Maude's Liquor Bar Gilt Bar's French sib in the West Loop

Most acts that cause a man guilt he ends up doing again, like spanking the monkey. He's just an old-world primate -- he doesn't even know why you're hitting him!! Opening another spot after spending a year being Gilt-y, the folks behind Maude's Liquor Bar.

A second installment from the Gilt Bar folks, Maude's is a two-level gastro-tavern that feels like a lived-in Parisian dive, with mismatched chandeliers, candles in vintage jars, and weathered, "electric blue" metal chairs, fortunately the type of electric chairs that don't denote your last meal. The small plate-focused menu's deep with classic French consumables like tenderloin steak tartare (slow cooked egg yolk, capers, parsley, Espelette pepper), duck rillettes with whipped duck lardo, and a caramelized onion/Gruyere "French onion fondue", basically a riff on the traditional soup that skips the broth to make you the one who's stocky. Other dishes dubbed "Almost French" include a red wine-braised chicken w/ bacon and mushrooms, the herb-buttered house steak, and fingerling/giardiniere-kicked crispy pork tongue, which given its menu heading, is just French-kissed.

Drink-wise, they're pouring handcrafted cocktails like the Bijou (Broker's gin, Chartreuse, and Carpano Antica), and ginger beer and fresh fruit "Smashes", fueled by a roster of spirits ranging from Smalls Gin to Grand Marnier, not to be confused with the Grand Mariner, who, like many men, is no stranger to flogging the dolphin.