By Fiona Good-Sirota By Fiona Good-Sirota | June 20, 2024 | Food & Drink,
Moody, sophisticated decor details in Dearly Beloved's dining room
An ultra-luxe cocktail restaurant has just arrived between River North and Old Town—and it’s already challenging the status quo. Described as “elegant but sinister” by co-owner Chireal Jordan, Dearly Beloved aims to take things a step further with its advanced beverage program, curated dishes and vivacious, moody atmosphere.
Helmed by Machine Hospitality Group, the team responsible for Headquarters Beercade and Machine: Engineered Dining & Drink, the edgy new concept is a cocktail bar, a restaurant and an experience for the senses rolled into one.
“We wanted to create something never before seen in the city of Chicago,” Jordan says. “Creativity has always been the cornerstone of our concepts and this one is pushing all boundaries in that regard, from cocktails to design conceptualization,” adds co-owner Brian Galati.
Dearly Beloved’s Balvenie 14-year Caribbean scotch-infused “Hot & Cold Blood” cocktail
Machine Hospitality veteran and mixologist Aneka Saxon heads Dearly Beloved’s beverage program, which features alcoholic and spirit-free selections.
“I’m excited to unveil the cocktail program for Dearly Beloved,” Saxon says. “For years, we’ve prided ourselves on innovative cocktails at all our concepts, but the techniques, ingredients and methods we’re creating for Dearly Beloved are on a different level.”
Cocktail offerings span the kaffir lime and Kyro dark gin-infused “The Captured Shadow” with citrus dust and expression, agave nectar, orange bitters, absinthe and coconut chai foam and the “Beautiful and Damned” with Field Trip squash amaro, Ritual Sister smoked pineapple spirits, Amaradi Arancia Rossa amaro, Finochietto, dandelion honey and fenugreek.
Dearly Beloved’s shrimp and grits
On the culinary side, executive chef Kristofer Lohraff introduces an assortment for vegans, vegetarians and their carnivorous counterparts. Visitors can sample carrot mochi, shrimp & grits, French onion soup ramen, coconut curry with sesame, ginger and lime and the pancake-adjacent Japanese okonomiyaki—each of which arrive with recommended beverage pairings.
“My favorite way to start off would be with our ‘Carrot Mochi,’ a dish comprised of savory carrot pillows with coconut curry, sesame, ginger and lime alongside ‘Two Wrongs,’ which is a cocktail made with Chapuline-infused Los Magos Sotol, Convite Una, Cochineal, Chapuline syrup, coconut rum, cacao, chocolate bitters, tarantula tincture [and] white sesame oil,” Jordan says.
Interior details at Dearly Beloved
After dinner, the 6,000-square-foot space recalibrates to accommodate a crowd of in-the-know nightlifers with libations, small bites, soul music and an alluring, low-lit atmosphere.
See also: The Hottest New Restaurants In Chicago
Photography by: Marisa Klug-Morataya, courtesy of Machine Hospitality Group