Charles Joly
Principal With a cocktail program combining classic, pre-prohibition era drinks and contemporary creations, master bartender Charles Joly develops and manages a drink program like no other in Chicago. An emphasis on seasonal, fresh and house made ingredients distinguishes the Drawing Room menu.
Joly coordinates extensively with Drawing Room Chef
Nick Lacasse to develop drink pairings for regular menu changes. Frequent trips to local farmers markets produce fresh as you can get creations in the kitchen and behind the bar. The impressive cocktail menu is complemented by house made sodas and additional alcohol free creations. As a seasoned media spokesperson, Joly is frequently interviewed for his opinion on cocktail trends and more. He has been featured in numerous publications and is sought out for his expertise in the industry.
Joly is a protégé of Bridget Albert and is an active member of the United States Bartenders Guild. An impressive record in bartending competitions and testing, including receiving a scholarship to the BAR program in New York, a 1st place finish in the Wines de Jerez competition and placing 2nd in the World Cocktail Cup in New Zealand.
Joly’s accomplishments also include 2010 nomination for Best Bartender and Best Bar by Nightclub & Bar magazine, 2008 nominations for Tales of the Cocktail in the Best Bartender and Best Cocktail Menu categories,
Cheers Rising Star Award, and
Beverage Media "Top 10 Mixologists". He has also been cited in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and several spirit and mixology books. Beyond the Drawing Room, Joly creates and manages the drink programs for seven venues in his role as Executive General Manager for Threeheaded Productions.
Tim Lacey
Principal Tim Lacey was born and raised just outside of Boston. After graduating from Emerson College with a degree in Performing Arts and a concentration in Theater, he spent a few years living in Seattle before settling in Chicago in 1999.
After spending 10 years in the restaurant industry as a waiter and a bartender on both coasts and the Midwest, Lacey was hired as a bartender at Evanston’s Trio Atelier in 2004. In addition to handling the bar and cocktail program he spent most of the last year of the famed restaurant’s life span as Wine Director. At the urging of owner Henry Adaniya, Lacey began exploring the possibilities of nonalcoholic cocktails and house made sodas. He later consulted with Adaniya on non-alcoholic beverages for his newest venture, Hank’s Haute Dogs in Honolulu. Most importantly, while at Trio Chef Dale Levitski and Pastry Chef Mary McMahon taught Lacey the importance of salt.
Just days after Trio closed he started with Spring Restaurant Group where he worked as Bar Manager/Beverage Director and continued to pursue his goal of composing unique, creative cocktails working closely with Pastry Chef Elissa Narow and Chef de Cuisine Richard Camarota in developing flavor profiles and more culinary techniques. For the group’s Green Zebra restaurant Lacey developed an extensive non-alcoholic beverage program that received national attention.
Upon leaving SRG in order to spend time with his newborn daughter, Lacey joined the staff at the Drawing Room as a Master Bartender.
Nick Lacasse
Consulting Chef Raised in Burlington, Vermont, he is a graduate of the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, Vermont. For ten years he has worked for award winning chefs in Seattle, WA, Portland, ME and Chicago.
A protégé of James Beard Award-winning Chef Shawn McClain he has worked at all three of McClain's highly-regarded Chicago restaurants over the past five years. He has also staged in top restaurants in Boston, Chicago and New York. He recently returned from a 7-month trip abroad in Central America to open the Drawing Room and Le Passage.
