It’s one of the best romantic comedies of all time, and one bar in Chicago is honoring it with a popup, starring themed drinks and decor for the next few weeks.
Now up and running, the Sixth cocktail bar’s As You Wish pop-up is a love letter to The Princess Bride, the Rob Reiner – directed classic that’s won innumerable hearts and minds since its release in 1987. The Lincoln Square space is decked from top to bottom with bejewelled tiaras, trailing flowers and vines, and romantic lighting, not to mention production stills, life-size cutouts of the main characters, and quotes from both the original source material – the William Goldman novel of the same name – and the film adaptation.
Even more fun are the specialty cocktails from bar manager Dylan Seo and his team: 16 concoctions with clever monikers and ingredients that reference fan-favourite lines from the movie. To that end, the Inconceivable mixes tequila, Aperol, green chartreuse, and strawberry-jalapeño cordial with an optional oyster tincture, plus a chocolate-covered strawberry for good measure. (The chocolate coating makes it go down easier, of course.)
The Twue Wuve is a blend of mezcal, sherry, coconut, caramel-pineapple simple syrup, and blueberry foam, while the I’m Not A Witch, I’m Your Wife features gin, Strega, Cocchi Americano, chai bitters, and a Malört rinse (a local favourite).
On the stirred side, the Shortage Of Perfect Breasts includes gin, aquavit, and sugar snap pea, and the Westley – named for Cary Elwes’s impossibly blond swashbuckling hero – is a blend of wheated bourbon, demerara sugar, Peychaud's bitters, and tobacco essence.
“We wanted to find something romantic and nostalgic, and The Princess Bride is one of those timeless movies that reaches a wide fan base,” says Sarah Zelman, marketing manager of the Sixth’s parent company, the Fifty/50 Restaurant Group. “Everyone I mentioned it to seemed to have a visceral response, so we had a feeling it'd strike a chord.”
The bar’s 55 seats are first-come, first served, with no accommodations for standing-room customers and a waitlist that goes into effect once the space reaches capacity. The pop-up will be open Tuesday through Sunday for the remainder of its run, ending March 22.
For more information, visit thesixthbar.com.