Slipping booze into a tall glass of fresh squeezed fruit juice is like reading "50 Shades of Grey" on a Kindle: you look virtuous, but it's quietly making you all loopy inside.
It was their sparkling cart in the dining room, stacked with liquor bottles, that made me take a second look at Canal Street Bistro's juice bar list. They've been pairing lively juices - red apple, fresh ginger, beets and berries - with spirits for a while now, though they've only recently hired a bartender to dole them out on weekends and evenings.
Except he wasn't there, so I had to craft my own. Given Canal Street's Latin-leaning cuisine (executive chef Guillermo Peters is from Mexico), tequila would have been a natural choice. But I was feeling rum - Sailor Jerry, to be exact, and he wasn't going to play well with ginger, my fi rst juice of choice.
The server mentioned that banana was an option, and so we settled on a health-nut's version of a daiquiri, with pineapple standing in both for the lime and simple syrup.
She built it in the glass, topping it with fruity foam left in the juicer, explaining, "it holds a garnish better that way" (in this case, strawberries).
Below the foamy head, this drink was lush and smooth, dominated by banana, with pineapple's gentle tang and Jerry's spicy bite following on the palate. And I didn't necessarily feel virtuous or naughty or sly - just satisfi ed with a good drink.
Juicy Booze
COURTESY OF CANAL STREET BISTRO
1.5 ounces Sailor Jerry rum
2 whole bananas
3 handfuls chopped pineapple
Pour rum into a highball glass. Juice bananas and pineapples; add clear juices to the glass, followed by the foam. Add a few ice cubes. Serves 1
Canal Street Bistro • 3903 Canal St. • 482-122 5
