Don't belly up to these bars

Article by: KIM ODE , Star Tribune
Updated: December 14, 2011 - 9:10 AM

Ice bars are catching on as a way to embrace winter.

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Ice Chamber bar at Le Meridien Chambers in downtown Minneapolis

Photo: , Photo provided by D'Amico Kitchen

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In Dante's "Inferno," the worst sinners are not consumed by flames, but encased in ice. Perhaps this explains the gradual but relentless -- think glacial -- growth in ice bars these days. Not that we're judging.

In fact, glorifying ice while living in an icebox is rather endearing. Here's where you can sidle up to a bar made of frozen water, and even drink from glasses made of ice:

Back for a sixth year, the Ice Chamber at Le Meridien Chambers, 901 Hennepin Av. in Minneapolis, continues to attract a crowd to what's billed as the "first outdoor urban ice bar in the United States." With a fire pit and aurora borealis vibe, it's a talker. Scheduled to open Thursday.
In Duluth, Little Angie's Cantina & Grill will feature its first ice bar this winter, giving visitors to the Bentleyville light display in Canal Park a further reason to delay warming up.
Back for a second year is Blu Ice Bar and Lounge at the Grand Superior Lodge in Two Harbors, Minn., now with ice chandeliers, a 12-foot-tall Split Rock Lighthouse with a working beacon carved from ice, and North Shore sushi. The grand opening is Dec. 21, then it's open Fridays and Saturdays as long as frigid conditions last.
Further up the shore will be Moguls Ice Bar, a ski-in, ski-out saloon at the Caribou Highlands Lodge on Lutsen Mountain. It's on tap to be open Fridays and Saturdays starting Dec. 23.
Come February, Rochester joins the scene in its annual SocialIce festival. Its Minnesota's Ice Bar, billed as the state's biggest, will be open evenings at the Peace Plaza downtown Feb. 9-11.
Finally, you can also have your very own ice bar for your winter parties. Several companies do such work, including Ice Occasions in Ellsworth, Wis., owned by Chris Swarbrick, a perennial winner of ice-carving contests, and the chain saw behind several of the bars listed above.