Take a Trip Through the New Jerry Garcia-Inspired Jazz Club in Chicago | Eater Chicago
"Fans hoping for dancing bears, tie-dye, and Cherry Garcia Ice Cream may be disappointed: the new West Loop restaurant, bar, and music venue lacks those elements often associated with the lead singer of the Grateful Dead. “If you go too far, it becomes, you know, a schtick, it becomes a parody,” says Jeffrey Tascarella of food and beverage consultancy Lowder-Tascarella Hospitality. “We really wanted to create a place, like, if Jerry was still around, would he dig this place?” Tascarella’s firm and chef Ivy Carthen, with an assist from Garcia’s daughters — Trixie and Annabelle — created the menus, which opened last week. Architect Bob Quellos of FC Studio transformed the former Wishbone into what he describes as a “tight urban jazz venue,” with a parking garage above the space that eliminates columns and preserves clear sightlines for roughly 300 visitors; designer Tristam Steinberg says those clear views help “bolster a psychological connection between the music fan and the band, which may encourage them to leave their seat and move as if they were attending an outdoor musical festival.” The design team purposely aimed to harken to yesteryear when patrons wouldn’t be dependent on their phones and would dance in the aisles; Steinberg adds, “I think if you go into any jazz club — in New York, Chicago, LA — your normal experience is almost as a sardine jam-packed into a can, sitting at small tables that are uncomfortable at best, but allow the venue to pack as many people into a show as possible,” and Quellos says he designed a floor plan “that is actually going to promote participation.” The venue is a collaboration with the estate and Peter Shapiro’s Dayglo Presents (Shapiro, a hands-on partner and owner of the Brooklyn Bowl chain, suggested shaving about two inches from the tables to free up aisle space). Designers also engaged the psychedelic artist community — a mural on the back wall by Violet Oliphant and Ellie Terrell is one example — and prioritized sound and lighting that “put people who care about music first and foremost,” deliberately avoiding bright, Instagram-optimized lighting: “If we did ‘Instagram moments,’ this space would then maybe… we would have had to do the Grateful Dead bear or some obvious Jerry Garcia thing,” Quellos says. Food and drink are meant to work in harmony with the music rather than upstage it: cocktails skew toward lower-ABV and spirit-free options alongside several large-format drinks and a retro soda-shop/milkshake element (a strawberry-vanilla shake and another featuring Yoo-Hoo, after forensic research into Garcia’s likes). Menu highlights tie to his Spanish heritage and Bay Area roots — conservas from Fishwife Tinned Seafood, a San Francisco-style hot dog wrapped in bacon and topped with onions, peppers, and sriracha aioli (meant to contribute to Chicago’s encased-meat scene rather than “engage in a wiener war”), a double-patty smash burger based on one of Garcia’s favorite old San Francisco diner items, a fried chicken for two, and a roast beef sandwich reminiscent of a French dip served on San Francisco Dutch crunch bread. Tascarella relays Garcia’s own line about choices: “The best part about being a rock star is that I don’t have to choose.”" - Ashok Selvam
