Evergreen Cocktails

I wrote a little piece for the Nov.-Dec. issue of Edible Manhattan about the surprising number of drinks and eats at Vandaag, the Dutch-flavored East Village restaurant, that employ pine needles. This includes a couple piney cocktails.

Notable Edibles: Pushing the Needle

By Robert Simonson

Everyone, regardless of creed, enjoys the stands of pines that pop up on city sidewalks every December. The fresh forest scent soothes the fevered New York mind, and puts even confirmed atheists in the mood to trim a Christmas tree.

Except Phillip Kirschen-Clark. Last December, it made him want to cook one.

“I was coming from Dean & DeLuca,” recalls the chef at the East Village, Dutch-and-Danish-influenced restaurant Vandaag. “I had just bought some squabs and vegetables. I was walking by, smelling these trees, thinking, ‘Ah, it smells so lovely.’ I was initially planning on using some rosemary with the squab. But I just reached out and grabbed a handful of pine needles. I roasted (the birds) on a bed of those, and chopped them up and mixed them with risotto farce to go inside the squab. Beautiful.” The needle idea was evergreen enough that Kirschen-Clark incorporated pine into several dishes at Vandaag. A pickled oyster is accompanied by a consomme made of cucumber vinegar and the liquid the oyster was poached in, and is garnished with pine oil and pickled pine buds. A hybrid Lola duck for two is de-legged, allowed to dry for two to three days, brushed with pine oil, and roasted, the legs confited with pine sprigs and duck fat. It is served with braised mustard greens and potatoes, and a sauce made of duck scrap, pine buds and juniper berries.

You can take your pine-scented meal all the way to dessert by ordering a house-made vanilla ice cream cone infused with juniper berries and pine needles, and sprinkled with candied pine nuts. It’s as cooling and piney a cone as you’ll find.

Vandaag’s mixologist Katie Stipe has answered Kirschen-Clark’s woodsy bill of fare with a couple cocktails. Already on the opening menu was the light and refreshing Bohemian Spritz, a blend of Gruner Veltliner, Vermouth Blanc, St.-Germain, Zirbenz Pine Liqueur, sparkling wine and grapefruit zest. More recently Stipe came up with the puckishly named Fir Lining, a spin on the Tantris Sidecar, a creation of Audrey Saunders of Pegu Club. It includes Clear Creek Douglas Fir Eau de Vie (it and the Zirbenz are the only major pine liquors readily available on the American market), Velvet Falernum, lemon juice, a little pineapple juice and green Chartreuse. The base liquor is Genevieve genever-style gin, which has been steeped in pine needles. True to the drink’s name, the glass’s rim is lined in a powder made of sugar and pine powder.

How’s all this taste? Well, as Kirschen-Clark puts it, “Christmassy.”

The Sipping News

New York cocktails crowd the $20 mark. While this is true at some new places, like the Lambs Club, the article—typical for the sensationalistic Post—is misleading. At most of the bars they mention (PDT, Pegu Club, Milk & Honey, etc.), the average price is still around $14. However, that is an increase from the $13 price tag that was the norm a year ago. [NY Post]

It also now costs more to drink on the Long Island Railroad. [Gothamist]

Another boast from the Post: Sherry is popular again. I wish it were so. [NY Post]

West Village cocktail joint Little Branch will be adding a cafe upstairs (aka street level). [The Villager, via Eater]

Jimmy, a new rooftop cocktail bar in the James Hotel, has opened in SoHo. This, unfortunately, is one of those places that offers $18 cocktails. Since it's partly founded by Hotel Griffou's Johnny Swet and Larry Poston, whose cocktails I've tasted at Griffou, I'm not sure the price is warranted. But I will reserve judgment until I try them. [Eater]

Japanese wineries (huh?) are trying to turn table grape Koshu into world-class wine. [Times]

Royalton's Forty Four Bar to Open Oct. 1

After a delay of a couple weeks, in which bartenders were brought up to speed and menus were tinkered with, Forty Four, the reincarnation of the lobby bar at midtown Manhattan's Royalton Hotel, will open for business.

Expect to see one or more of the serious-looking, ice-kicking dudes (and dudette) to the right on hand this weekend. They make up The Cocktail Collective, the group that was put together in the wake of this year's Tales of the Cocktail to created Forty Four's menu. As reported earlier, they Richard Boccato from Dutch Kills in New York City (the man holding the block of ice); John Lermayer from the Florida Room in Miami Beach, and Woodward in Boston (shaker in hand); Simon Ford, a former London bartender, and now a global cocktail ambassador employed by Pernod Ricard USA (the man top right who looks like he just got off a cross-country flight, which he probably did); Willy Shine, one of the founders of Contemporary Cocktails, a prominent cocktail consultancy based in New York City (saw in hand, looking like a butcher); Misty Kalkofen, who tends bar at Drink in Boston (guess); and Eric Alperin, head bartender at the Varnish in Los Angeles (tall and vested).

That's one cool photo. Some sort of theme song, along the lines "The Magnificent Seven," should play whenever those guys enter the room.

The menu will feature classic drinks created at great hotels of the past, some served up classically, some with a modern twist.

The Sipping News

Cocktails boasting lower alcohol contents are now trendy, sez the San Francisco Chronicle. If true, I am in favor of this trend. [SFC]

Jason Wilson of the Washington Post likes the Alaska cocktail, which seems to be experiencing a little revival lately. Me, I've never taken to this particular concoction. [WP]

Burgundy man Daniel Johnnes has begun to import Bordeaux. [Dr. Vino]

Eric Asimov writes about the wonderful winemaker Josko Gravner, master of weird aged white wines, loved by some, puzzled over by many. [NYT]

Bartenders on the Move: Noted mixologist Toby Cecchini is no longer putting in Friday shifts at Red Hook's Fort Defiance.

Owen Westman Elaborates on Plans for Melbourne Future

Owen Westman, who has left San Francisco's vaunted cocktail bar Rickhouse to return to his native Melbourne, Australia, has let out a bit more information on the bar he'll be running half way across the world. 

Westman—author of one of my favorites cocktails, the Laphroaig Project—and two partners have taken ownership of the Collection Lounge on Bridge Road in Richmond, a suburb of Melbourne. Westman describes it as "a busy little cafe and shopping area and the bar has been a local hotspot for about 10 years. Small plates and cocktails is what they specialize in."

"I will be working with my business partners and some friends to breathe some new life into the food and beverage program they have in place," he continued. "Also, with more space available in the building we hope to expand it a little as well however we have not decided what this will entail just yet."

Westman previously said the cocktail list will draw on his experience at Bourbon & Branch, Rickhouse and other bars he's visited throughout the world. (He calls Melbourne "by far the most cocktail and food forward city in Australia."

Royalton's Forty Four Bar Reveals Debut Cocktail Menu

The six-person "Cocktail Collective," put together by the Royalton Hotel to create a cocktail program for the lobby bar, called Forty Four, has done it work. 

The members—Richard Boccato from Dutch Kills and Painkiller in New York City; John Lermayer from the Florida Room in Miami Beach, and Woodward in Boston; Simon Ford, a former London bartender, and now a global cocktail ambassador employed by Pernod Ricard USA; Willy Shine, one of the founders of Contemporary Cocktails, a prominent cocktail consultancy based in New York City; Misty Kalkofen, who tends bar at Drink in Boston; and Eric Alperin, head bartender at the Varnish in Los Angeles—put their heads together over the past month and came up with a menu that evokes the great hotel bars of yesterday (and some of today).

It's divided into classic cocktails and Cocktail Collective originals, and there is a punch program as well. The classics include drinks that made their debut at the Savoy Hotel in London, the Hotel Nacional in Havana, the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans, the Raffles Hotel in Singapore and the Metropolitan Hotel in New York (which sat just a couple blocks away from the Royalton, on 42nd St.)

Here are some of the originals: 

Cocktail Collective Originals - Inspired by all that has come before and all that is yet to be realized.

The Hocus Pocus Gin, sweet vermouth, Combier and the unmistakable charm of Fernet Branca stirred and served up with an orange twist.

This is a variation of Ada Coleman's infamous Hanky Panky Cocktail.

The Stone Place Jamaican rum, fresh squeezed organic lemon and orange juices and house-made grenadine shaken and served up.

A play on the indisputable classic Ward Eight cocktail.

The Other Word Mezcal, fresh squeezed organic lime juice, agave nectar, yellow chartreuse and maraschino liqueur shaken and served up.

The Detroit Athletic Club was the birthplace of the Last Word, which is the inspiration for this new modern favorite.

Italian-American Reconciliation Rye whiskey, Amaro Lucano and a scant portion of house-made orgeat served over a hand-cut rock of ice with a Sambuca rinse on the glass.

An indirect homage to the indispensable Old Fashioned that was made famous at the bar at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

The Relationship Between Cocktails and Pork

The symbiotic relationship between the cocktail community and pork is one that's been on my mind for some time—so much so that I wrote a little piece about the subject for Tasting Table today.

In case you haven't noticed, for cocktailians, pork isn't the Other White Meat. It's the Only White Meat.

Glance at the bar bites menu at any speakeasy in New York or Brooklyn, and you'll find piggy little treats near the top of the list. East Village's PDT has a culinary relationship with neighboring frankfurter innovator Crif Dogs. Nearby Death & Co. and tequila-focused Mayahuel both serve up a delectable pork belly. So does Williamsburg's Rye. Red Hook's Fort Defiance offers a pork loin with roasted potatoes. And Brooklyn's Clover Club, which is famous for its brunchtime bacon tasting, has just reintroduced what may be the best BLT in the city to its summertime menu. (Chef Craig Rivard only serves it when tomatoes are in season.)

I asked Clover Club owner Julie Reiner, and she said the connection is all a matter of good taste. "I think that most people who consider themselves to be cocktailians also consider themselves to be foodies," she said, "and all foodies love pork!"

Mixologists love it so much they even put it in their drinks. Don Lee's bacon-fat-washed Benton's Old Fashioned (using a technique learned from Eben Freeman) is legend by now. Lesser known, but just as good is the Serrano-ham-washed Brandy Alexander of Clif Travers at Williamsburg's Bar Celona. "All that beautiful fat was being thrown away so I figured I should try using it," explained Travers. "I just pay attention to my chefs and use their leftovers."

The Sipping News

Eben Freeman has become "director of bar operations and innovation" at Michael White's Altamarea group. Nice to see Freeman finally land a new place in New York's bar world. He left his previous perch, Tailor, last year. [TONY via Eater]

Is tequila the new vodka? Or: The "Entourage" Effect. [Washington Post]

New York bars are spiking their milkshakes with liquor. [NYT]

More on the ongoing Tiki bar revival, including news of the coming Hurricane Club in Manhattan. [NYT]

The Sipping News

An argument in favor of bartender copywriting cocktails and techniques as intellectual property, which may be one of the most unenforceable ideas I've ever heard of. Thankfully, legally, this is impossible. I've always thought the cocktail world's willingness to share recipes and idea was always one of its most likable and noble aspect. [The Atlantic]

There seem to have been a rash of high profile bartender departures in recent months. The latest include Owen Westman, who will leave the San Francisco bar Rickhouse to open his own place all the way over in Melbourne. Westman, who was born in Melbourne,  couldn't say where the bar is or what its name will be (details are still being finalized). But the cocktail list will draw on his experience at Bourbon & Branch, Rickhouse and other bars he's visited throughout the world. (Rickhouse recently lost Erick Castro to Pernod.) He calls Melbourne "by far the most cocktail and food forward city in Australia." Meanwhile,  Nico de Soto is leaving Dram in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to go to London to work at a London branch of Paris' Experimental Cocktail Club.

Toward a lighter, and greener, Champagne bottle. [NY Times]

A lengthy piece on the legendary Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale. [Wine Enthusiast]

"Alcohol is not a flavor," says John Ragan, sommelier at Eleven Madison Park. Agreed! [Grub Street]

Sasha Petraske Keeps It Simple at Lambs Club

I must say I do appreciate cocktail man Sasah Petraske's unflagging classicism. When all others are dabbling in this trend and that new fad, he pretty much sticks to the pre-Prohibition playbook. The menu he's come up with for midtown's newly refurbishing Lambs Club, set inside the Chatwal Hotel, may be his starkest yet, a mere five selections long. In a nod or two to modernity, it makes room for vodka and St. Germain.

The Lambs is on W. 44th between Broadway and Sixth. It's location it no mistake. It was once a prominent theatrical club, with origins in London. It was founded in 1869, named after Charles and Mary Lamb, who apparently were the objects of much actor freeloading back in the 19th century. The American version came in 1874. Members included Irving Berlin, Fred Astaire, Bert Lahr and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Alan J. Lerner and Frederick Lowe first met at the Club. 

I was unhappy to see the old interior ripped apart. But perhaps, how, it will become a theatrical hangout again.

Here's the lists:

COCKTAILS 

Gold Rush Bourbon, Lemon, Honey

Southside Gin, Lime Juice, Sugar, Mint

Old Fashioned Bourbon, Sugar, Bitters, Orange Peel

Cherry Fix Vodka or Rum, Fresh Cherries, Lemon, Crushed Ice

St. Hilaire Cava and St. Germain

(Photos from Urban Daddy)

Three Parts New York, One Part L.A., One Part Boston...

What kind of bar do you get when you mix Pernod Ricard USA brand ambassador czar Simon Ford, cocktail consultant Willy Shine, tiki master Richard Boccato, Boston bartendress Misty Kalkofen, L.A. bar wizard Eric Alperin and Miami Beach mixologist John Lermayer?

We shall find out in mid-September when Forty Four, the bar revamp at the Royalton Hotel in midtown Manhattan, reopens. They are all part of the group the hotel has put together and called The Cocktail Collective. Heard of Ocean's Eleven? Call them Royalton's Six.

At Royalton's Bar, a Collective of Cocktail Talent

By Robert Simonson

Like a Danny Ocean of the cocktail world, Howard Wein, senior vice president of food and beverage of Morgans Hotel Group, has cherry-picked some of the most prominent and talented bar figures from across the United States to create the liquor program at Forty Four, the lobby bar and restaurant of Midtown Manhattan’s Royalton hotel, which closed this summer for a revamp and is set to reopen in mid-September.

The group has been christened the Cocktail Collective by Mr. Wein, and includes: Richard Boccato from Dutch Kills and Painkiller in New York City;John Lermayer from the Florida Room in Miami Beach, and Woodward in Boston; Simon Ford, a former London bartender, and now a global cocktail ambassador employed by Pernod Ricard USA; Willy Shine, one of the founders of Contemporary Cocktails, a prominent cocktail consultancy based in New York City; Misty Kalkofen, who tends bar at Drink in Boston; and Eric Alperin, head bartender at the Varnish in Los Angeles.

“At first I was thinking the group of people might be New York bartenders,” Mr. Wein said.

His mind changed when he attended the New Orleans-based liquor convention Tales of the Cocktail in July, and saw an event called Bar Room Brawl, in which the bar staff members of six cocktail destinations from around the nation competed with one another. Among the rival taverns were Dutch Kills, the Varnish, Drink and Florida Room. Mr. Wein was impressed and began to think nationally.

“I decided to see if we could get a bunch of the people who were represented at Bar Room Brawl, because they’re the best,” he said. “I picked people not just because they were in Bar Room Brawl. I consulted people I trust, and these are like-minded people. They approach what they do in a similar fashion.”

The six drink-slingers have been furiously e-mailing ideas to one another every since. They will meet in New York next week to firm up Forty Four’s spirit and cocktail program.

“I’m sure there’s going to be some competitiveness, but it’s for the better of the program,” Mr. Ford said. “Different perspectives is key to this. Eric is very classical in his approach to cocktails. Misty is a little more rebellious. For me, I can draw on some international experience.”

There will probably be classic cocktails on the menu, as well as exclusive liquid inventions. There will also be punch bowl menu, and a “custom boutique barrel program,” which will be spirit-based and may or may not involved barrel-aged cocktails.

Mr. Ford hinted at a few other possible highlights. “We want to pay homage to the hotel bars and the great hotel bartenders,” he said. As an example, he mentioned Eddie Woelke, an American bartender who mixed drinks in Havana hotels during Prohibition, and is credited with inventing the Mary Pickford cocktail (rum, pineapple juice, maraschino liqueur and grenadine).

Complementing the drinks will be a new food menu created by the Royalton’s executive chef, Scott Ekstrom, who has worked at Daniel and Oceana.

The focal point of the new Forty Four — formerly 44 — will be a U-shaped bar at the center of the lobby, positioned roughly where a webbed wall once separated the lobby from the restaurant.

“What I’m trying to do is make Forty Four at Royalton the great lobby experience in New York,” Mr. Wein said. “It’s not going to feel like restaurant vs. lobby. The energy will flow and the bar will be the main vehicle that will create that. You can sit wherever you want and get what you want.”

As far as the extent of the collective’s long-term involvement, Mr. Wein said: “Everyone’s involved for an extended period of time. They’re going to come together a couple times before they begin training the staff, and then for training and opening. Everyone’s going to be there once a month for the better part of a week. They will rotate. The idea is there is always someone there driving it. And there will be a series of events where they all come together.”

New York Gets a Genever Bar

I've loved the idea of a genever bar ever since my first trip to Amsterdam in 1999, when I visited the ancient, hidden Dam Square bar Wijnand Fockink, and learned the ritual bending over your filled-to-the-rim, tulip-shaped glass of Dutch gin to take the first sip.

Last year, when Bols repackaged its genever and began marketing it to the, with success, to the U.S. cocktail bartender crowd, I wondered how long it would be before somebody opened the inevitable genever bar in New York. (I thought of doing it myself for a moment.) Well, it took about a year. The place is called Vandaag, and it's in the East Village, of course. (Every new important bar seems to open in either the East Village or Williamsburg these days.) I wrote an item about the place, which will open next week, for the Times' Diner's Journal.

Incidentally, as genever has become more popular, I've grown more inpatient with the way the word is being pronounced here. I have yet to meet a person in the cocktail world who doesn't say, with the flattest American accent possible, "je-NEE-ver." And yet, on my trips to Holland, I have never heard anyone say the word that way. Genever begins with a Dutch "G," which is more guttural and breathy than an English "G." Furthermore, the second syllable is pronounced "Nay," not "Nee." The "v" is done differently, too. So the whole thing is said "huh-NAY-fer," with a bit of a guttural growl at the beginning. When I was in Amsterdam, Dutchmen drilled me on how to say it correctly. So when I head "je-NEE-ver" here, it's like fingernails on the chalkboard to me.

I know the Bols people are pushing the Americanized pronunciation in their marketing, to make the new liquor seem less foreign to Yanks. But it's really not that hard to say it right.

Genever and Dutch Food in the East Village

By Robert Simonson

With interest in the ancient Dutch style of gin known as genever growing in cocktail circles, it was only a matter of time before a genever bar opened in New York. Vandaag, near the northeast corner of Second Avenue and Sixth Street in the East Village, will be the first when it has its soft opening on Tuesday.

The cocktail and spirits program was put together by Katie Stipe, a former bartender at Clover Club in Brooklyn and now a partner with Mayahuel’s Phil Ward in the consulting firm Last Call Consulting. It will feature various genevers, aquavits, as well as beer and wine cocktails.

The chef is Phillip Kirschen-Clark, who has previously worked at Jimmy’s No. 43, Pegu Club and, more recently, Corton.

Genevers (also spelled jenever) — from which the English word “gin” derives — are often aged. They are typically headier, more malty and sweeter than London dry style gins. Mixologists have recently embraced genever as a style of gin closer to the ones used by their storied 19th-century predecessors like Jerry Thomas. At Vandaag, the genevers will be served chilled and in the traditional tulip-shaped glasses found in Amsterdam’s genever bars. Filled to the lip, one traditionally bends over the glass for the first sip before taking the drink in hand.

Vandaag will serve lunch and dinner. Among the menu items are a bitterballen, a slow-braised oxtail croquet; hete bliksem (literally “hot lightning”), a Dutch stew of potatoes, apples and bacon; guinea hen for two; and a variety of the open-faced sandwiches known as smørrebrød. Mr. Kirschen-Clark will also pair flights of house-infused aquavits with food.

There will also be a wine list dominated by Austrian and German labels, and a variety of beers, largely Dutch.

Brendan Spiro came up with the concept for Vandaag and will run it through his company, Quality Restaurant Corporation.

“The chef and I went to Holland prior to opening,” Mr. Spiro said. “We made friends with tons of local cheese producers, and some of the beers we’ll have here will not be brought in for any other accounts. They’re specifically allocated for our restaurant.” He added, “I have some Belgian beers thrown in for good measure.” Also on offer is the classic Dutch shot-and-a-beer combo known as the kopstootje (or “little headbutt”).

Vandaag, 103 Second Avenue (Sixth Street), East Village, (212) 253-0470.

Dram to Be First Out of New York Gate with Aged Cocktails and Draft Cocktails

There's been a lot of talk lately about the twin trends of barrel-aged cocktails and draft cocktails. But it looks like Tom Chadwick of Dram in Williamsburg has quietly beat everyone to the punch. His bars looks to be the first in NYC to serve both styles of libation.

Interviewing him for a Diner's Journal item, he told me that the barrel-aged Martinez cocktails he's working on (which I already knew about) will be ready in August. And the draft cocktails he's also been working on (which I sort of knew about) will be ready to go in a week!—the first being an Aperol Spritzer.

(Side note: Damon Dyer, late of Jack the Horse, now at Clover's Club, told me a week ago that he began experimenting with barrel-aged cocktails years ago, which would put him ahead of Jeffrey Morganthaler in Portland. However, he never unleashed the results on the public, so no one ever knew.)

Here's the article:

A Brooklyn Bar’s All-Star Rotation of Mixologists

By Robert Simonson

Other bars have impressive lists of cocktails. Tom Chadwick’s bar Dram, which opened in Williamsburg three months ago, has an impressive list of cocktail makers.

“I really didn’t want to be the kind of bar that gives you a 75-drink menu, it’s being done really well by places and Death & Company,’’ Mr. Chadwick said. “So I thought I’d have a platform and venue for bartenders, thinking that would be an exciting thing to do.”

Mr. Chadwick, who previously tended bar at the Bushwick Country Club for years, turned to his many friends in the cocktail community, asking them if they’d like to put in a regular shift at Dram, at 177 South Fourth Street (Driggs Avenue).

“They knew how geeky I am about it, for lack of a better word, and how dogmatic,’’ he said. “And I think they knew just from my attitude and approach that it would be a cool project.”

The resulting staff is a kind of all-star team of bartenders from prominent cocktails joints around Manhattan and Brooklyn. In regular rotation are Jessica Gonzales from Death & Company; Jason Littrell from Death & Company and, previously, the Randolph; Tonia Guffey from Flatiron Lounge; Frank Cisneros from Prime Meats; and Nick Jarrett from the Clover Club.

Regular staff members include Jeremy Ortell and Nicolas de Soto, a mixologist who moved to New York from Paris right around the time Dram opened. Each bartender is encouraged to place one of their signature cocktails on Dram’s “simple and nimble” drinks menu.

Mr. Chadwick regularly updates a calendar on Dram’s Web site that lists which nights each bartender is working. Mr. Chadwick said he quickly discovered that some of his cameo barkeeps come with a fan base.

“I’m not surprised that they have an existing following, but that they have developed a new following so quickly, based on their drink-making style,” he said. “They bring in people.”

Guest chefs are also on the horizon.

“We will soon have a simple menu of bread, charcuterie, cheese plate and nuts and olives,” said Mr. Chadwick said. “We’re still developing it. Once we get that going, Dram will host guest chefs, offering small dishes. The chefs would interact with the patrons, as our small kitchen is located behind the bar.’’

Mr. Chadwick is among the first bar owners in New York to experiment with the growing trend of barrel-aged cocktails, in which the ingredients of a mixed drink marry in an oak cask for several weeks before being poured into a glass. His aged Martinez cocktails should be ready sometime in August. And he hopes to begin serving cocktails on draft fairly soon.

“We have a beer line, and we used to have a soda gun machine,” he said. “I tore the soda gun machine out, but I kept the infrastructure in place. Basically it’s like a five-gallon canister that you would see in any bar that has soda by the gun. You take that and you batch cocktails inside it and you pressurize it and the drinks comes out carbonated.”

Since Dram opens at 4 p.m., a somewhat early hour for a cocktail bar, he wants to dispense draft apéritif cocktails. An Aperol spritzer should make its debut next week.

Review: Bernard DeVoto's "The Hour"

Bernard DeVoto's slim 1951 volume "The Hour," recently reissued by Tin House Books, is a curious case in the annuls of drink literature. This "Cocktail Manifesto" is obviously the work of a crank behind whose rigid, irrational, hard-and-fast rules about drinking few would fall in line. Yet, the book is beloved by cocktails drinkers and historians.

DeVoto was an accomplished man. He won a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award. He had a column in Harper's Magazine for 20 years. He edited the papers of Mark Twain, was a novelist, composer, professor and many other things in his crowded 58 years. And yet, today, he's best remembered for his smallest book, in which he tries to impose an all-encompassing, moral philosophy of life on the Martini and the Cocktail Hour.

It's difficult to ascertain the tone of "The Hour." If it's satire, it's too subtle to be carried off. If it's written in all seriousness, it's too doctrinaire by half. What can one do with a man with thinks there are only two cocktails in the world (the Martini; and a slug of whiskey); who thinks "a slug of whiskey" is actually a cocktail; who called Manhattans "an offense against piety"; who abhors rum in all forms; who think fruit juices of no kind belong in the cocktail world; who really just hates almost everything that one might throw one down's throat, and all the people who don't abide by his narrow dicta; who sees blasphemy and treason all around him? One can only call him a kook, a nut, or worse—a bore. He's the kind of man it would be amusing to drink with once, because he is so utterly absurd and would make for fine entertainment; but with whom it would be torture to drink with twice. (Imagine him judging your drink choice carefully, eyeing your character for flaws.)

And yet. And yet.



DeVoto writes so well we can't dismiss him outright. It's that sort of writing that once was common in American letters, and is now all but vanished; the kind that is ostentatiously learned, showing off its academic bona fides, declarative and slightly purple, happily making with the five-dollar words and time-honored archaic phrases. How can you not appreciate a man who writes things like, "But there is a deadlier enemy than these, the man who mixes his martinis beforehand and keeps them in the refrigerator till cocktail time. You can no more keep a martini in the refrigerator than you can keep a kiss there."? Or "Hot drinks are for people who have had skiing accidents, though it is an open question whether anyone who skis is worth giving liquor to or his life worth saving." Or "Better to inherit a rye so laid away in 1915 than great riches... A rye thus becomes an evanescence, essential grace. It is not to be drunk but only tasted and to be tasted only when one is conscious of having lived purely."

A man who composes such thoughts, whatever else he may write, becomes lovable.

Also, though he is ultimately absolutely serious about what he's saying, he seems to have a sense of humor about himself; too many of his credos are expressed in such over-the-top language ("Nothing Sweet. If I'm repeating myself, it's because I know you and have got to check up on you."), he must have known how ridiculous they sounded.

Finally, we like the book because DeVoto's on to something. He's sanctimonious about something that we think has a certain sanctity about it. You have to respect and warm to that. Too much regard for the Martini is better than too little. And some of his ideas about the ritual of drinking—why we drink and how we should drink—are sound and correct, even to this day. The final chapter, "The Hour," in fact, is, in its entirety, a beautiful piece of poetic truth. It should be read by anyone who looks forward longingly to the release and relaxation of the civilizing moment known as The Cocktail Hour—which is 6 PM according to DeVoto, no earlier and no later.

San Francisco's Rickhouse Unveils Summer Cocktail List

Rickhouse, the San Francisco's cocktail joint, has launched their Seasonal Summer Cocktail list for 2010. It will be available to the thirsty on July 1. It will be running it for the duration of the summer as as a supplement to its regular menu. Here it is:

Ginger’s Trois $8

It’s as light and effervescent as the twinkle of a clouds silver lining. Snappy and sparkling, this bubbly cocktail provides every minty answer you desire, and all without the trouble of having to ask a single question.

Plymouth Gin, Sparkling Wine, Fresh Lime, Fresh Mint, Fresh Ginger and Bitters

Cherry Blossom Cobbler $8

From the depths of the Orient, comes this sultry and seductive tigress that is heart-bent on sending a shock through your fingers and a chill up your spine. We insist you proceed with caution, lest you lose yourself within its snowy abyss.

Yamazaki 12 year, Organic Cherry Blossom Jam, Fresh Lemon Juice and Seasonal Fruit

Sutter Street Swizzle $10

Brazen and uninhibited, this beverage makes no apologies for its chilly disposition. For alas, even within the great depths of the Amazon will you find nothing quite as alluring and enticing as the subtle, yet untamed flavors of this exotic spiced beverage.

Cachaca, Falernum, Pineapple Gomme, Fresh Ginger, Fresh Lime Juice and Bitters

The Big Dig $8

A delectable and enterprising adventure that is attractively saturated in the sweet taste of lost inhibitions. Seasonal berries and sarsparilla sweetness unite to form an appealing combination that is one part carbonated fizz and one part summer bliss.

Beefeater Gin, Fresh Lemon Juice, Organic Raspberries, Artisanal Root Beer and a Dash of Absinthe

High-Plains Drifter $8

Earthy and mean, this glass of bad attitude is known for providing courage to the brave, and a kick in the pants to the timid. It’s just the curly wolf to have in your corner when you’re going through the mill and there’s trouble in the air.

Rye Whiskey, Sweet Vermouth, Amaro Nonino and Celery Bitters

Berry O’Brien $8

A drink that is as attractive to the ladies, as it is suitable for a diplomat. Do not let its innocent flavor fool you, for this drink is precisely the right combination of Whiskey served tall with just a dash of Irish charm.

Jameson Irish Whiskey, Fresh Blackberries, Fresh Lemon Juice, Ginger Beer and Bitters

DIY Bitters in Brooklyn

The current issue of the ever-handsome-looking Edible Brooklyn has the first article I've written for the publication. Topic: folks who take their cocktail drinking into their own hands by making homemade bitters. Take a glance:

Sweet on Bitters

By Robert Simonson

 Mixologist Damon Boelte first saw the tall pear tree behind Frankies Spuntino in 2008 when the Carroll Gardens restaurant's owners, Frank Castronovo and Frank Falcinelli (known collectively as the Franks), hired him as a cocktail consultant.

"The first string of meetings, it was summertime and we were sitting in the backyard talking about what we would do," recalls Boelte. "I looked over and saw the tree, and said, ‘Oh, cool-pears! Let's do that!' "

By "that," he meant: make bitters. By the time the Franks opened the bar at Prime Meats, two doors down from Frankies, Boelte had cooked up custom pear bitters made from the fruit of that inspirational tree. His take on the Old-Fashioned forsook the bottled Angostura bitters for which that classic cocktail calls, and instead featured his handcrafted backyard bitters.

"I do the so-called ‘garbage'-style Old-Fashioneds, with muddled orange and cherry," explains Boelte, a lean, easygoing Oklahoma native with thick, dark glasses, "but I really liked the way the pear worked with the rye." So did customers: His iteration of the libation proved an early favorite at the perennially packed Court Street watering hole.

An 1806 article in an upstate newspaper, often cited as the first printed definition of the cocktail, described the beverage as "a stimulating liquor, composed of spirit, sugar, water and bitters." Those first three need no introduction. More mysterious are the intensely flavored, sparingly used, magic elixirs known as bitters. Everyone's heard of at least one-Angostura, the concoction made in Trinidad for 186 years, is an essential ingredient in the Manhattan and other favorites. But these days DIY drinkers are rediscovering the potent potions, and what happens when a tiny, dark drop of the stuff kisses your liquor.

Simply deconstructed, bitters are made by infusing alcohol- typically neutral spirit-with various botanicals, and then letting the result age. Ingredients can include citrus, herbs and spices, and "bittering agents" such as gentian and tree barks like cassia or angostura. (Curiously, Angostura bitters do not contain angostura bark. The product got its name because it was first produced in the town of Angostura.)

Solo, they taste vaguely medicinal-indeed, many of the original bitters were portioned out as health restorers. Throughout the 19th century and into the 20th, bitters were as essential to a functioning bar as a jigger. But as the art of cocktail making declined in the 1960s and 1970s, once-famous bitters makers (Stoughton, Boker's, Hostetter's) died one by one until only a couple-Angostura and the New Orleans-born Sazerac essential, Peychaud's-were left standing.

Then came the cocktail renaissance of the last decade. The demand for defunct bitters to recreate classic libations, as well as a drive to devise new drinks, has resulted in a bitters boom. Longstanding professionals like the Rochester-based Fee Brothers expanded production, while newbies like Germany's the Bitter Truth flooded the market with a sea of little bottles. But home enthusiasts got cracking as well. And Brooklyn-where citizens are known to churn their own butter and cure their own bacon- began to build better bitters, too.

The kitchen window of Louis Smeby's top-floor South Slope apartment gets great eastern exposure. The sun finds a clear path over the nearby, low-slung roofs. On a recent morning, just inside the window sat a tray of thin slices of kaffir limes drying in the sunlight. They'd been there for five days, following a spell in the oven, and Smeby plans to use them in an upcoming bitters experiment. Current experiments can be found steeping in large glass jars throughout his home, giving the one-bedroom the air of a laboratory. A tall wine refrigerator and a shelving unit groan with liquor bottles. Near the door sits a pile of mail parcels. Some, addressed to Smeby, contain ingredients sent from across the nation and overseas. Others are addressed to bars and individuals who have ordered bottles of his finished product.

Smeby, who was born in Minnesota and learned the restaurant biz through stints in Paris, Alsace and New York-he is currently a waiter at the Modern-takes a decidedly hands-on approach to alcohol. He learned beer by working at Sixpoint and soon began brewing his own. To understand bourbon, he bought 30 or 40 bottles and tasted his way through them. Soon he was making his own cordials, too. "Bitters just happened to be something that I hadn't taken on," he recalls, while pouring single-malt scotch over a custom-curated potpourri of dried orange zest, camomile flow ers, coriander, gentian, whole cloves and cassia bark for a batch of his Highland Heather bitters.

Over the past year, he's cooked up 60 batches and created about 20 flavors. Two years ago, the beverage director at the Modern began using them in some of the restaurant's cocktails. But Smeby's big break came in early 2009, when he slipped a few bottles to drinks deity Jim Meehan of PDT fame; before you could say "Skol!" the elixirs found their way into cocktail shakers at Gotham Bar & Grill, the Vanderbilt, Buttermilk Channel, Quarter bar and White Star, among others. They're also available online (absmebybitteringco.com) sold in 2-ounce bottles for $10 under the business name of A. B. Smeby Bittering Company. (A. B. is Louis's grandfather, a hearty cocktail drinker know as "Big Al.") Smeby ships as many as 70 bottles a month to places as far flung as Los Angeles, Eugene, Oregon, Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany. He hopes to make the bitters available in specialty stores soon.

It's a safe guess that some of Smeby's flavor combinations- licorice-nectarine, cherry vanilla, lemon verbena, rose hibiscus and black-and-white bitters, which taste like New York's iconic black-and-white cookies-have never been attempted before. "I love the idea of putting eclectic flavors together that really work," he says. "You see chefs doing it all the time. To do it in liquid is a little more interesting."

Smeby sources nectarines from a nearby farm and verbena from Long Island, cranberries from Wisconsin, and clementines from a West Coast orchard. Sometimes he takes a quick trip to Sunset Park, where Mexican vendors carry chamomile flowers, hibiscus, Puebla-made chocolate and the raw cinnamon known as cassia.

Matt Madden, who lives in Sunset Park, knows those vendors well. "In this neighborhood, all the grocery stores have a lot of Mexican and Caribbean products," he says, "typically the sour oranges that you need to make orange bitters." Madden is not a bartender or even a member of the food industry; he's a cartoonist. But he loves bitters. "They're one of that class of modifying ingredients that makes a cocktail. It's that little extra touch of something that makes the drink special."

Orange bitters are an obvious starting point for the home enthusiast. Once one of the most common types available (historians think the original Martini, circa 1880s, featured orange bitters), the category was virtually extinct by the end of the 20thcentury. Newly available brands of orange bitters like those from Fee's, Regan's and Angostura's were not available when Madden began cooking up infusions in his kitchen five years ago-in fact he could hardly find information online.

"When I first started making orange bitters, I did a lot of researching before I found a version of an old Jerry Thomas recipe." (Thomas, a 19th-century bartender who published the first known guide to mixology, is revered in cocktail circles.) Madden's tastes lean toward classics like the Sazerac, Martini and Rob Roy, but found his homemade bitters also came in handy when his wife was pregnant. "That's a great way to teetotal-put a little bitters in seltzer."

Madden has since expanded his repertoire to include crème de cassis liqueur using black currants that grow in his backyard, and, last year, inspired by the Chinese goods on nearby Eighth Avenue, he created a five-spice bitters, based on the traditional Chinese flavor combination. His particular quintet included star anise, fresh ginger, clove, cinnamon and Szechuan pepper, which he soaked in grain alcohol for three weeks before straining.

Think bitters with Szechuan pepper sounds a bit out there? That's nothing. When it comes to home bitters these days, anything goes. When Clif Travers, a bartender at Bar Celona in Williamsburg, wanted something with an intense bite, he concocted a rum-andtequila-based bitters infused with jalapeño and habanero peppers; today he's working on a bourbon-based cherry bitters. Mark Buettler, who worked at the Dressler in Williamsburg and lives in Bushwick, made a Sriracha bitters based on his own homemade version of the cult-favorite hot sauce. And Toby Cecchini, a wellknown mixologist and cocktail journalist who lives in Cobble Hill, recently made the acquaintance of the pomelo, a large, sweet citrus native to Southeast Asia, when he witnessed two women excitedly fondling the huge orbs at a Court Street grocer. "I bought five of them without any idea what to do with them," he says. Soon, he decided they were ripe for bittering.

And perhaps no other place in America could produce not one but two Buddha's hand bitters. Buddha's hand is a bizarre citron variety that looks like a yellow, waxen squid. Both Boetle and Smeby were inspired by the unlikely fruit. Boelte first encountered it at Fairway, when working at LeNell's, the sinceshuttered liquor shop that once brought drinks enthusiasts from far and wide to Red Hook. "I thought ‘This was one of the weirdest, coolest things ever.... I'd always liked my Manhattans with a twist. So I always used a lemon bitters or orange bitters." He now uses his Buddha's hand bitters in Prime Meats' house Manhattan.

Both Smeby and Boetle favor seasonal ingredients, so keeping some bitters in stock is not always easy. The window to secure Buddha's hands from California is only three or four weeks long. "I ordered five cases to start," says Boelte. "It's a hell of a process making that. You have to peel all those tentacles to get the skin off in between. It was me, another bartender and one of the owners of Frankies upstairs, everyone with cases of Buddha's hand, peeling, and saying ‘Hurry, put it in vodka!'"

Julie Reiner Christens SoHo Bar Lani Kai

Lani Kai will be the name of Julie Reiner's upcoming SoHo bar.

"It’s a beach in Kailua on Oahu," Reiner, a native Hawaiian, told me for an item recently posted in the New York Times' Diner's Journal. "It’s a beach I spent a lot of time at as a kid. It’s a beautiful spot. It’s means ‘heavenly waters.’ For me, the name refers to both the beauty of the island, which I’m trying to capture in this new space, but also to the liquid form itself, which I’m always about." 

The joint should be up and running in mid-August or September. I remain curious about the difference between a tiki bar and a Hawaiian-themed bar, as Reiner calls her new place.

If you're counting, Lani Kai will be Reiner's fourth cocktail bar in the city, in which she's a partner or part-owner, after Pegu Club, Flatiron Lounge and Clover Club. That puts her on par with the city's other most visible cocktail mugul, Sasha Petraske, who owns Milk & Honey, Little Branch, White Star and Dutch Kills.

In other Reiner news, The Clover Club will begin weekday lunch service June 16.

The 90 Day Sour

Here I am writing about aged cocktails and how the East Coast has some in the works, but we'll have to wait a bit to taste 'em. And all along Rye, the Williamsburg restaurant and bar, has beaten everyone to the punch.

Their 90-Day Sour has been on the menu for five months. It's the work of head bartender Souther. He puts brandy, orange juice, lemon juice and lime juice in a glass bottle (see below) and lets it sit for 90 days. He then pours it into a highball, floats a bit of Gosling's dark rum, and tops it with grated nutmeg. Souther intends the drink as his homage to tiki cocktails.

It's a beautiful drink, mellow and integrated, with the fresh rum adding an edge and the nutmeg adding spice. Only $10!

Yet More on Barrel-Aged Cocktails

I heard about Jeffrey Morgenthaler's experiments with barrel-aged cocktails of in Portland a couple months ago and have posted a couple items here since then. Here's my first paid piece on the subject. I was surprised how quickly the idea had caught on. If I wait until the end of summer, I can sample a specimen here in New York. No need to fly to Portland. (Not that I don't want to fly to Portland.)

Here's the article:

Shelf Life

In today's hyperactive cocktail climate, new ideas travel faster than a bottle of Fernet Branca in a room full of mixologists. Case in point: barrel-aged cocktails.

The seed was planted when Portland, Oregon-based bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler tasted a Manhattan that had been aged five years in a glass vessel by noted London bartender Tony Conigliaro. Back at home in his bar, Clyde Common, he began aging cocktails in barrels instead of bottles to cut down the wait time. 

An avid blogger, Morgenthaler quickly posted the results--smooth and nuanced drinks that brought new life to old formulas--and it didn't take long for others to catch on.

Nathan Kinderman, the bar manager at the restaurant Sardine in Madison, Wisconsin, is aging Negronis using locally made Death's Door Gin.

In New York, Greg Seider at Summit Bar plans to put a couple of his original cocktails in barrels, while Tom Chadwick at Dram in Brooklyn may be the first to experiment with an aged Martinez (a variation of the martini, made with gin, sweet vermouth and maraschino liqueur).

Thanks to easy access to mini barrels, it's only a matter of time before the craze hits the home bar. For the experimental set, a few suggestions:

• Stay away from aging whiskey-based drinks in whiskey barrels (too much of a good thing); instead, try Tridents or El Presidentes.

• Stick with spirits-only cocktails: Dairy and fruit juice are not meant for aging (with the surprising exception of eggnog, which Morgenthaler ages in bottles).

• Be patient: Give the contents at least six weeks (for a two-gallon batch) to get optimal results.

Strange Cocktails From Another County

I recently posted an item on the New York Times' Diner's Journal blog about Christina Bini, a big fish from the small cocktail pond of Florence, Italy. Bini has been stolen from Tuscany by the owners of Il Matto, a new restaurant in Tribeca, who hired her to create their cocktail program—Bini's first in the U.S.

Lately, every time I encounter a prominent mixologist from outside the tight U.S.-UK cocktail circles, I am struck by how differently other parts of the world approach the art of the mixed drink. As advanced as cocktail science is in the English-speaking world, we do tend to set up certain rigid aesthetic and culinary borders and bugaboos for ourselves, somewhat judgmental rules that must be accepted and headed. Bini knows nothing of these. She's fine with vodka.  She told me she "loved" her blender. And she'll embrace any ingredient as a potential cocktail players.

One commenter on the Times article noted that I did not mention if I liked any of the cocktails I described. Well, I was reporting on Bini and her cocktail menu, not reviewing them. I wasn't functioning as a critic. But I will say here that, of the eight or so Bini creations I tasted, I like two or three quite a bit, particularly the ones that offered an enticing answer to the tired old Bloody Mary. Overall, the drinks are original and provoking. You may not like them, being as unusual as they are, but it won't be because the drinks are badly made, or haven't been thought out.

As for the Martinis with vermouth-soaked stones, one tastes very little, if any, vermouth. It is essentially a very dry Martini, the kind they drank in the 1960s. However, there is a noticeable difference in taste between the Martinis with black stones and white stones. The latter were distinctly more saline, and thus, in my opinion, preferable, as the salt introduced an additional element to the drink.

One other thing: I would drink these cocktails with food, not by themselves. That is not a piece of advice I normally give. I like wine with dinner, not cocktails. But these drinks, so involving foodstuffs as they do, are made as meal accompaniments. Il Matto, indeed, intends to promote them that way. Here's the article:

Cocktail of the Italian Avant-Garde in TriBeCa

By Robert Simonson

The martinis prepared by Christina Bini, an Italian mixologist, at Il Matto — Matteo Boglione’s new TriBeCa restaurant, set to open in June at the old Arqua space on Church Street — will be served on the rocks. Actual rocks.

Ms. Bini, who is moving permanently from Florence to New York to head the drink program at Il Matto, devised her stone martinis while at Fusion, a noted Florentine cocktail bar where she worked for five years. They come in two varieties, one ballasted by a white stone from the Liguria region in northwest Italy; the other with a black stone from Mongolia. All the stones are soaked in vermouth for at least 12 hours before they are deposited in their drinks, resulting in an extremely dry and extremely eccentric martini.

“The white stones have more mineral components and are more salty, because they were near the sea,” said Il Matto’s general manager and sommelier, Antonio d’Ambrosio. (At a recent meeting Mr. d’Ambrosio translated for Ms. Bini, who speaks very little English.) “They are porous and release more vermouth into the drink.” The black stones come from a river. Their surfaces are smoother and thus deliver less vermouth, explained Mr. d’Ambrosio.

Ms. Bini said she came up with the idea “from my mind.” However, the notion is not altogether new. According to Lowell Edmunds’ 2003 book “Martini, Straight Up,” one Fred Pool came up with the idea of soaking stones in vermouth in the late ’60s, when ultra-dry martinis were de rigueur.

Mr. d’Ambrosio expects the stone martinis to be very popular — and to lose a lot of the rocks through theft. “People will just take them. I know it.”

The martinis are easily the simplest drinks on the debut menu of Ms. Bini, who, unlike most America’s haute mixologists, is not appalled by the sight of a blender and will put just about anything in it. Her often ostentatiously garnished drinks include la signorina, a green-hued, gin-based concoction adorned with an enormous piece of lettuce, a strawberry and a balsamic vinegar reduction. It could easily supplant the salad in your meal. The clamato mary seems to be Ms. Bini’s answer to both the bloody mary and the Canadian cocktail favorite the bloody caesar. Its name notwithstanding, the gin-based drink does not actually contain Clamato, the canned clam-tomato juice, at all, but a clam juice reduction.

The pasolini, meanwhile, is made of brandy, Frangelico, sugar, ricotta cheese and mixed berries, blended together. It looks like a parfait and tastes like dessert. Due to the unusual make-up of many of the drinks, only Ms. Bini and one close associate, also brought over from Italy, will mix the cocktails in the restaurant’s first weeks.

Other ingredients deployed in Ms. Bini’s menu — which is divided into savory/dry, salty and sweet cocktails — include peperoncini, Parmigiano cheese, beet juice, cherry tomatoes, zucchini and lots of salt and pepper. “Christina likes vegetables a lot more than fruit,” said Mr. d’Ambrosio.

Il Matto, 281 Church Street (White Street) TriBeCa.