September 17th, 2009
Legal’s gets serious about cocktails
It’s a bit of poetic justice that Patrick Sullivan, who started the cocktail revival in Boston when he opened the B-Side Lounge in 1998, is now bringing his storied training skills to the bar staff at the biggest high-end chain of seafood restaurants in the country, Legal Sea Foods. Imagine: a properly made, balanced cocktail with fresh-squeezed juice alongside your plate of oysters or grilled bluefish. This is huge.
Sullivan was recently interviewed by Grub Street Boston (what gives, Patrick?) about his new gig as Legal’s cocktail program manager. (Like that Bostonian nickname for this local institution? Check out MC Slim JB’s commentary about making restaurant names possessive.) This excerpt from one of Sullivan’s comments is especially encouraging: “…in the past, there’s been some sweetness to the Legal Sea Foods cocktail menu. What I’m trying to do is make everyone aware of the fact that our cocktails need to be well-balanced and on the dryer side. You’ll see a lot of fresh lemon juice and bitters, which dry things out.” Wow. Adult cocktails for the masses. I’ll drink to that.
Permalink | Filed under Bartenders, Booze in the news, Cocktails | Tags: Legal Sea Foods, Patrick Sullivan
September 17th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Very glad to see this: I remember seeing Patrick on TV Diner a few weeks back and wondering why there wasn’t more buzz around his new position. It’s good for Patrick, good for Legal, good for craft cocktail drinkers everywhere. I’m hopeful this will put some pressure on so-called cocktail bars that currently build their specialty cocktail menus around bottled sour mix and flavored vodkas to get a little more serious.
September 18th, 2009 at 9:22 am
So funny – I was at the Oysters and Bubbly event and kept saying – you know, I KNOW that guy but from where…HA – now I know! It is a good pedigree indeed!
September 18th, 2009 at 9:44 am
Right, Jackie? And the good thing about Patrick is his dedication to simplicity, which probably means that he’s not going to go down the futile path of expecting Legal’s many bartenders to muddle and build their way through complex, culinary-style potions. Which means that the program could actually succeed and fulfill Slim’s hopes.
September 18th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
A raw plate of oysters and a balanced cocktail, sign me up. Beer and oysters are already a big plus in my book. I wonder if their six oysters for six bucks before six o’clock is still going on?
September 19th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
So, will all the Legal stores be getting these new fantastic drinks, or just certain locations?
October 2nd, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Here’s a link with a list of their signature cocktails. Rather vodka heavy but I’m impressed to some degree by their use of Zacapa 23 rum, bitters, housemade (companymade?) syrups and tinctures.
http://boston.grubstreet.com/2009/10/what_to_drink_at_legal_sea_foo.html
October 17th, 2009 at 2:31 am
Let me just say that who ever invented the Deadrise cocktail for Legal SF is a genius who should be awarded the Nobel Prize for Coctails. Is this the guy? I had one Deadrise with a plate of oysters for a Saturday lunch in Chestnut Hill a month ago and it was all I could do to resist having a dozen more oysters and another cocktail. Turns out I spent $5,000 at Bloomingdales after lunch so I’m glad I had only one cocktail.