A Weekend in Lake Forest
Just north of Chicago, find cocktails, high tea, and an F. Scott Fitzgerald connection
A Weekend in Lake Forest
The Bear has all eyes on Chicago’s restaurant scene, but veer north of the city for a chic afternoon tea, a giant slice of cake, and some of Chicagoland’s most creative cocktails.
Along the shores of Lake Michigan, the upscale suburb of Lake Forest seems more F. Scott Fitzgerald than Jeremy Allen White — and for good reason.
Fitzgerald’s first love — and supposed inspiration for Daisy Buchanan — was none other than Lake Forest local Ginevra King. King’s home suburb even receives a nod in The Great Gatsby as the locale where Tom Buchanan purchases a few ponies.
While it’s easy to imagine Gatsby himself throwing parties at any of the Lake Michigan-adjacent mansions, that’s not to say Lake Forest — or its food scene — is stuck in the past. Rather, it’s a suburb that’s equal parts timeless and innovative.
Where to Stay
No hotel better strikes a balance between the past and the present than Lake Forest institution Deer Path Inn. Since Gatsby’s beloved 1920s, the Tudor-esque hotel has hosted guests in a range of boutique rooms. One suite includes an infinity bathtub where water pours from the ceiling, while another places two fireplaces on either side of the same wall, creating a luxe, cozy atmosphere.
The hotel extends the variety and glamour of those rooms to its dining experiences, which go well beyond the inn’s three restaurants. Come bedtime, the Deer Path Inn offers a literary-inspired mocktail package, as well as a tea service that greets guests with a nighttime tray of lavender flower tea, honeycomb candy, and white chocolate truffles. Not to mention, the lobby always offers individually wrapped chocolate chip cookies.
Where to Eat
You know a hotel restaurant is onto something when more locals than overnight guests fill the tables. Attached to White Hart Pub in the inn’s basement, The Bar feels like a community-wide secret, with a fearless menu in two parts: one for sushi, the other for classic pub fare. Sashimi, French onion soup, and cheesy gnocchi may not traditionally go together, but here, somehow, it works. If you’re in the know — as many of the Bar’s patrons are— you can even order off-menu.
Just upstairs from The Bar, the English Room serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but it’s the afternoon tea that doubles as the day’s main event. Three levels of scones, finger sandwiches, and macaroons constitute a full meal, while the tea menu is equally thorough. You can’t go wrong with the caffeine-free chocolate blend, which tastes like you’re drinking dessert. For the best treat, however, reserve a table for dinner, when you can follow mushroom risotto with a hulking slice of chocolate cake: a true showstopper.
While not a restaurant, this open-air market is a must-visit, if not for the photo opp — it’s nestled between two brick buildings, evocative of an Italian alleyway — than for the biscottis. Characterized by hanging plants, artisanal pastas, and produce galore, the market is a treasure trove of local goodies.
With a main green square and access to Lake Michigan, Lake Forest evokes a setting reminiscent of an upscale Gilmore Girls or a summer romance novel. To classify as either, however, the suburb requires two staple businesses: an ice cream parlor and a chocolate shop. On the corner of East Deerpath Road, Sweet’s fulfills both needs, serving milkshakes, ice cream, and an assortment of chocolates that live up to the shop’s name.
Where to Drink
The question of where to drink in Lake Forest matters less than who to drink from. That answer, always, should be mixologist Jorge Centeno, the Deer Path Inn’s chief spirits officer.
Centeno has perfected the classics, but he’s also always innovating; he journals concepts — “sometimes in a notepad, sometimes in a napkin, sometimes in the palm of my hand” — the moment inspiration strikes. He’s frozen photos of Vanilla Ice and other “Ice”-nicknamed celebrities inside actual ice cubes; incorporated herbs picked from his own garden into the inn’s drinks; and devised a curry, gin, and coconut cocktail that’s too well-balanced not to finish.
If you ask Centeno to make you a drink. he may get carried away — in the best way. After a day in Chicago, I found Centeno behind the bar, where he made my group and me off-menu carajillos, setting fire to cinnamon sticks and matching each drink with a pastry and a scoop of ice cream. As I sipped from my glass, he emerged with two more rounds: a jello and a liquid version of a pornstar martini.
For those who prefer wine, the Deer Path Inn’s wine cellar serves a wide assortment of both bottles and options by the glass. The latter isn’t necessarily the best for business, admits the inn, but it affords loyal guests and tourists alike the chance to try something new.
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