I love Boxing Day, the first business day after Christmas. All of Ontario closes and we sit on the chesterfield and chow down on donuts, beer, macaroni and cheese, and watch hockey. The NHL pretty much owns Canada on Boxing Day now. They have TEN GAMES scheduled. My friend’s mum puts out (uhoot) a hellofa buffet (boo-fay). And k.d. lang always sends me a fruit cake. Go Leafs! (Q: Why don’t the Leafs drink tea? A: Because the Canadiens have all the cups.) And hello Peterborough!

Ed Bailey in happy meal days. Photo by Elizabeth Lavin.

Ed Bailey can’t do anything simple. The restaurateur once owned 64 McDonalds. He spent bazillions of dollars on several locations  decorating the interiors with Ralph Lauren wall fabrics, gold-framed oil paintings, and Austrian crystal chandeliers. Today, he operates multiple locations of Bailey’s Prime Plus Steakhouses and Patrizio’s. And he’s backing local barman Eddie “Lucky” Campbell in The Chesterfield at 1404 Main St. in downtown Dallas.

You know, Chesterfield. Like the cigarettes. The cigabutts that make you look cool like Don Draper. Bailey and Campbell are going way retro with The Chesterfield. It’s “modeled after the barrooms of the early 1900’s considered the Golden Age of Cocktails.”

There is nothing subtle about The Chesterfield. Catch this: “Guests will order cocktails from an 11 chapter menu, modeled after the first American cocktail manuals, arranged by style of drink – sours, fizzes, smashes, juleps, etc. Mixed into these chapters, guests can also expect cocktails smoked-to-order, in addition to modern chapters with seasonal and house specialties called classics re-crafted. The Chesterfield’s bar will be one of the most technically engineered in Dallas. Each bar station will have a freezer, refrigerated drawer, access to illuminated ice blocks, bottled house-made mixers, and a chilled produce bar top display. They will also feature one of the most extensive ice programs in the south, including ice chipped from blocks, cubed, flaked, made from molds and flavored.”

I can dig the ice deal. I’m very picky about my ice. So look for the aptly named Lucky and his ice chipper soon. Oh, and small plates by Executive Chef Michael Ehlert imported from DBGB Kitchen & Bar in New York. And yes, this location was once to be the collaborative effort of Lucky and local mixologist Michael (Cedars Social) Martensen. But it looks like Martensen was kicked to the curb. That’s just my take. Nobody’s talking.