]( October 2017 | Michael Rakowitz’s family recipes are bringing Iraqis and Americans together for free meals in front of the Museum of Contemporary Art. by [Aimee Levitt]( | [Read more]( → Get the latest issue of the Chicago Reader Thursday, September 19, 2024 [READ ONLINE: VOL. 53, NO. 33]( [VIEW/DOWNLOAD ISSUE (PDF)]( [Facebook icon]( [Instagram icon]( [Twitter icon]( [LinkedIn icon]( [YouTube icon]( [Website icon]( [Logo] You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from the Chicago Reader. Want fewer emails from us? [Click here to choose what you want us to send you](. Or, [unsubscribe from all Reader emails](. We’ll miss you! [Sign up for emails from the Chicago Reader]( | [Forward this e-mail to a friend]( © 2024 Chicago Reader. All rights reserved. Chicago Reader, 2930 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 102, Chicago, IL 60616