Ok, I'm becoming totally and completely spoilt. ANOTHER chance to put on a dress (this time a fringe-y 1920's inspired number) and some fishnet stockings and take on the TOWN. This is what I was meant to do with my 20's (ahem...ok 30's)! Maybe it's time to start incorporating photos...
Enough vanity, let's talk cocktails. Because even though the Punch Room at the Ritz does come with a slightly pretentious entry process (you can't call ahead to make a reservation, but when you arrive they ask you if you have a reservation...um, ok?) it is worth the silliness. In fact, it's worth a lot of hoops to get in there, because it is the BEST DAMN COCKTAIL I've ever had in Charlotte, North Carolina. Well. Done. Bob.
We were fortunate (we being me and the incredibly handsome man who keeps making it a point to take me out and ensure I'm having fun) enough to be seated at the bar where we could watch the composition of and lust after cocktails that would not be ours. And while perusing the menu we sipped the complimentary brandy based punch (yes, Punch Room) that was just large enough to keep my mouth occupied and whet my appetite. Took me back to Asheville and the Thirsty Monk. Total quality, care for ingredients, patience to put it together. Why am I moving?
Bob introduced me to the Hanky Panky (go ahead, I giggled too) and this brilliant thing called Fernet Branca, which evidently I will have loads of in SF. Gin, Fernet Branca infused with vanilla (only Bob does this), sweet vermouth (color!!!!!), and the most darling orange-peel-shaped-like-a-leaf-with-the-world's-tiniest-clothespin as a garnish. Ridiculous. Delicious. Perfection. Go and challenge yourself to have one drink. Savor it. Commit it to memory. After all, it's the Ritz.
Ritz - 10
Cocktail - 10
Date - 10
^ has THAT ever happened before?
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Friday, November 20, 2015
Boozy Magnolia Blossoms
There's nothing new in this world. It's all been done before. So they said...but they hadn't had a drink at Magnolia's lately.
Cassandra had never been to Charleston, SC, which, in the religious South, is kind of like a sin. Especially when you live as close as Charlotte. So keeping to my evangelical upbringing, I declared (oh there are SO many Southern references here) that we would go at the first opportunity, Labor Day weekend. With all the excitement of the end of summer, many trips, and last chances to see friends before the move, it was a welcome opportunity to get there fast and then slow down for a day. Now I don't know about you but when you put two food and beverage lovers on a 24 hour trip, we will find a way to consume as many meals in as many places as humanly possible, at least 4 per day, seasoned with the occasional cocktail as an interlude between restaurants, and beginning with brunch. Now this will not catalog all of our beverages...but the most remarkable one.
Magnolias already held a special place in my heart for the weekend of the Cooper River Bridge Run...what a dinner and lots of fun (PECAN PIE). But I didn't have a cocktail from their menu that time. But tonight our dinner plans were at High Cotton and we had just enough time for one drink somewhere...and found ourselves at the far end of the curved wooden bar at Magnolia. It's moody there, at the curved end. You feel all the crush of the diners and all the stress of the servers entering tickets and yet it's tucked away and cozy. Of course Cassandra ran into a friend (I don't have to tell you she's famous).
And while she ordered her own creation, I opted to go with a selection from the menu: the Hibernia...Jameson Black Barrel Reserve, St. Germain, dry vermouth, orange bitters served in an old fashioned glass with rocks. There is no gin in this drink, yet it has the hallmarks of a favorite...St. Germain, vermouth, bitters. What the devil is the Jameson doing in there? I heard a whiskey expert say that Jameson is the perfect whiskey for mixing...and perhaps he's right. But this Black Barrel is something different, and it's ability to blend and at the same time stand on it's own in the drink is alluring.
While technically not a martini (hey no one's paying me for this, I'll post what I LIKE) it was a unique cocktail that should be experienced. Before or after dinner I think it would work well - I wouldn't go waving food at it. But it is delicious.
Mag's - 7
"Martini" - 8
Cassandra had never been to Charleston, SC, which, in the religious South, is kind of like a sin. Especially when you live as close as Charlotte. So keeping to my evangelical upbringing, I declared (oh there are SO many Southern references here) that we would go at the first opportunity, Labor Day weekend. With all the excitement of the end of summer, many trips, and last chances to see friends before the move, it was a welcome opportunity to get there fast and then slow down for a day. Now I don't know about you but when you put two food and beverage lovers on a 24 hour trip, we will find a way to consume as many meals in as many places as humanly possible, at least 4 per day, seasoned with the occasional cocktail as an interlude between restaurants, and beginning with brunch. Now this will not catalog all of our beverages...but the most remarkable one.
Magnolias already held a special place in my heart for the weekend of the Cooper River Bridge Run...what a dinner and lots of fun (PECAN PIE). But I didn't have a cocktail from their menu that time. But tonight our dinner plans were at High Cotton and we had just enough time for one drink somewhere...and found ourselves at the far end of the curved wooden bar at Magnolia. It's moody there, at the curved end. You feel all the crush of the diners and all the stress of the servers entering tickets and yet it's tucked away and cozy. Of course Cassandra ran into a friend (I don't have to tell you she's famous).
And while she ordered her own creation, I opted to go with a selection from the menu: the Hibernia...Jameson Black Barrel Reserve, St. Germain, dry vermouth, orange bitters served in an old fashioned glass with rocks. There is no gin in this drink, yet it has the hallmarks of a favorite...St. Germain, vermouth, bitters. What the devil is the Jameson doing in there? I heard a whiskey expert say that Jameson is the perfect whiskey for mixing...and perhaps he's right. But this Black Barrel is something different, and it's ability to blend and at the same time stand on it's own in the drink is alluring.
While technically not a martini (hey no one's paying me for this, I'll post what I LIKE) it was a unique cocktail that should be experienced. Before or after dinner I think it would work well - I wouldn't go waving food at it. But it is delicious.
Mag's - 7
"Martini" - 8
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