Wexler's Interior

We started with dinner a Wexler’s, a relatively new place in the financial district that serves up inventive interpretations of Southern food, often infused with smoke (and featured in today’s New York Times!). We of course had a round of cocktail’s there (I had a regular Manhattan) which were a great start to the evening.  The food  at Wexler’s is fantastic, the service is excellent and Matt Wexler himself is a gracious and helpful host. In fact, when Rob made the reservation via OpenTable, Matt remembered that Rob’s wife Joyce has some dietary restrictions and actually contacted Rob to see if he should start thinking about a special menu for Joyce. Now that’s service.

I won’t recount the whole meal, but I will mention the Scotch Eggs. This is a traditional and nasty dish consisting of a hard-boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat and deep fried. On the server’s urging we tried chef Charlie Kleinman’s reinterpretation: Soft-boiled eggs covered in burnt-ends of short rib and deep-fried. The eggs somehow stay whole and soft and the rib meat is a perfect foil. An original idea, perfectly executed.

Clock Bar Logo

Next we found our way to the Clock Bar at the St. Francis. I’ve written about this before. While Marco is no longer tending bar there it remains, perhaps, the pre-eminent posh bar in the area. The bar itself is beautiful, the staff is informed, efficient and friendly, and the cocktail list, of course, is fantastic. Two favorites were the Autumn Sweater (Bols Genever, Dimmi, Apple Juice, Lemon, Vanilla Rosemary Syrup and Egg White) and the Ahumados (Mezcal, Canton Ginger Liqueur, Lime Juice, Agave Nectar and Ginger Syrup). The latter was a bit too smoky for Kang’s taste, but I was able to help him out. That’s what friends are for.

Bourbon and Branch

We could have spent the entire night there working our way through the list but we had a reservation at Bourbon and Branch, a self-styled speakeasy where you need a reservation and a code-word (ours was “bent” which was soon to be accurate) to get a table.

Here’s where my memory gets a bit fuzzy, but I do remember closing the night with a flight of tequilas. And I know Rob ended the evening with a Last Word (equal parts Gin, green Chartreuse, Lime Juice and Luxardo) which may be, in fact, the last word in cocktails. Hopefully Rob and Mark and Kang can fill in the details.

How fuzzy? Well let’s just say that Mark called me about a week later and asked me to look in my wallet at my United Mileage Plus Credit Card. Sure enough, it was imprinted with Mark’s name and he was holding mine. We’re in the process of reconciling our bills right now because neither of us had any trouble using the other’s card. Some much for credit card security (but you knew that)!

In any case we’ve determined that this will be a regular event, currently under the code name of GCRS (read the post title, silly). Although we’re open to cocktail researchers of all genders….

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So tonight I converted the remainder of the pomegranate juice into grenadine (cold method). And, of course, I needed to try it. Which I did, in the following proportions:

• 4 parts bourbon
• 1 part lemon juice
• 1 part homemade grenadine

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Back to cocktails, though. I had the seasonal margarita, which was grapefruit. It was good but not worth prying the recipe out of the bartender. Shannon had (again) the sidecar-like “Jack Rose”. Here’s our guess at the recipe:

• 3 parts applejack brandy
• 1 part house-made grenadine
• 1 part fresh lemon juice

Now, I wouldn’t try this with store-bought grenadine, which would be too cloying and lack any interesting flavor characteristics. I don’t have the recipe for the grenadine so more research will be needed.

I did ask the bartender, though, for the recipe for the bourbon drink I had the other night, dubbed the “Wobbly Pop.” Here’s the detail:

•  3 parts infused bourbon. The bourbon was infused with cinnamon sticks (I detected some nutmeg too, I thought), Meyer lemons and pink-lady apples. Put in a suitable bottle and let sit for 2-3 weeks. No need to use expensive bourbon here.
• 1 part(or slightly less) fresh lemon juice
• 1 part simple syrup

Shake in a cocktail shaker and serve over crushed ice.

I’m not sure about the proportions yet as I haven’t made the infused bourbon so I can’t experiment yet. I’m headed to China & Spain for the next two weeks. If I get some infused bourbon started before I go I’ll have a full report when I get back.

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One of the reasons for returning, other than the excellent food, is to get more information about the bartender, who made us a couple of absolutely fantastic drinks. Mine was a bourbon concoction, infused with cinnamon and nutmeg. I’ll try to pry the full recipe out of her tonight. Ditto for Shannon’s Sidecar-style libation.

In any case, even if I can’t get more details on the preparation, should you find yourselves in Santa Barbara you should definitely stop by The Hungry Cat.

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