Cocktail News - Jan 21, 2013

00:00 January 21, 2013
By: Kristal Blue
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[Where Y'At Staff/Provided Photo]

Samizdat pops up @ P@P. Perestroika at Pravda has launched samizdat, its own pop-up event on Tuesday nights named for the 50s-era underground soviet writers' rebellion. samizdat features a special list of themed cocktails written by Nick Detrich (who co-owns the venture with The cure collective). Look for samizdat to continue, perhaps under a different name, when P@P transitions to a rum house, sometime late spring.

Salú's new happy hour. In sync with the arrival of Executive chef Dustin Brien, this Magazine street wine bar has added food (mussels and frites, $10) to their happy hour (4-7 p.m. Monday-Friday), which also features select cocktails for $5, and $3 glasses of imported beer.

Aperitivo Hour at Serendipity. Fridays are Murf's Julia and Joseph at sainte Marie Brasserie busier at this Mid-city collaboration between chef chris DeBarr and Ed Diaz, who have launched "picnic" lunches and, later in the day, an "Aperitivo Hour" (4-6 p.m.), highlighting sparkling wines and italian aperitif spirits and cocktails. savor them with bar snacks and cheese plates, or linger until dinner; either way, you'll want to sit at the custom bar, which is loaded with local talent.

Porqué no? There's every reason to go to Why Not?, the seasonal pop-up restaurant operating in the Hotel Modern until the new (as of press time, under wraps) restaurant opens. On the bar side, Kimberly Patton-Bragg guides the transition with a whiskey-focused cocktail program using local, seasonal ingredients. Alchemy Lounge's steve Yamada has also joined the team, crafting his signature bottled cocktails.

Café Rani, revamped. Bartender Geoffrey Wilson and chef Jonathan Lestingi (along with owner Justus Jagger and Michelle MacMahon) are retooling the courtyard-fronted restaurant at 2917 Magazine street, formerly Café Rani.

The new concept, La Fin du Monde, will include dual menus - a daily extended brunch, followed by dinner, with an exciting cocktail program to match. Breakfast drinks include Geoffrey's own Breakfast cocktail fl ip, featuring rye whiskey, premium maple syrup, a whole egg and bitters; at dinner time, try his margarita variation that swaps triple sec for yellow chartreuse.

Elegant, well-made classics will be on hand as well, and watch for them to build out the bar and deepen the culinary cocktail program in the near future.

Tapas Bar. small plates of global street food meet craft cocktails at Booty's in the Bywater, helmed by chef Greg Fonseca. Jeremy Thompson manages the bar, which mingles world spirits and fl avors (especially smart is the Boom Boom's scotch and orgeat pairing). co-owners Nick Vivion and Kevin Farrell renovated the historic site, which opened in December.

Murf at Sainte Marie Brasserie. Formerly at sylvain, Murf Reeves is now managing partner at the stylish sainte Marie. He and restaurateur Robert LeBlanc have reset the cuisine as New Orleans brasserie; that is, French-based with creole and Vietnamese infl uences that come directly from their co-executive chefs. The plates are refi ned, fresh and comforting.

Murf has written a new cocktail list, too, a monthly rotation of beautifully complex and muscular cocktails. Even if it's off the menu, consider asking for the Yuletide scotch and allspice dram (written by sainte Marie manager Natalie secco); the bar also stocks local absinthe Toulouse Red, and a slew of smashing beers.

For this month's cocktail, i'm singling out Murf's Julia and Joseph, built on two young whiskies: Koval's shy millet, with its subtle peachy-ginger notes, and High West's playful, white unaged rye. Added to the mix is cinnamon, which smooths out the palate, and a fl oat of orange liqueur, which softens a long, spicy fi nish. i t's a great union of two top-notch spirits, and a nod to the local streets referenced on the hand-drawn map in the sainte Marie dining room.

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