Chef Curtis Duffy and Top Bartender Mr. Lyan Revamp After’s Drink Menu in Chicago

After, the cocktail bar from Curtis Duffy and team at Michelin-starred Ever, has made a big change. They’ve revamped the bar’s menu in a new collaboration with an internationally known bartender whose bars are fixtures on the World’s 50 Best Bars list.

Ryan Chetiyawardana, who goes by Mr. Lyan, is behind Lyaness and Seed Library in London, as well as Silver Lyan in Washington, D.C., and Super Lyan in Amsterdam. His bar off the Thames River, Dandelyan, was ranked as the world’s top bar before it closed in 2018.

Since Chetiyawardana opened his first bar in the U.S. in 2019, they had been murmors that Mr. Lyan would open a Chicago bar, and before the pandemic, his drinks have popped up around town. Chetiyawardana’s consultancy, Mr Lyan Studio, has worked with brands like Nike and Prada. A news release describes the relationship between After and Mr. Lyan as a “long-term partnership.”

At After, Mr. Lyan’s spring menu will feature 12 cocktails, including four spirit-free options. A news release also hides another bit of news: chef Richie Farina has left Adorn Bar & Restaurant inside the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago. Farina left Ever in January 2023 for the Four Seasons job, and now he’s back working with Duffy as chef de cuisine.

Ever and After continues to change in 2025. Co-founder Michael Muser split with the operation earlier in February.

Home Run Inn digs deeper

Home Run Inn, which remains the official pizza of the Chicago Cubs, is trying something new — deep dish. The tavern-style pizzeria chain, which recently announced a rash of closures, suspiciously announced on Monday, March 31 that its six restaurants would begin offering deep-dish pies. The deep-dish pizzas come in three sizes — 8, 12, and 14 inches. A news release mentions specialty flavors — the Double Play Deep Dish sports a garlic butter crust, while a Hot Honey Pepperoni is topped with pepperoni cups, hot honey, and whipped ricotta. This is the first time in the chain’s eight decades that they’ve offered deep dish, the news release states.

Home Run Inn

Pizza Summit founder hit with a lawsuit.

The founder of the Chicago Pizza Summit is facing a federal lawsuit over the creation of a series of electrolyte-spiked boozy seltzers. Crain’s reports that Anthony Spina, the creator of the annual pizza festival, has been accused of breaking a 2019 contract with investors, who put in $287,500 to create said boozy seltzer line. Instead, the lawsuit alleges that Spina created a different company and launched the seltzer that he was supposed to develop for the plaintiffs. Spina, a former brand manager for Pabst Brewing and Mike’s Hard Lemonade, launched System Seltzers in 2022.

Water Tower Place’s future revealed

Water Tower Place, the urban mall once home to restaurants like DB Kaplan’s, Foodlife, Mity Nice Bar & Grill, and chains like California Pizza Kitchen, has been hit hard by changing spending habits and reduced downtown traffic off the Mag Mile. Block Club Chicago reports there are plans to revamp the top five floors for office or medical clinic space while keeping the bottom three floors for retail.

Goose Island’s Salt Shed Pub hosts Stout Fest

Are beef fans still excited about stouts? Goose Island Beer Co. hopes so. Last week, they launched a special single-barrel stout with Avondale’s Beer Temple that sold out in minutes. Now, they’re making use of their riverside restaurant at the Salt Shed to host a beer festival. Stout Fest will take place from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 26. Tickets, $60, go on sale via Resy at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 9.

Demera leaves Time Out Market

Demera, one of the city’s top Ethiopian restaurants, has exited Time Out Market Chicago. Sunday, April 6, was the food stall’s final day in the Fulton Market food hall. Demera’s flagship location in Uptown remains unaffected. The Time Out Market location opened in winter 2023.