The Best Year Ever!

On Monday, August 4th, Three Dots and a Dash will properly celebrate The Best Year Ever — our first year! We’re going to throw the tiki party of our lives:

• Paul McGee will be behind the bar serving up a menu of five brand new cocktails!
• Two new custom Tiki Farm mugs ($20 each): The Rum Barrel and The Fijian Mermaid!
• New Sea Horse swizzle sticks!
• For the first 150 people, we’ve got t-shirts and tote bags!
• For everyone else, Three Dots and a Dash temporary tattoos and sunglasses!

Special birthday cocktail menu (all $13):

• Ruby Mae’s Surfin’ Bird - Dark Bermuda Rum, Dark Jamaican Rum, Campari, Ruby Port, Pineapple, Lime, Passionfruit
• Aikau Aikau - Light Carribean Rum, Overproof Guyanese Rum, Blue Curacao, Falernum, Pineapple, Lemon
• BËSK I Ever Had - Rhum Agricole Blanc, BËSK, Pineapple, Coconut, Creme de Menthe
• Spinning in Infinity - Gin, Jamaican Rum, Light Carribean Rum, Navy Strength Jamaican Rum, Pineapple, Honey, Peach, Mint
• Tic Tac Taxi - Overproof Jamaican Rum, Coconut, Lime, Lemon, Passionfruit

Tees and totes!

Aikau Aikau

BËSK I Ever Had

Sea Horse swizzle sticks

Spinning in Infinity

Fijian Mermaid, custom mug by Tiki Farm

Aikau Aikau

BËSK I Ever Had

Rum Barrel and Fijian Mermaid, custom mugs by Tiki Farm

Rum Barrel, custom mug by Tiki Farm

Tic Tac Taxi

Here Comes The Bum!

At Three Dots and a Dash, we have a lot of folks to pay homage to. First, there is Don the Beachcomber. Then Trader Vic. Then Stephen Crane. And Martin Cate, too. But most of all, we have to give thanks to Jeff "Beachbum" Berry. Without him, so many beloved tiki drinks would be lost to history in the form of untold secret recipes and yellowed pages in ancient bartender notebooks. The most potentially devastating example of that fact is the very cocktail Paul McGee loved so much he named this very bar after: Three Dots and a Dash! How would Chicagoans survive the never ending winter of 2014 if they did not have this subterranean tropical escape? It is The Bum we can thank for these one-night vacations.

Just in time for all this snow to never melt, The Bum has come out with a new book, and lucky us! He's bringing it straight to Three Dots and a Dash. Paul got his hands on an early copy, and picked seven of his favorite recipes to serve on Sunday night (March 9th, 5pm-2am):

We've also asked Chicago's resident tikiphile, Rob Christopher (read his musings on tiki here and here, or listen here), to DJ the event. But in true island-time fashion, he'll be DJing from his barstool! Here's a little peek at the musical environment he'll be creating just for the occasion:

So mark your calendar to swizzle on down to 435 N. Clark Street this Sunday evening (5pm-2am), and tiki with Three Dots and a Dash as we host Beachbum Berry! 

HBD, DtB!

We have a patron saint, and his name is Don the Beachcomber. Our tiki bar is named after his Three Dots and a Dash cocktail, and we live by his words: What one rum can't do, three rums can.

Donn Beach's birthday was just this past weekend, and we're celebrating on Monday (2/23) and Tuesday (2/24) with a special menu of Paul McGee's beachcombin' favorites:

Happy National Crab Rangoon Day!

The purpose of this post is to discuss the history of fried wontons filled with cream cheese and crab meat with you. Cool? Cool!

Though the history of Crab Rangoon is a little murky, it is widely accepted to have been invented in 1950s United States by Polynesian-style (read: Tiki) restaurateurs. In fact, the oldest dated menu featuring Crab Rangoon was the Trader Vic's in 1956 San Francisco. Fair to say they are the best invention of the Twentieth Century? We think so!

And look what day has finally arrived: National Crab Rangoon Day! For the occasion, our Chef Doug Psaltis has created a special sampling of Crab Rangoon:

Green Curry Rangoon

Smoky & Spicy Rangoon

Blue Crab Rangoon

2 pieces of each, $11

We're open from 5pm-2am today, for all of your fried cream cheese needs.

Stephen Crane's Birthday!

Don't you love it when your birthday falls on a Friday? We bet Stephen Crane did, too. And this Friday is his birthday!

In honor of the birth of the Jet Pilot's inventor (one of our most beloved classic tiki cocktails), on Friday, February 7th, we'll be serving Crane's version of the Scorpion Bowl, from his famed faux-Polynesian restaurant The Luau in Beverly Hills.  

Scorpion Bowl 

Stephen Crane, The Luau in Beverly Hills

Gin, Gold Puerto Rican Rum, Armagnac, Lime, Orgeat

$30, serves 4-5

Sharon Tate giving Stephen Crane a birthday kiss.

"Nothing tops four on a pineapple punch!"

Fur jacket + tropical bikini = totally appropriate Chicago winter tiki wear.

Stephen Crane with his very own Scorpion Bowl.

The Luau in Beverly Hills.

Midnight Kiss!

We've got a few ways for you to ring in the New Year at Three Dots and a Dash, and all of them involve getting a midnight kiss with a lei around your neck and a tiki mug in your hand! 

Single tickets - $45 

Guaranteed entrance, passed Island Fare appetizers, and one of our custom Golden Bamboo mugs! 

Table for Four - $200

Guaranteed table for four people, passed Island Fare appetizers, and four of our custom Golden Bamboo mugs!

Table for Six - $400

Guaranteed table for six people, passed Island Fare appetizers, six of our custom Golden Bamboo mugs, and a Zombie Punch for six!

To make your reservations, or for more details, follow this link. We can't wait to swizzle into 2014 with you!

Happy Birthday, Trader Vic!

A Sip!

Rabbit Hole paid us a visit, and we mixed up one of our favorite cocktails for them: Tall as a Tree and Twice as Shady.

On this day in 1960:

“On election night in 1960, John F. Kennedy sipped daiquiris over dinner at his house in Hyannisport, Massachusetts, before watching the election returns and, 'while infused with the glow of a daiquiri,' learning he would be the next president.” 

— via Today

BOOze!

Photo by Anjali Pinto

If you've ever passed below the pile of skulls that, er, welcomes you to Three Dots and Dash, it may not surprise you that Halloween is one of our favorite howl-idays. We're celebrating for five spooky nights — from Sunday, October 27th, to Thursday, October 31st — and transforming into a creepy tropical haunt. We'll cast a spell on the bar with nightmarish green, red, and blue light, and serve a blood-chilling menu of ominously named classic Tiki cocktails: 

Blood of the Kapu Tiki 

1998, Bosco Hrnjak

Amber Rum, Lime, Grapefruit, Curaçao, Grenadine, Angostura Bitters, Absinthe

Sidewinder’s Fang 

1960s Lanai Restaurant, San Mateo, California

Demerara Rum, Jamaican Rum, Passionfruit, Curaçao, Lime

Headhunter 

1960s, Hawaii Kai Restaurant, New York City

Gold Puerto Rican Rum, Jamaican Overproof Rum, Demerara Rum, Honey, Lime, Peach, Papaya

Shrunken Skull

1950s, Unknown Origin

Demerara Rum, Gold Puerto Rican Rum, Grenadine, Lime

Pegleg Punch

2002, Beachbum Berry

Vodka, Aquavit, Orgeat, Grapefruit, Lemon

Polynesian Paralysis 

1960, H. Allen Smith

Bourbon, Orgeat, Curaçao, Lemon, Pineapple

Blackbeard’s Ghost 

1994, Beachbum Berry

Virgin Islands Rum, Demerara Rum, Apricot Brandy, Falernum, Lemon, Curaçao, Angostura Bitters

If the thought of going without your usual favorites is too frightening, don't worry! We'll still be serving our full cocktail and food menus. 

Planter's Punch!

The first known print reference to Planter's Punch is in the August 8, 1908 edition of the New York Times:

This recipe I give to thee,  

Dear brother in the heat. 

Take two of sour (lime let it be) 

To one and a half of sweet, 

Of Old Jamaica pour three strong, 

And add four parts of weak. 

Then mix and drink. 

I do no wrong —

I know whereof I speak.

At Three Dots and a Dash, Paul McGee riffs on Dick Moano's 1950 version of the punch: Puerto Rican Rum, Haitian Rum, Jamaican Rum, Lime, Grapefruit, Grenadine, Angostura Bitters. 

Pro-tips!

Photo by Paul Octavious!

One of our favorite surprises after opening was just how many people found our mugs and decor Instagram-worthy. But, we also noticed a problem: while the bar’s darkness lends itself to great ambience, it isn’t so great for mobile phone photography! Enter Anjali Pinto, our resident photographer. She says doesn’t always need the big, professional photo set-up — and insists that you don’t, either! We asked her for some pro-tips on taking great photos in the low light of Three Dots and a Dash:

Photographing in a dark bar is a challenge, especially if you’ve already guzzled down a Zombie Punch and you want to Instagram your next drink of choice. Here’s a few tips and tricks to live by the next time you want to make a stand-out memory from a blurry evening.  

LIGHT THE WAY.There are multiple sources of interesting light already available to you in Three Dots and a Dash. Notice those adorable sandscape candles in the center of your table or the track lighting on the main wood wall that illuminates from below?  Position your cocktail near one of these sources of available light to create a photo that matches the atmosphere. 

CONTROL EXPOSURE.Download an app that lets you choose an exposure point. Camera + and VSCOcam both allow you to separate focal and exposure points on your iPhone when taking a picture. With this detail, you can click on the darkest part of your image and the iPhone will compensate by brightening up the overall picture.  

PHONE A FRIEND.On-camera flash is less than ideal for making a beautiful picture. When your flash is directed from the same angle as your lens, objects in photos tend to look one-dimensional. But, an indirect source of light can make all the difference. Have a friend sit next to you and use the flashlight feature on their phone to light your picture.  If you want a dramatic back-lit photo of your skull glass, have a friend’s phone pumped up to full brightness and rest its illuminated screen on the back of the glass.  

Our First Mug Release Party!

Tiki bars of past had a great history of collectable, site-specific tiki mugs. (Check out our posts on Mr. Bali Hai and Tiki Bob!) Three Dots and a Dash will join in the tradition with the release of our first custom mug on Monday, September 2nd, at 5pm. Designed in conjunction with and produced by Tiki Farm, this ceramic sea urchin is the first vessel created just for Three Dots and a Dash, and is only available for sale at the bar ($20).

To celebrate, Paul McGee will also be working his first bartending shift at Three Dots and a Dash that evening.

Tiki Golf!

Full story here.

It's tiki time!

Now that we're open, what'll you have to drink?

The Bum

We owe much of our current tiki resurrection to the important work done by none other than cocktail scholar (great work, if you can get it) Jeff "Beachbum" Berry. Besides owning a most impressive collection of tropical shirts, he also has the honor of being one of Imbibe magazine's "25 Most Influential Cocktail Personalities of the Past Century."

Perhaps Berry's biggest contribution to tiki cocktail culture: decoding many of the historically secret recipes that allow us to enjoy vintage tiki cocktails as they were in their heyday. Don the Beachcomber wasn’t dropping any hints when he gave his syrups names like “Don’s Mix #2.” The Bum has also authored five books on vintage tiki drinks and cuisine, including Intoxica! and Grog Log.

Whipping up a Navy Grog at home? You’ll have to have one of these (which he re-invented) on hand: Cocktail Kingdom's Navy Grog Ice Cone Kit.

Mr. Lana Turner

Not all of our tiki forefathers have a colorful nickname. In comparison to the tiki’s other two heavy hitters, Stephen Crane was by far the most sophisticated and urbane of the bunch. While Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic established the tiki brand, Stephen Crane took tiki hospitality to a new level.

In 1939, Crane left Indiana for the hills of Hollywood and reinvented himself as an actor. He met and married Lana Turner in 1942, and realizing that was about as good as he was going to do in terms of the silver screen, he called it quits on his movie career. Even though Turner and Crane divorced two years later, he made the most of his red carpet status and went on to date other actresses, including Rita Hayworth and Ava Gardner.

Though it seems he may have been relegated to trophy husband status, Crane did eventually find his true calling in the faux-Polynesian world of Southern California Tiki when he purchased The Tropics. Using Trader Vic’s as inspiration, Crane set about quickly remodeling and renaming the restaurant, and in 1953, he opened The Luau. Crane added a fair amount of glamour to the tiki movement, and because of his own social circles and la-di-da tastes, The Luau was known for its innovative tropical decor and high profile customers.

While Trader Vic teamed up with Conrad Hilton for his expansion, Crane struck a deal with Sheraton Hotels in 1958 to create a chain of Polynesian themed restaurants across North America. Through this partnership, his chain of Kon Tiki Ports began popping up in Portland, Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Boston, Montreal, and Honolulu.

Crane sold The Luau in 1979, and when it was immediately razed, many took it as a signal that the tiki era had ended. Feel like taking a Chicago tiki tour? There ain’t much left, but you can visit the former Chicago location of Kon-Tiki Ports, which is now a Michael Jordan Steakhouse.

More than just a pretty face surrounded by other pretty faces, Stephen Crane did end up making a major cocktail contribution to the tiki world (and one that you’ll find on our opening menu): the Jet Pilot.

Hinky Dink's and the Wooden Leg

Victor Bergeron, or Trader Vic, was more of a talented trend spotter than a true originator—he introduced Mexican cuisine to the American public and considered sushi to be a delicacy well before the 1990s. After a visit to the original Don the Beachcomber's in 1937 he was inspired to head back to Oakland and change the food and decor at his own establishment, Hinky Dink’s. It wasn’t much longer before he put his nickname to good use and the pub's name was changed to Trader Vic's.

Within a few years, Trader Vic opened a second Trader Vic’s location in Seattle and a third in Hawaii. The chain grew quickly and is now credited as one of the first successful themed restaurant chains. (You’re welcome, Joe’s Crab Shack!) Depending upon your perspective, one might consider Trader Vic to be "more successful" than tiki’s originator, Don the Beachcomber. He certainly made tiki an option to the general public, particularly after teaming up with the Hilton empire, and, at one point, operating over 25 restaurants in the US. But “What is success, really?” is a conversation that will have to wait for another day.

Trader Vic knew the power of a compelling narrative and contributed to his own mythology. After losing his leg to tuberculosis, Vic often told people his wooden leg was a result of an encounter with a shark. In reality, Trader Vic was no seafarer; on his only trip to the South Pacific he became so violently seasick that, between barfs, he vowed never to return. 

Fictions aside, Trader Vic’s contributions to the first wave of tiki are incomparable. He invented the Mai Tai (arguably the most popular—and bastardized (What’s up, Wrigley Field!)—tiki cocktail ever to exist) and authored Trader Vic's Bartenders Guide in 1947, which is currently going for $125 on eBay (which is $1,308.88 in 1947-dollars!)

Diplomat and Beachcomber, Prince and Pirate

Donn Beach left his native Texas in 1926 and embarked on a solo-trip around the world, island-hopping all over the Caribbean and Polynesia. His travels eventually lead him to Hollywood, California, where Beach opened a bar called 'Don's Beachcomber Cafe' in 1934, and it was then and there that tiki culture was born.

A Polynesian-themed bar and restaurant, Don’s Beachcomber Cafe was the birthplace of many tiki classics, like Zombie Punch, Navy Grog, Shark's Tooth, Missionary’s Downfall, Three Dots and a Dash and others. Moreover, many of our modern cocktail practices can be attributed to Donn Beach; he created over 70 original cocktails during the 1930s using fresh juices, syrups, liqueurs, extracts, fruits and brandies, while other bartenders were foregoing quality ingredients. But perhaps our favorite contribution made by Don the Beachcomber is the practice of fortifying his recipes with more than one type of rum, and the quote: "What one rum can't do, three rums can."

And yes, at first, we, too, thought ‘Don the Beachcomber’ was pretty long for a nickname, but he was born Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt, so it turns out he was actually saving himself quite a few syllables.

Rum & Coca-Cola!

Three Dots and a Dash is a bar devoted to rum above any other spirit, and perhaps the handiest way to administer a little kill-devil is via a classic Rum & Coke.

Of course, the traditional name for a highball of rum and cola is a Cuba Libre. “Cuba Libre!” was the battle cry of the Cuban War of Independence, and though the years of the war are well documented, the Cuba Libre’s exact moment of existence is a mystery. The only certainty is that this cocktail was first sipped in Cuba in or around the year 1900—which is generally said to be the year that cola was first introduced to the island by American troops.

The cocktail gained popularity in the United States after The Andrews Sisters’ covered Lord Invador’s calypso song “Rum and Coca-Cola,” in 1945 and sent it straight to the top of the Billboard charts for ten weeks.

Here is how our own Paul McGee mixes himself a rum & coca-cola (without using Coke):
     Cuba Libre

     1.5 oz El Dorado 5 year
     3 oz Q Kola (lots of nutmeg flavor, and little bit dryer than Coca-Cola)
     2 dashes Angostura bitters
     0.25 oz fresh lime juice
     Fill glass with ice. Add rum, lime, bitters, top with cola. Garnish with lime wheel.