IF YOUR NOT QUITE SURE WHAT TO MAKE OF FOUR STAR LOUNGE IN LINCOLN PARK.
IS IT UPSCALE AND URBAN OR A LOW KEY WATERING HOLE. WELL THAT’S THE WAY THEY WANT IT.
The motto for Lincoln Park's hip new hideout?
1. You started working as a teenager for your mom's catering business in Michigan – and eventually wound up at Cite. How did that help you get ready for this?
Mark: “We had a small staff (at Cite), nice, tight-nit crew there, which helped me with management, because the servers would sometimes have to take control of situations. They trusted us with that. (Cite) only hires people with a lot of experience.”
2. Four Star seems so eclectic – you've got paintings for sale on the walls from Theare Group (a Chicago art collective), the disco ball, the DJ on weekends, and yet a very relaxed, 'watering hole'-type atmosphere during the week. What was your goal?
“We try to make it a little sexy, but still neighborhood-friendly.
“We don't come from a background of being born into wealth, but being in the service industry and working at nicer places, I've developed a taste for nicer quality brands of liquor, so I enjoy those things, and I'm trying to bring that type of quality at a fair price.
“The whole 'polished but not pretentious' is, to me, the definition of Midwest culture. Chicago is a 'neighborhood' city. The people are really friendly, and they want to connect.”
3. What's the challenge of being fairly new on the block?
“It's a big city, there's a lot of competition and you gotta find a way to stand out. We're independent owners and not part of a big group. So we gotta build it on our own. But we pride ourselves on making everyone feel welcome, from the blue-collar to the higher-class. We've got four dollar Old Style beer and we've got 60 dollar Johnnie Walker Blue.”
4. How about those drinks named for the neighborhoods?
“That's what Chicago's all about, is all these different cultures coming together, and I wanted to display that in a fun way. I took a lot of classic cocktails, and tried to match the characteristics of the cocktail to certain cultural aspects of the neighborhood. The 'Lincoln Park Fashioned' is one of our top sellers.
“I pick out a lot of the wines and spirits myself. We work with a distributor called Heritage Wine Cellers. They've helped us with food and wine pairing events... where Chef Thomas comes up with a menu that's more upscale stuff, and we pair 5 courses, each with half-a glass of wine, and it gives Chef Thomas a chance to shine.
By Andy Roesgen
10 QUESTIONS FOR
FOUR STAR LOUNGE
“Polished but not pretentious”
At Four Star Lounge (named for the four-starred Chicago flag,) you can get a drink named for every city neighborhood – among them, the “Viagra Triangle Martini”, the “Pilsen Pepino”, the “Lincoln Park Fashioned”, and the “Boystown Breeze”, complete with an ice cube shaped like a flexing body builder. There's even a drink modeled after Al Capone's favorite, Templeton Rye whiskey, and served with a pistol-shaped ice cube.
It's all the brain-child of Mark Garland.
He was serving drinks at the high-end restaurant, Cite, when he started talking with a Lincoln Park neighbor of his, who happened to be a business owner. Together, they brought on Chef Thomas Ramirez and launched Four Star Lounge in April of 2015.
“And I try to keep it mostly Chicago local, as far as the beer goes. There's such a great craft beer scene here, and it would be irresponsible not to embrace that.”
5. Now a question for Chef Thomas. You don't do the typical fried bar food here. What are your appetizer offerings?
Chef Thomas: “I call it 'elevated appetizers', just things you'd see around the city in different restaurants, like a hodge-podge of any flavor that you'd like to have. I like to do everything home-made.
The Ahi Tuna Chips is a big-sized tortilla chip, it's got a swipe of cream cheese, a little wedge of avocado and seared Ahi tuna on top that's crusted with pepper and topped off with some fresh cilantro.
And our Sausage skewers have a real Italian feel.
6. And your favorite food offerings?
Chef Thomas: “The caprese sandwich, the chicken prosciutto sandwich, and The 'Four Star Burger'. (The burger) is kind of seasoned like a taco, so it doesn't come with many toppings because it's so flavorful and you don't want to mess with that too much.”
7. And how would you describe those neighborhood-named drinks?
Chef Thomas: “I know a lot of people are doing (the named drinks thing), but we do it in a different way. We tailor it and put a twist on it, so it actually embodies what that neighborhood's feeling is.” (Chef's favorite drink is “The Magnificent Mile”.)
8. What's your take on the vibe here?
Chef Thomas: “The vibe is very different. We've got the DJ on weekends, (but) during the week we have service industry folks come in, and wine nights, and more professional people coming in.
“We go from the wine and dinner crowd (during the week) to the hip-hop, dancing, club vibe (on weekends).”
9. Mark, what's the feeling you want the guests to have here?
Mark: “We want people to leave with a smile, we want people to come and feel relaxed in a nice environment, and feel like they're a part of something. We want to bring people together through good conversation, and good quality food and good quality drinks.”
10. And how proud is your mom?? The caterer who gave you your first job?
Mark: “She's a big supporter, She got a big group of friends to travel all the way from the east side of Michigan, about a 5-hour drive for the grand opening. A great crowd, great energy. She loves it!”
FOUR STAR LOUNGE
MARK GARLAND, CO-OWNER & GENERAL MANAGER
2666 North Halsted Street, Chicago, IL 60614
Phone (773) 661-2927
