Drinks Around Town

44°43′N/142°30′E – La Conserverie, Paris

I first had the pleasure of meeting Joseph Akhavan a couple of years back when he was running the bar at the Philippe Starck-designed boutique hotel Mama Shelter, on the outskirts of the 19th arrondissment. Read More

GIN & TONIC – SAXON + PAROLE

NEW YORK CITY

At my latest bartending post, Saxon + Parole on New York City's infamous Bowery, I’m finally creating the incredible cocktail program that I’ve always wanted to and a lot of that has to do with working under and alongside one of my oldest and dearest high school friends, Linden Pride. Read More

JEREZ SOUR – THE COLUMBIA ROOM

I had my first trip to Washington DC recently and my first port of call was the tiny speakeasy called The Columbia Room, tucked away at the back of The Passenger, a bustling tavern on 7th Street. Read More

Carondelet – Maison Premiere

Brooklyn

Maxwell Britten, the dapper young man (and a great bartender) who looks all the part in this hip part of Brooklyn, opened this place in February 2011. On closer inspection, you’ll see just how much attention has gone into the finer details. Read More

Strawberry & Jalapeno Margarita – Colonie

I am a Margarita freak! Make that a Margarita Superfreak! Unless of course they’re made badly, which is often and seems, in theory at least, to be impossible given that it only has three ingredients. Of course, fresh is always best when it comes to juice and for every bar that hand squeezes their own, there are still a hundred out there still sickening us with sour mix. Read More

Ricardi – Osteria Morini

Osteria Morini, New York City

At Michael’s White’s temple to the hearty cuisine of Italy’s Emilia Romagna region, head bartender Richard Ervin, a veteran of many New York restaurants, has compiled a wonderful list of fiercely Italian libations that lean more towards the dry aperitivi and might be based around celery gin or grape must-infused vodka or include ingredients with strange names like nepitella or saba. Read More

Penicillin

Milk & Honey, New York City

You know those places you frequent a lot and you always order the same thing, even if you promise yourself every timethat you’ll try something new on the menu. The Penicillin at Milk & Honey is that drink for me (even though they have no menu). Could it be their ‘signature’ drink? Perhaps. Read More

Chipotle Margarita

Rockpool Bar & Grill, Sydney

My dear friend Linden Pride has created at Rockpool Bar & Grill one of the best restaurant cocktail programs I’ve seen in a very long time. It’s probably way more involved and superior than it needs to be, but his drinks at every bar I’ve ever seen him at are flawless. Read More

Benton’s Old Fashioned

PDT, New York City

I love this place. Probably because in no small part I have a man-crush on Jim Meehan. Perhaps it’s the fact that I can roll by after work, (almost) always get a seat, have a killer dog and any libation put in front of me is always going to make me feel that little bit better. The only mainstay since they opened is the Benton’s Old Fashioned, which uses a technique pioneered in New York by Eben Freeman called ‘fat washing’. Top notch swine from the Benton’s Farm in Tennessee is fried and then poured into containers holding bourbon. This is left to cool and then chilled in the fridge. Read More