This month, Virgin Hotels Chicago opened the new 26th-floor rooftop bar Cerise—meaning cherry red—which offers an izakaya-inspired menu and beverages.
“We’ve been anticipating the opening of Cerise since we welcomed our first guests in January, and now that Chicago has thawed out, it’s time to unveil the cherry on top,” says Raul Leal, CEO of Virgin Hotels. “Cerise isn’t like any other Chicago rooftop; the surprising design fuels you with curiosity and imagination and leaves you wanting to explore more.”
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Italian designer Paola Navone conceptualized the bar to have a whimsical aesthetic. A bold color palette of blue with touches of red and green serves as the backdrop for a mélange of trinkets collected by Navone. Wood flooring is arranged in a hexagonal parquet in alternating shades of blue with matching blue metal hightop tables, all under a black industrial ceiling with suspended black fixtures, while a mirrored wall reflects entries to a terrace overlooking the city that wraps around three sides of the building. Cerise spans the entire width of the hotel, with two bars positioned at each end of the rooftop featuring plush indoor and outdoor couch groupings.
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The space is part of Virgin’s renovation of the historic 1928 Old Dearborn Bank building in which it is housed. The bar originally contained an elevator machinery room, since moved to a new floor above the rooftop deck.
Cerise is the hotel’s final F&B outlet, joining the Commons Club, Miss Ricky’s, Two Zero Three, and in-room dining.
