| « Our Hottest Spots? | On Goat Cheese and Grunge Rock » |
Drink Thu May 03 2007
Cold Beverage (Chicago Remix)
"Food & Wine" magazine recently released Cocktails 2007, a book of some of the baddest ass cocktails from around the country, and Chicago represents well. From the usual suspects: John Kinder, late of Moxie, with his Bonds’s Cocktail No. 1 (Calvados, honey, Lillet Blanc and peach bitters); Eben Klemm’s Rush Street Highball from David Burke’s Primehouse (gin, apple and lemon juices); and a dark horse entry from Las Palmas’ La Melonada (a wonderful sounding frozen margarita laced with cantaloupe and ginger). Nacional 27’s Adam Seger’s lack of presence is a fairly glaring omission. Nacional does, however, garner a mention in the Bar Snacks chapter with a recipe for their Spiced Almonds.
Rounding out the Chicago showing: The Clark Street Ale House with their version of the French Caribbean Ti Punch (white rhum agricole, cane syrup and lime); the late Del Toro for their Watermelon Sangría; the Motel Bar with their take on the Sazerac (pastis, two kinds of bitters, rye whiskey and, in an old school twist, Cognac); Parlor shows up for their nonalcoholic Strawberry Lemonade; and joining Nacional in Bar Snacks are BB’s Crispy Stuffed Olives. And in a bit of shameless self-promotion, Custom House drops by with La Vie en Rose (vodka, framboise, Lillet Blanc and rosemary).
The book also includes a Spirits Lexicon, a nightlife guide broken down by city, and a Resource Guide so you can order your cane syrup and Fee Brothers Peach bitters. I’ve already ordered my quinine powder and am working on a recipe for tonic water.
