As of Saturday, December 19, Wicker Park’s Lava will close down, and reopen in mid-to-late January with a completely new concept. “We’ve kind of reached a point in our lives where we just want to do something different,” says co-owner Phil MacFarland. “We’ve been doing the DJ thing for a long time now, since we were 18. It’s become something where we’re more interested in craft cocktails and mixology.” MacFarland and co-owner Ty Fujimura will be working on a new cocktail menu with master mixologist Peter Vestinos. They’re also making expansions to the craft beer list, in addition to adding more seating room. “We’re going to keep the DJ booth, but it’s only going to be two to three nights a week, and instead of rowdy electronica it will probably be more background music,” MacFarland says. “Our new name is The Exchange, which refers back to this time in the mid 1800s when bartenders were just starting to get into mixology.”
