Chef Tom – Dranks

Pandemia afforded us the “luxury” of time – lots and lots of time – spent indoors. No restaurants, no movies, especially no bars. So we took it upon ourselves to do a deep and liquid dive into cocktails. We even put together a fancy-ass cocktail table.

Chez Booze

With the help of a young mixologist who calls herself thebitterfairy on Instagram, as well as the award winning and amazing “bible” for the serious craftsperson, Meehan’s Bartender Manual, we’ve come up with a number of winners. Below are but three. And b/c we are a creative couple and love a good turn of phrase, we had to tweak the original recipes a tiny bit. Plus, each drink MUST have a clever name. Hey, we also had to create our own entertainment. No one else was doing it.

We discovered a couple of new libations: Génépy (from Switzerland) and Falernum.

This was originally called a Génépy Park Swizzle. A bit on the “fruity drink” side, so we added a healthy shot of white rum to the mix, giving it some much needed authority. Then we riffed on the name. Pineapple and the spicy falernum led to Hawaii which led to Hula Girl. I liked it. Dan said we could do better. He asked. “Who was that crazy long-haired guy who played the ukulele on Ed Sullivan in the seventies?” Thus was born…

Tiny Tim

The Tiny Tim
(makes one)

1 oz. white rum

2 oz génépy
1 1/2 oz fresh pineapple juice (I pressed pineapple chunks with a lemon squeezer)

3/4 oz fresh lime juice
1/2 oz falernum
fresh mint
Angostura bitters

Lightly muddle mint with falernum in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Add rum, Génépy and juices and combine with crushed ice and shake for a solid thirty seconds. Strain into a chilled glass and top with bitters and a garnish of fresh mint leaves.

This was our first love from the newly discovered Land of Cocktails. It also is made with the yummy Génépy from Switzerland. Plus Orgeat, a delicious almond-flavored syrup, which I used to flavor coffee drinks way back in the day when just getting three layers in the latte glass was high art. Now fancy coffees arrive with the Sistine Chapel depicted in foam.

We fancied up the rum a bit, choosing a lovely, aged dark. Originally called the Génépy Daiquiri (meh), we riffed about Switzerland, then the Alps, leading to the Sound of Music, so for a while we called it the Julie Andrews. But b/c the garnish is a fresh leaf of sage, and one has to give the leaf a whack between one’s palms to activate the oils, we call it…

Spanking Julie

Spanking Julie⠀
(makes one)
⠀
1 1/4 oz dark rum
1 1/4 oz Genepy ⠀
1 oz fresh lime juice⠀
1/4 -1/2 oz orgeat, to taste⠀
tiny pinch salt⠀
Garnish: sage leaf⠀
⠀
Combine ingredients, shake well with ice, and strain into chilled coupe. Garnish with sage leaf.

Last but by no means least, a strong-ass, get the job done, no joke of a cocktail called a Vesper Martini. We were too drunk to change anything.

Though we did opt for the good stuff. Oh, and it’s delicious.

Vesper

Vesper

(makes one)

60 ml Nollet Gin
20 ml Gray Goose Vodka

10 ml Lillet Blanc

Measure the ingredients into a cocktail shaker and top up with ice to the brim. Shake vigorously, then strain into a frosted Martini glass. Garnish with a lemon twist, spritzed over the glass to express the oils. Drink while very cold.

ON THAT NOTE

Måneskin (moana-sken) (Danish for ‘moonlight’) is an Italian rock band from Rome, consisting of lead vocalist Damiano David, bassist Victoria De Angelis, guitarist Thomas Raggi, and drummer Ethan Torchio. 

In the beginning, playing on the street, the band rose to fame after ending up second in the eleventh season of the Italian talent show X Factor in 2017. 

The band won the Sanremo Music Festival 2021 and the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 – as the Italian representative in the latter – with the song “Zitti e buoni. 

Having released two studio albums Il ballo della vita (2018) and Teatro d’ira: Vol. I (2021), one extended-play, and eight singles, they topped the Italian music charts on various occasions, and collected 20 platinum and four gold certifications from FIMI, selling over one million records in Italy.

Their top 3 tracks.

Zitti E Buoni (literally Shut Up and Behave)

Torna a casa

VENT’ANNI

BONUS TRACK 1

Eurovision 2021, that no-holds-barred mash-up of emotion, inanity, genres, nationalities, wind machines, bursts of fire and just plain weirdness, was such a joy to watch.   – New York Times

Top Ten Eurovision 2021

BONUS TRACK 2

The “Coquettes” was an all-female band led by Frances Carroll, and the drummer was Viola Smith (1912–2020), one of America’s first professional female drummers. She even performed with Ella Fitzgerald and Chick Webb, gaining fame as the “female Gene Krupa” and the “fastest girl drummer in the world”. “Snake Charmer” written by Teddy Powell and Leonard Whitcup. 

I love that she’s got two Japanese Taiko drums as part of her set.

The Coquettes

The Coquettes

https://fb.watch/5MeSoyvg2w/

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Chef Tom is currently transitioning from Personal Chef to Private Chef. He also teaches cooking classes, caters small parties and leads overseas culinary tours. His specialty for the last twelve years has been cooking for people with food allergies and sensitivities. His motto is “Food should give you pleasure, not pressure.”

Check him out at www.hippkitchen.com