Raise a glass and relax at The Wolf Den Speakeasy in northwest Illinois

Michelle Hasankolli didn’t earn a Ph.D, but she’s pretty good with pH’s.

Want to know what kind of mixed drink will pair with your palate? In the mood for a cocktail but not sure what will fit your mood? Hasankolli can help.

Hasankolli is the den mother of mixology at The Wolf Den Speakeasy, a backroom bar at Route 73 Brew and Chew in Pearl City. She’s turned her talent for crafting cocktails into a part-time business that’s tapped into the speakeasy vibe, which dates back to the Prohibition Era of the 1920s and ‘30s, when booze was banned and bar patrons were asked to speak softly, to avoid detection while they bellied up to covert bars for an illegal drink.

Prohibition is long gone, but the speakeasy vibe is alive and well in places like The Wolf Den, where patrons can relax in an intimate setting where the lights are low but people’s spirits are high as they enjoy a drink in the bar’s relaxed environment.

Mixing drinks is like an art of glass. Each ingredient has its own pH level (a measure of how acidic or alkaline something is), and finding the perfect balance between sweet and sour can make or break a drink.

Throughout her bartending career, Michelle Hasankolli has enjoyed learning about the science of the drinks she serves, as well as the cultural history associated with them. She also likes being able to find the right fit for people who come in for a drink.

“It’s really fun creating cocktails and talking with people asking what their palate is,” she said. “A lot of people have their own emotion with them. Some people don’t like gin because they had a bad experience with it, or maybe they don’t like something bitter. So I’ll try to incorporate something that they may fall in love with. Just because you have one bad experience with something doesn’t mean that they’ll all be a bad experience.”

The Wolf Den’s vibe helps set the mood. There’s no thumping music or bright lights in the laid back bar — named after the town’s high school mascot — just comfortable dark-colored couches and chairs, gold-colored tables, small candles and small bar where Michelle Hasankolli adds her talents to the mix.

Another important ingredient in the bar’s success: her husband Refat Hasankolli, who owns the Brew and Chew and set aside a room in the building to provide her a space where she could share her passion for unique drinks and mixology. Together with Refat’s fascination with the speakeasy fad, The Wolf Den became a place that, at first, only friends and Brew and Chew’s regulars knew about.

These days, the “secret” is out — The Wolf Den has its own Facebook and Instagram page and more people are dropping by for a drink. It’s open Friday and Saturday nights, but Michelle is there only when her schedule allows, though she does post on the Den’s social media pages when she’s behind the bar. When she’s not there, the room remains open, but the bar is closed. People can still get a drink at the Brew and Chew’s bar and relax in The Wolf Den.

In the nearly year and a half since its customers first found the back room, the Hasankollis have seen people from near and far and all walks of life come by to get away from it all.

“This is kind of the true speakeasy vibe in that you don’t know that it’s there, although we do have a Facebook and Instagram page,” Refat said. “On the weekends, it’s open to anyone to just come back and relax without a bartender here. You can get your drinks up front [in the restaurant] and come back here and chill if you want a different vibe.”

Before joining the Brew and Chew staff as a front house manager, Michelle tended bar at Social Urban Bar and Restaurant on State Street in downtown Rockford. Being in a much larger city than Pearl City, the bar attracted people who appreciated a good mixed drink. It’s also where she grew to appreciate the stories behind the drinks.

“It’s where I learned my love for classic cocktails, and not only making them but appreciating the history of them,” Michelle said. “There’s so much history to them that not a lot of people know, and a lot of people don’t know about classic cocktails from around the early 1900s or late 1800s.”

When she’s behind The Wolf Den’s bar, she’ll share the stories and the sciences behind the drinks she shakes and stirs. Chances are, most casual drinkers haven’t heard of drinks such as a Negroni — an Italian pre-dinner cocktail from the 1930s made of equal parts gin, vermouth rosso and Campari, generally served on the rocks, and commonly garnished with an orange slice or orange peel.

Looking for a dry gin to whet your whistle? You’ll find some on The Wolf Den’s shelf, including Beefeater and Hayman’s from London, as well as Monkey 47 from Germany.

“Most of these spirits, [like gin], started as medicinal uses,” Michelle said. “It’s fun to see how this has now become about spirits and cocktails.”

The Hasankollis are proud to have created a place with it’s own special niche, bringing a big city experience to their small town.

“We want our guests to feel cozy and have a good experience,” Refat said. “It’s mostly couples, but the whole room gets vibing with each other. Nobody’s on their phones. It’s so cool and people just kind of forget and go back in the past. That’s what we’re kind of going after with the speakeasy, keeping it classic but in a modern way.”

The Wolf Den adds to the off-the-beaten-path vibe that the Brew and Chew brings to customers. The restaurant opened in 2014 and has become well-known in the region for its burgers, sandwiches, wraps and shakes.

Just as the Brew and Chew does with its food, The Wolf Den gives people a chance to try something new.

“It’s fun opening people’s palates to something they’ve never tried before,” Michelle said. “I’ve had many people be open to something they haven’t tried before.”