Last night I attended the Chicago book launch for The Adventures of Fat Rice (Ten Speed Press, 2016), the long-awaited cookbook from Chicago’s only Macanese restaurant, Fat Rice. The restaurant is one of my favorites anywhere. Earlier this year, I blogged about The Bakery, Fat Rice’s Hong Kong and Macau-inspired bakery. It’s around the corner from the Fat Rice entrance.

At the book launch last night, I finally saw the third part of the Fat Rice enterprise: The Ladies’ Room. I’m not a big bar person, but this is stunning beyond imagination. “Inspired by Chinese gambling dens and Macau’s red light district,” The Ladies’ Room is a small, intimate, reservations-only cocktail lounge.

It totally reminds me of my favorite noir film, The Scavengers, which was set and filmed in 1950s Macau. Although it’s a black and white movie, this is what I imagine many of the scenes to look like had it been shot in color.

The Ladies’ Room at Fat Rice is located at 2957 West Diversey in Chicago. For reservations, check out this link.