This French Onion Drink Is Peak Culinary Cocktail

You’ve probably seen one on a cocktail menu before: a Martini that channels a Caprese salad, an Old Fashioned that calls to mind a peanut butter and bacon sandwich, a drink that tastes like a Chicago hot dog. Culinary cocktails have been all the rage as of late, and it seems like they’re only getting more complicated — and closer in taste to the real thing.

“It’s a cocktail called French Onion that looks like French onion soup and basically is French onion soup,” explains Isaac Steinzor, the lead bartender at Nightcap. The hidden speakeasy is connected to Chicago’s newest tasting menu concept, Class Act, which is helmed by Executive Chef Nicolai Mlodinow, recently named to Forbes 30 Under 30 Food & Drink and a semifinalist for the James Beard Award for Emerging Chef.

The buzzy concept of culinary cocktails truly reaches its zenith at Nightcap. Besides the aforementioned French Onion (which we’ll discuss below), you’ll find the Rodeo Cook-Off, a Texas BBQ-inspired whiskey drink that’s crystal clear and clarified with the help of something called a rotary evaporator. The Dill & Dijon Martini, another savory libation, is a nod to the pickle craze. An earlier menu had a drink inspired by the film version of The Shining, complete with a mini chocolate axe.

Rodeo Cook-Off and Dill & Dijon Martini

Nightcap’s new banquet-inspired drinks include the Rodeo Cook-Off and Dill & Dijon Martini.

Kelly Sandos Photography

“There’s a thematic inspiration to the business in general — the bar is definitely holding hands with the restaurant,” Steinzor says. “We want to put as much intention and work behind the scenes into a cocktail as you would see at a fine-dining or Michelin-level restaurant but still have that philosophy that this is a cocktail bar. We want people drinking something and saying, ‘Wow, I’ve never thought of this as being a cocktail. This is fun!’”

So how does one create a French onion soup-inspired drink? Steinzor (who gives credit to the bar’s prior lead, Devin Courtney) gave us a pretty thorough breakdown. Essentially, the bar team caramelizes onions with nice sea salt and a little sherry for the better part of a day. Some of that is infused into a French gin (because “French onion”), and some is used to make a stock. Strain each quite a bit, add a bit of sherry and demerara sugar. Pour the cocktail into a wooden bowl and torch it to release the onions’ aromatics. Pour the hot broth over top. Pair with a homemade brioche crostini topped with apple jam and Gruyere that’s been melted with that butane torch.

How Cocktail Programs Have Evolved in American Fine Dining the Last 20 Years

And voilà. “It’s French Onion soup, but it’s also alcohol,” Steinzor says. “I guess you could say it’s almost like a French Onion Hot Toddy or a hot, reverse, gin-based Bull Shot.”

You can find French Onion, Rodeo Cook-Off and the Dill & Dijon Martini on a banquets-inspired menu at Nightcap through May. But even if you miss these drinks, you can expect similar concepts on future menus, according to Steinzor. “I love savory cocktails,” he says. “And I think the cocktail space can and should be taken as seriously as anything that is very culinary.”

Meet your guide

Kirk Miller

Kirk Miller is InsideHook’s Senior Lifestyle Editor (and longest-serving resident). He writes a lot about whisk(e)y, cocktails, consumer goods and artificial intelligence.