I was feeling left out of the party when both of my sons called to rave about the Poquito Picante cocktail at New York City’s Yerba Buena restaurant. So, of course, the restaurant was my first stop when I got to the city last February.
The straight-up concoction of gin, Cointreau, cilantro leaves, cucumber, jalapeno, and lemon juice was every bit as good as it was cracked up to be. Maybe even better.
I loved the playful mingling of spice, cool, herb and citrus. I loved the way people were drinking Poquito Picantes for the bold flavors not for the booze. (Photo by Rebecca McAlpin for The New York Times.)
I loved the whole East Village Yerba Buena bar scene, with its exuberant host, animated crowd, and engaging bartender muddling the cilantro, cucumber and pepper, and shaking up the icy potion for the appreciative audience. (There’s also a Yerba Buena in the West Village.)
The Website Metromix had this to say about the Poquito Picante:
“A textbook handling of heat in a cocktail; the subtle spice adds body and texture rather than sharpness or pain, and serves as a distinct flavor before giving way to other notes, like the cucumber’s freshness. A fire that warms rather than burns you.”
I had this to say about it: “Another round, please.”
(Check out my original post about the Poquito Picante for the recipe.)
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While visiting Charleston for the Association of Food Journalists’ annual conference, I went to FIG restaurant for award-winning chef Mike Lata’s food. I went back again, and again, for his drinks. I mean, c’mon, clearly I wasn’t’ going to leave town without making a serious dent in FIG’s clever, perfectly executed Make-Your-Own Manhattan menu.
Joined by a dozen other food writer friends from around the country, I tackled the list of 15 bourbons (and a few ryes), eight types of sweet vermouth, and 13 types of bitters, mostly homemade, over the course of three nights. Like a kid in a candy store, I made the acquaintance of Old Overholt Rye (Lata' s favorite), Dolin Rouge Vermouth (and I thought Cinzano was the only game in town?), and Angostura orange bitters. Served straight up in old-fashioned “champagne” glasses, each creation was a delicious swirl of sweet, smoke, herb and tang.
FIG’s cocktail menu also featured riffs on the Negroni, a classic Italian aperitif of Campari, sweet vermouth and gin that was invented in Florence, Italy in the early 1900s. Calling it the “short and perfect aperitivo,” the menu lists nine versions including the Rhubarb Negroni with Farmer’s Gin, Zucca Rabarbaro (syrup) and Dolin Rouge vermouth; the Negroni Sbagliato with Campari, sweet vermouth and Prosecco; and the Hummingbird (Beefeater, Campari, elderflower, Nouilly Pratt and crushed ice). You can check out my original post on FIG to read more about cocktails and Lata's terrific food.
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