Last Monday, Lost Lake in Chicago had an electrical fire. The fire itself wasn’t that big (most of the damage was in the kitchen of the connected Thank You restaurant), but the smoke damage… oh, dear, the smoke damage. This is hard news to swallow, but… they had to throw out the rum. The rum! And they’re having to do a deep-clean. They should be open again soon, in a couple of weeks.

But a couple of weeks is a loooong time to be out of work when you depend on tips to pay your bills. The local bar community has stepped up, and are helping plan some special pop-up events to keep the crew slinging drinks (including one in Indianapolis!). To learn more, keep an eye on the Lost Lake Facebook page.

For those of us too far from Chicago to chip in, head to this GoFundMe page, where money is being collected to help the crew out during this bumpy stretch. The fund was set up by Kiowa Bryan, an agricole rhum maven, Los Angeles bartender, and Lost Lake lover. Kiowa is also hosting a special Lost Lake support event at Eveleigh in Los Angeles on Thursday, April 7.

Only a few weeks ago, we permanently lost the Portland Trader Vic’s to a fire. The fire at Lost Lake has a lot in common, but I’m hopeful the end of this story will be much different. Let’s do what we can to ensure it!