September 9th, 2008
I’ve been meaning since I returned from Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans to write about the Ninth Ward, a drink that Brother Cleve created for the event. First, a little context. Cleve was supposed to be a presenter at this year’s Tales but wasn’t able to travel because of an illness from which, thankfully, he now appears to be recovering. His cocktailian friends from Boston (and around the country) were as sad as he was about this state of affairs. To cheer both him and ourselves up, we carried a framed photo of him wherever we went, taking snapshots of him ‘hanging out’ with us at the Napoleon House, the Absinthe House, the Carousel Bar, Vaughan’s, etc. As Cleve remarked when he saw the photo album, “Maybe Travelocity can get rid of that gnome and use me instead.”
In addition to taking the majority of the Cleve pics, Boston bar doyenne Misty Kalkofen graciously subbed for her friend at the Tales Cocktail Hour, introducing the Ninth Ward to spirits enthusiasts from around the world. The drink — a play on Boston’s best-known cocktail, the Ward Eight, and an homage to one of the NOLA neighborhoods most beset by Hurricane Katrina flooding — was a hit. It’s an unusual, sophisticated and damn tasty cocktail. The best thing for me to do is let Cleve tell you in his own words the story behind its creation.
“I wanted to create a drink for the event that would have some sort of New Orleans and Boston connection. As disparate as the cities’ cultures may be, I’ve spent a lot of quality drinking time in both. The Saturn Bar, in the Ninth Ward, is probably my favorite bar of all time — definitely my favorite dive bar. The owner-bartender, O’Neil Broyard, died not long after Katrina, which almost destroyed the bar as it did so much of the Ninth Ward. The Ninth Ward shares certain similarities with my neighborhood, Dorchester. While both are among the poorest and most crime-plagued areas of each city, there are also some spots of architecturally stunning homes in areas mostly revitalized by gays and artists.
“So my idea was to take the Ward Eight, the best-known drink created in Boston, and turn it into a tropical cocktail for New Orleans. The Ward Eight is bourbon, grenadine and lemon juice. First step, keep the bourbon. I used the Bulleit brand (known as a ‘frontier whiskey’) since the Ward Eight was a 19th-century drink, and Bulleit has the character of that era’s whiskies, sharp and smoky and not too sweet. I flipped the grenadine for falernum, since falernum is a Caribbean syrup and is found in many tropical drinks. Lime juice is also more ubiquitous in the tropics than lemon juice; almost all the classic Don the Beachcomber/Trader Vic concoctions use it.
“I added a new ingredient to the mix, the fab St. Germain elderflower liqueur. Even though elderflowers grow in the Alps, St. Germain is a French-produced beverage, and the U.S. bought Louisiana from the French. Plus, tropical cocktails almost always feature some form of liqueur, so here’s one for this drink. Then, to hold it all together, a few dashes of Peychaud’s bitters, which of course were created in New Orleans.
“I guess, as a postscript, one could also say that the politics of both Boston and New Orleans have historically always been corrupt. Let the good times roll!”
The Ninth Ward
1 1/2 oz Bulleit bourbon
1/2 oz St. Germain elderflower liqueur
3/4 oz Fee Brothers falernum syrup*
3/4 oz fresh lime juice
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
Shake well with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
* Cleve says, “I used the Fee Brothers falernum, which is non-alcoholic but works beautifully. I tried making the drink with Velvet Falernum, but it was too light. This is a problem with VF in most classic tiki drinks, as Ted Haigh has pointed out. (The VF is great in a Corn ‘n Oil or anything with black rum, like Gosling or Cruzan). The homemade (alcoholic) falernum syrup works just fine. I think this is probably closer in flavor/texture to the classic/discontinued Sazerac brand, which was probably used by Don & Vic in the ’40s. I’m sure there are some small Bermudian or Trinidadian brands that are not imported that may be closer to the Sazerac. Time for an investigative field trip!”
Permalink | 8 Comments | Filed under Cocktails, New Orleans, Whiskey | Tags: Brother Cleve, Bulleit bourbon, falernum, New Orleans, Ninth Ward
September 5th, 2008
I love local shellfish so much that I’d have a blog about it if I didn’t already have a blog about bars and drinks. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever met a lover of oysters, littlenecks, steamers, etc. who didn’t also like to drink. Booze and bivalves just go together.
If you subscribe to that belief, you may want to head over to the Boston Beer Co. (brewer of Sam Adams) in Jamaica Plain on Sunday, September 14 between noon and 5:00 p.m. for the first-ever Bay State Farmed Shellfish Shindig.
I usually herald the prime season for shellfish (fall and winter) at the Wellfleet Oyster Fest, but that event, while still great, has become popular to the point of overcrowding. So this year, I’m opting for the smaller-scale fest right here in Boston.
The $10 admission fee includes tastings of two Sam Adams beers ($25 gets you six) and the opportunity to chat with a brewer or two about shellfish and beer pairings. Meanwhile, growers along Massachusetts’ coastline — from Buzzards Bay to Cuttyhunk Island to Katama Bay on Martha’s Vineyard to, yes, Wellfleet — will sell several varieties of raw and cooked shellfish a la carte while talking up the importance of sustainable aquaculture practices.
Rowan Jacobsen will be on hand to discuss and sign copies of his book A Geography of Oysters, whose premise is that these creatures owe much of their flavor to terroir. And for those who max out on seafood, chef Will Gilson from Garden at the Cellar will be there with his grass-fed mini-burgers.
Co-hosting the Shindig with Boston Beer is the Massachusetts Aquaculture Association, on whose website you can buy advance tix. See you there.
Permalink | No Comments | Filed under Beer, Events | Tags: boston events, sam adams beer, shellfish
August 31st, 2008
About an hour after I wrote yesterday’s post confirming the sale of the B-Side Lounge to western-Mass. beer bar proprietor Daniel Lanigan, I walked into Deep Ellum only to find Lanigan sitting at the bar.
He confirmed my hopes: his new enterprise will indeed emulate Deep Ellum. So, the cocktails are staying, and they’ll be joined by 40 tap lines of the good craft beer that have made his other bars beloved.
One thing Lanigan wanted to make clear is that this is not a hostile takeover. The B-Side was for sale, and he bought it. He didn’t say what the name of the new place would be and didn’t have an exact date for the change of hands, but it was clear that he is thrilled to finally open a bar in the Boston area.
Permalink | 6 Comments | Filed under Boston bars |
August 30th, 2008
I was respectfully holding off reporting about the B-Side Lounge‘s imminent closing, but the news is more-or-less officially out. Boston-area dining critic (and drinkboston contributor) MC Slim JB started a thread about the matter on Chowhound last week. On Thursday, the Globe’s Dishing blog broached the subject.
It is true that the B-Side is being sold. The buyer is apparently Daniel Lanigan, who has long been seeking a Boston-area spot for a sibling to the two western-Mass. beer bars he owns: the Moan and Dove in Amherst and the Dirty Truth in Northampton. As far as I know, the date for the switchover has not yet been set, though the word is that it could take another month … or two or three.
People have reacted strongly to this news, and rightly so. The B-Side is a great bar — great cocktails, great bartenders, great vibe. Not only that, the B-Side is solely responsible for reviving the classic cocktail in Boston. There are at least a half-dozen places around the city where you can get, say, an Aviation. In 1998, there was only one. I join the many mourners who will grieve when the B-Side gives its last last call.
That said, the bar on the corner of Windsor and Hampshire streets in Cambridge is not going to be occupied, as some commenters have anxiously speculated, by ‘some lame sports bar.’ Lanigan’s beer bars are pretty kick-ass, with a vibe every bit as genuine as that of the B-Side. Scott and I make a point of drinking at the Moan and Dove whenever we’re out that way. I have only one request for the new proprietor: Daniel, I now you’ve been to Deep Ellum, which is the first beer bar in Boston to also serve classic cocktails. Make yours the second bar to do this, and I think we’ll all be happy (eventually).
I’ll post updates on the switch from B-Side to beer bar as they come my way. And stay tuned for a “save the date” for an informal drinkboston gathering there.
Permalink | 11 Comments | Filed under Boston bars | Tags: B-Side lounge, bar closings, beer bars
August 26th, 2008
It’s funny. Back in March, I went to a cocktail class at Stir, chef Barbara Lynch’s teaching kitchen. Somebody asked our host, bartender John Gertsen, when Lynch’s new seaport-district bar was opening and what its name would be. I don’t know if Gertsen knew at the time what name had been chosen and was just being secretive, or if he just understands his boss really well, because he said something like, ‘Well, knowing Barbara, she’ll probably name it what it is,’ and threw in a reference to Occam’s Razor for good effect.
So I wasn’t surprised when I read this post on Boston.com’s Dishing blog. Just as Lynch named No. 9 Park after its street address, the oyster bar she opened with her former business partner Garrett Harker B&G Oysters, her meat-and-charcuterie-lover’s bistro the Butcher Shop, and her teaching kitchen Stir, she has anointed her new bar Drink.
Whether you like the name or not, this “first installment of chef Barbara Lynch’s Fort Point project” is going to totally kick ass. Bet on it. Think vintage glassware and seltzer-water siphons, 1950s-inspired canapes and “rock star” bartenders (including Gertsen) — all with an attitude and in a workshop-like atmosphere that are decidedly non-precious. Mmmm, refreshing. They’re shooting for a debut of September 15. See you there.
Permalink | 9 Comments | Filed under Boston bars | Tags: barbara lynch, fort point channel boston, john gertsen
