The Fab Five
A new column that shouts out five of my favorite things.
Friends,
As the title of this post probably makes clear, I’m debuting a new column here on The Strong Buzz where I share — you guessed it — five things I love. Most will be about food, trends, restaurant dishes, pantry items, or cocktails, but I’ll also color outside the lines and get into tools I use in the kitchen, the books I can’t put down, what I keep stashed in my purse, my go-to running gear, or what I pack with me when I’m on a long drive. Also, I realize knowing what I love is nice and all, but what my friends love may be even more interesting to you all, so I’ll be featuring the favorite things of the chefs, restaurateurs and other fabulous friends in my orbit.
This new column is starting out free, but it will become an added perk for paid subscribers to The Strong Buzz who already get the weekly Weekend Buzz in addition to all the free weekly content you’ve come to expect over the past 20 or so years that I’ve been writing The Strong Buzz (it debuted in 2003!).
I’m kicking off the column with My Fab Five Summer Cocktails. Cheers!
MY FAB FIVE SUMMER COCKTAILS
Summer is made for a few essential things — beaches, books, backyard dinners, long lazy days, gathering friends, bottles of pink wine sweating in an ice bucket, cold pints of beer sipped on the muggy afternoons, and breezy refreshing cocktails, preferably with tequila, which is my spirit of choice. Consider this your summer cocktail list, check ‘em off one at a time and let me know what you think.
The Peachy Keen at Hidden Rivers
Beer cocktails, particularly The Spaghett, are really having a moment. At Hidden Rivers, a new beer garden in Gowanus, owner Patrick Watson is doing five of them including a Michelada, a Gin Shandy, a pair of Spaghetts (daytime and nighttime!), and my favorite of the bunch, a cocktail called the Peachy Keen. If you like a margarita, this one’s for you; It’s made from reposado tequila, Hudson Valley Peach Silhouette sour, and fresh lemon juice, poured over ice into a fat rocks glass. It’s bright and refreshing, with enough peachy sweetness to balance the cheek-puckering sour kick. Grab some friends and a picnic table in their sprawling backyard and a plater of their pimento cheese and crackers, and call it a day.
The Sharona at Eel Bar
Everyone is all about the Negroni, but The Sharona, a Negroni that’s tuned up with sherry, is even better (and yes the song My Sharona will now be stuck in your head all day, but at least it’s a good song!). The Sharona is the creation of the fine folks at Eel Bar, the Basque-inspired restaurant and sibling to Cervo’s on the Lower East Side, where gin is replaced by manzanilla sherry, so it’s dark and juicy, the color of the perfect lip gloss, and also a bit lower in alcohol than a traditional Negroni, so you can have more than one without worrying that you’ll take the F home in the wrong direction. (Not that I have ever done this.)
The Shark Bite at the Rockaway Hotel
This cocktail has been on the menu at the Rockaway Hotel since day one and there’s a good reason for it. Beverage Director Nancy Santiago created this one to be all the things you want a poolside drink to be: refreshing, crushable, and just spicy enough to give it a little bite, a nibble if you will. Like a fiery cousin of the margarita, The Shark Bite is made from Ghost Pepper tequila, muddled cucumber, watermelon, and fresh lime juice, and is finished with a Tajín chili rim. It’s delicious as a drink that honestly would probably also make a great salad. “When I set out to create the opening cocktail menu for The Rockaway Hotel, my vision was simple: approachable cocktails that are balanced, refreshing, and easy to enjoy from the first sip to the last,” Nancy told me. She’s right. I recommended getting a pitcher, a poolside lounge chair, and a group of friends. They do day passes at the hotel. What are you waiting for?
The Viva la Vida at Bar Bruno
It’s hard to pick one frozen drink of summer when there are so many great ones. I’ve already written about all the ways to love pina coladas and get caught in the rain, so my mind naturally went to the other frozen classic, the Margarita. But this one’s a bit different than your run of the mill frosty tequila slushie.
Bar Bruno’s Viva la Vida is a frozen potion made from mezcal, green key (a green chartreuse substitute that is more affordable but tastes almost exactly the same), pineapple, coconut, and lime. Picture the love child of a pina colada, a mezcal margarita. I love it. Add a bowl of their guacamole and chips or chef Orion’s aguachile of the day, and you’re ten degrees cooler in every way.
The Spritz al Limoncello at Bar Ferdinando
The Spritz is the sun-kissed glow of summer. Whether you’re going Aperol or Hugo, the cocktail has just the right fizz and fun to pair with your tan lines and Bain de Soleil. For this sunny spritz, Bar Ferdinando’s manager and supremely charming cocktail man Ricardo Echiverri brings limoncello into the conversation, adding a sweet-tart aromatic elegance to the typical appertivi.
Ricardo explained that the cocktail—made from Paolina Limoncello (a housemade version is in the works) cucumber, elderflower, sparkling wine, and club soda—is not a riff on the Hugo Spritz, but a showcase for “the freshness and aromatic quality of limoncello in a more balanced way.”
On a hot summer evening, with a bowl of Sal’s Vongole Frites, sitting in the bar that’s been at the end of Union Street in Carroll Gardens for over a century, there’s nothing better.
Love this!
Considering that 2 of these places are my locals - but I’ve never tried either of those cocktails! - this is a must visit soon situation 😍