White Oak Kitchen & Cocktails Down-home eats & 137-proof bourbon from the Max Lager's crew

Coming out of the woodwork is meticulously detailed White Oak, which was envisioned by the owner of down-the-block Max Lager's as a "simple, yet complex" joint serving seriously Southern cocktails and cooked-right feasts from inland areas, because any other approach would just be outlandish.

The place is split into areas whose names match their look, from the "Distillery", whose black-painted wood is said to mimic the inside of a wine/whiskey barrel, to "Lookout" in front, with floor-to-ceiling windows, floor-stacked Jack-branded barrels, and cage-like chandeliers made from sticks of sugar maple. Small plates of housemade tasso & jerky set you up for sugarcane-roasted quail breast, Beaufort stew (roasted prawns, potatoes, house andouille, hominy, smoked pork belly), caramel fried chicken, cast iron ribeye w/ white BBQ sauce, and Hoppin' John-sided virgin snapper -- so feel good knowing you'll be the first to fork it.

The 80+ brown spirits include the off-menu, cask-strength Taylor, while Southern song-inspired cocktails include the "Sweet Home…" w/ Flor de Cana rum, plus one w/ Applejack brandy & pecan-infused Woodford Reserve dubbed the "Midnight Train", which you may be able to take home, as long as it's not outlandishly OTP.