Email this page  Print this page  Feed

Dave Phayre, the handsome and lightning quick bartender from Local 121 (he's there Saturday nights, among others) who graces the cover of our June issue on Bars & Nightlife, supplies some yummy cocktail recipes from the restaurant's about-to-be-released summer drinks menu:

Sazerac
3 oz. Sazerac Rye Whiskey
Absinthe coated glass
1 Sugar Cube
3 dashes Peychaud's Bitters
Lemon Twist

Blackberry Margarita
1 1/2 oz. Jose Cuervo Tequila
1/2 oz. Cointreau
1/2 oz. Blackberry Puree
1/2 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
1/2 oz. Fresh Lime Juice
1/2 oz. Simple Syrup
1/2 oz. Lemon & Lime Garnish

Grapefruit Tarragon
 2 1/2 oz.  Grapefruit and tarragon infused vodka
1/2 oz. St. Germaine
1/2 oz. Grapefruit Juice
Lemon Twist

The Sazerac was the first American cocktail, says Dave, originally made in 1830s New Orleans using cognac and creator Antoine Peychaud's own bitters. Now it's more commonly made with rye, a style of whiskey that sprang back into fashion in the last few years and, being traditionally aged in oak barrels for two to twelve years, is currently very hard to come by.
They have it at Local 121, however, along with absinthe, the bitter tasting and supposedly psychoactive spirit that fueled Parisian bohemian culture and, after decades of prohibition, was allowed back in the US in 2007.
I had a sip of a Sazerac at 8 this morning  - there were extenuating circumstances! see the clip from this morning's Rhode Show - as well as a taste of Dave's Blackberry Margarita (one of the Rhode Show staff made off with the rest of it; I guess they start work early there). Both were delicious. We didn't have time to get to the Grapefruit Tarragon cocktail, but I already know I'll like it since it has St. Germaine in it.
Dave was originally going to make a Unicorn for the TV show this morning, by the way, but swapped it out at the last minute because the Rhode Show producers wanted recipes. The Unicorn is, I guess, top secret; but Dave did reveal that it contains a ginger liqueur, a flower liqueur, strawberry puree and champagne. They're so pretty and delicious that as soon as he makes one, he says, everyone at the bar clamors for one and he ends up making thirty. Make that thirty-one - sounds too good for me to pass up. See you at 121, Dave. And a pox on ice tongs.

(For more from Dave, see a great story he told us from his bartending archives.)