Bangers & Lace: A Cicerone Lands in Chicago

Bangers & Lace, a new restaurant opening in Wicker Park, has 32 draft and 68 bottle beers with your own cicerone to help you select the right one for your meal.

The name of the place sums up the concept: sausages and beers. However, this is Cheesehead country, so don't expect a bunch of green-and-gold mustachioed guys eating brats and shotgunning beers. There will be more artisan-style fare such as bacon-wrapped kielbasa skewers, Merguez lamb sausage and feta flatbreads, a Bavarian pretzel with chocolate-stout mustard and desserts that include Black Dog gelato and Hoosier Mama pies. (Black Dog gelato is a great locally produced treat.)

Bangers & Lace will also feature a cicerone, a person that acts like a sommelier but instead of wine, pairs beer with food. The owners seem to want to make the learning of beer as important as the drinking of it. Instead of taking a backseat to the food, the beer will be an integral component. I hope that places such as Bangers & Lace will continue to elevate the idea of beer as a part of a meal that extends beyond take-out pizza and ballpark hot dogs.