If you like movies and cocktails, have I got an event for you!
This fall, ArcLight Cinemas is hosting “Lights, Camera, Cocktails.” This amazing event series combines movies and craft cocktails in a unique way that celebrates both, inviting top mixologists to create drinks based on their favorite movies. These talented bartendars aren’t just creating one inspired cocktail; they’re creating three.
Each evening begins with a pre-movie cocktail in ArcLight’s modern cafe, where guests (meaning you) can meet the guest bartender. After you’ve sipped the first film-inspired drink, you’ll head to the theater to pick up your complimentary popcorn and the second cocktail of the evening. Then, after the movie’s over, you’ll head back to the café for a wrap party where you can discuss the film and savor your third craft cocktail.
How much are tickets for this enticing evening, you ask? Just $35 for three craft cocktails, a film, and popcorn!
The limited series, curated by The Dogma Group, is sponsored by Pernod Ricard and will feature Jameson Caskmates, Lot 40, Plymouth Gin, Absolut, and Absolut Elyx. Below’s the schedule with the bartenders, the featured spirit, and their movie pick. These events are once a month through December, so why not see them all?
Click here to get your tickets
Illustration credit: Teo Ninkovic
September: Sin City with The Dead Rabbit’s Harrison Ginsberg
Wednesday, September 20th – 6:30 PM
Featured Spirit: Jameson Caskmates
Film Synopsis: A film that explores the dark and miserable town, Basin City, and tells the story of three different people, all caught up in violent corruption.
Harrison Ginsberg is a bartender at The Dead Rabbit bar in New York City. Ginsberg’s film choice Sin City echoes the graphic novel style of The Dead Rabbit drink menu, which features innovative drinks that have earned them the honor of being voted the Best Bar in the World by The World’s 50 Best Bars, a voting body comprised on industry peers. Ginsberg first honed his craft in Chicago working at The Dawson where he placed in numerous industry competitions before leaving the Windy City.
October: An American Werewolf in London with Disco’s Mony Bunni
Wednesday, October 18th – 6:30 PM
Featured Spirit: Lot 40 & Plymouth Gin
Film Synopsis: Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.
Mony Bunni found her passion for all things spirited at Sable where she has trained under some of Chicago’s most well-respected hospitality professionals. She was most recently the bar manager and co-beverage director at Queen Mary Tavern and a bartender at Boleo at The Kimpton Gray. Bunni currently holds court at River North’s funky Disco bar and club and loves dark comedy, which is essential to life behind the bar. For her it gets no darker, or more hilarious, than John Landis’ cult classic American Werewolf in London.
November: Kill Bill Vol. 1 with The Whistler’s Julieta Campos
Wednesday, November 15th – 6:30 PM
Featured Spirit: Absolut
Film Synopsis: The Bride wakens from a four-year coma. The child she carried in her womb is gone. Now she must wreak vengeance on the team of assassins who betrayed her – a team she was once part of.
Julieta Campos jump-started her career at The Aviary and honed her skills at The Berkshire Room, Queen Mary, and Roka. Now managing The Whistler in Logan Square, you oftentimes find her testing out new techniques, odd ingredients, and exchanging spirit knowledge across the bar. Campos likens the ritual of preparing for a night at her bar much like Kill Bill’s Beatrix Kiddo trains for combat except, of course, with more jovial conversation and a little less violence.
December: Casino Royale with Apogee & Leviathan’s Ben Schiller
Wednesday, December 6th – 6:30 PM
Featured Spirit: Absolut Elyx
Film Synopsis: Armed with a license to kill, Secret Agent James Bond sets out on his first mission as 007 and must defeat a private banker to terrorists in a high stakes game of poker at Casino Royale, Montenegro but things are not what they seem.
Ben Schiller is a veteran of the Chicago food and beverage scene. Currently, he is the beverage director for The Fifty/50 Group where he just opened their newest concepts Leviathan and Apogee. Schiller clings tightly to the belief that innovation for the sake of innovation is hollow, needing meaning behind an idea to ensure lasting results. Like 007, the central figure of his chosen film Casino Royale, Schiller creates on his own terms with effortless style.
This post is sponsored by ArcLight Cinemas, but the opinions and enthusiasm are all my own. All photos Copyright ArcLight Cinemas, photo credit Jordan Balderas
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