Drawing Room Makes Esquire's Best 'New' Bars List

(Photo: The Drawing Room)

The Drawing Room opened fall 2007.

Yet that didn't stop Esquire's spirits writer David Wondrich from including it as the only Chicago venue on its sixth-annual survey of favorite NEW places to drink.

Wondrich gushes over DR, saying "The bar itself is small and distinguished not by clever lighting or fancy architecture but by the humble metal rack holding dozens of bar tools—again, functional, not fancy. In this, it merely reflects the demeanor of Charles Joly, the bar's presiding genius (as they used to say)—unassuming, hardworking, and smart."

Well put, and well deserved for all at the establishment, but a new bar Drawing Room is not.

Eight additional local watering holes made the cut for the Best Bars in America 2011 list:

Why Did Kith & Kin Close?!

Kith & Kin Executive Chef Andrew Brochu (Photo via StarChefs.com)

The details are sketchy right now, but I just got confirmation that Kith & Kin is closed. This comes as a shock, considering the fact that Executive Chef Andrew Brochu snagged an award for Best Neighborhood Restaurant at the Jean Banchet ceremony in January.

I spoke to an employee this afternoon, and he said that he found out at 2pm Tuesday, but not from the owners. He was called by another employee. He added that there was a private event on Monday, so the last day of business was Sunday.