Arbella announced the next installment of the River North cocktail bar’s guest bartender series on February 21 at 6 p.m. featuring Benjamin Pavlichek, executive bartender of PUBLIC Chicago hotel. Pavlichek joins Arbella’s Eric Trousdale and Robert Giles behind the bar for one night only, as they showcase four cocktail creations, two of which are original recipes created specifically for the pop-up appearance.

Available from 6 to 9pm, the night’s featured drinks include:

Arbella

Tesoro

  • Rum, Fernet, Triplum, sweet vermouth, citrus
  • This cocktail is a trip to the Caribbean in a glass with aged rum, Fernet, and hints of mint and coffee

Smoky Principles

  • Mezcal, oolong-infused Arakku, Fernet, Benedictine, citrus
  • With a Fernet-infused ice cube filling the glass, this cocktail is smoky, complex, and herbaceous

PUBLIC Chicago

Mic Drop

  • La Caravedo Torontel pisco, St. Germain elderflower liqueur, Lillet Blanc, yellow chartreuse
  • Created especially for this event, this light and refreshing stirred cocktail is served up with a lemon twist

Jeffrey

  • Rye whiskey, Laird’s 100 proof apple brandy, Mathilde Poire, Fee Bros. Old Fashioned Bitters, Demerara Syrup
  • Found on Benjamin’s menu at PUBLIC Chicago, this cocktail is reminiscent of a winter-spiced Old Fashioned with notes of pear, apple, and baking spices like cinnamon and clove that complement the rye whiskey

All cocktails are priced at $12. There is no cover to attend the quarterly guest bartending series at Arbella. Reservations are available and can be made by calling 312.846.6654 or on OpenTable.

Located at 112 W. Grand Ave. in Chicago, Arbella (pronounced Ar-bey-ah) is a globally inspired cocktail lounge that infuses the world of cocktails with art, music, and an overall fun atmosphere. Arbella is open Monday to Friday and Sunday from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. and Saturday 5 p.m. to 3 a.m. Arbella has weekly music activations, like the cocktail menu, that takes inspiration from the global stage. Reservations are not required, but are accepted via OpenTable.

Benjamin is the Executive Bartender at Public Chicago hotel, where he has worked since 2015. He grew up in Sonoma County, California, and spent the first half of the 2000’s working in the wine industry, and later as a cheese buyer for Whole Foods Market. Soon he was bitten with the bartender bug and accepted his first position behind the bar in 2007 at a small farm-to-table restaurant in his hometown. Later, after travelling through South America for a few months, he made the move to San Francisco and landed at 1015 Folsom, one of the city’s biggest nightclubs. Benjamin relocated to Chicago in 2014 and was introduced to the craft side of bartending by Paul Sauter and the Tippling Brothers at Mercadito, where they helped him find his passion and hone his craft.

PUBLIC Chicago is a complete transformation of the Gold Coast’s famed Ambassador East Hotel and its historic Pump Room restaurant. Rich with a cultural heritage that spans decades, the hotel and the Pump Room was a place to see and be seen and played host to a multitude of celebrities and people from all over the world and all walks of life. The hotel lobby has two bars, each with a very different ambiance. On one side is the Pump Room Restaurant and lounge with a menu curated by Jean-Georges. At night, The Pump Room Lounge at PUBLIC Chicago hotel transforms into a supper club recapturing the glamour of the 30’s and 40’s with a modern twist. Across the lobby is the Library Bar, a sexy lounge offering a full bar with a specialty cocktail menu created by the talented bar team, domestic and international bottled beer, a great international selection of wines, small-plated exotic food, after dinner dessert, and other gourmet global specialties by Jean-Georges.

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