The Chesterfield

I made it by the Chesterfield pre-opening, and the place was so laid-back, I had to circle the block twice before I spotted it. The sign is over the door - in back of the little French patio. Somehow, I think the crowds will make it easy to spot now.

What a cool place it is - tiny by restaurant standards (seats 49) and evocative of cocktails' pre-Prohibition heyday, right down to the flapper-dress-clad servers. One of the most entertaining moments was watching the bar crew wrestle a 300-pound ice block onto a perch where it could be hand-sawed and chiseled in half. This will happen relatively frequently, as ice is a big deal here.

I think co-owner-barkeep Eddie "Lucky" Campbell made me the very first cocktail, a smoked bay leaf martini with Hageman's Old Tom Gin and orange oil squeezed from a peel instead of orange bitters - wow! Subtle, slightly sweet and smoky, intense. I can see how Lucky is going to have fun with his smoke infuser.

Any doubt, though, that the Chesterfield is a restaurant as much as a bar was dashed with one look at chef Michael Ehlert's menu with house-made sausage and tourchon of foie gras among the small plates. He makes his own pastrami, too. This all looks so good.

-Kim Pierce / Special Contributor (12/13/2011)