If we were perfect, face it, you'd be a little suspicious. And indeed, the late 2007 opening of this cocktailers' paradise did manage to sneak by us; but a recent life-altering visit made it necessary to correct this tragedy. Enter through a secret, (naturally) boarded-up Wicker Park façade into a film-set-dramatic Victorian gothic space (all lavish curtains and resplendent chandeliers) manned by sexy, tattooed hipsters in vintage evening wear.

Toby Maloney (ex of N.Y.C.'s Milk & Honey and Pegu Club) and his fellow tipple artistes make magic of cocktail classics nouveaux, from a menu broken down by base liquor—all to a lascivious '60s soundtrack. Cell phones are gloriously forbidden. If Nick Cave were a bar...