Imbibist

Silicon Valley is known worldwide for a number of subjects: semiconductors, venture capital, the dot-com boom and subsequent crash, to name a handful. Culinary Excellence, unfortunately, is not one of them. Indeed, there is a dearth of good eating establishments in the South Bay Area, as banal strip malls and national chains dominate both the landscape and the local palate. Naturally, it follow that there are few good drinking establishments. Sure, it’s not hard to find a good selection of scotch at an upscale eatery, but try ordering a Sazerac at these places and you will be met with a look of wonder and confusion.
 

Suze Liqueur. Courtesy of Guillaume Brialon via Flickr.

You could imagine my surprise when I spotted a bottle of Suze through the window of a local pseudo-French restaurant (I say “pseudo-French” since their French cuisine simply isn’t that good. Or French). We immediately seated ourselves at the bar and inquired about the bottle. To our non-surprise, the bartender had been working there for three years and had only poured it for one customer, who ordered it as a shot. Despite the bartender’s lack of knowledge of classic cocktails, he was well aware of the subject and was quite receptive to our stories and questions. I told him of our experience with Chris Hannah at French 75 in New Orleans, and how he made a Last Word with Suze replacing the Maraschino. He agreed that this sounded like a fine cocktail and proceeded to make us a round. Yes, here we were, reliving one of the more sublime cocktail moments of our latest New Orleans trip, amongst the vodka-and-sugar swilling wannabe-sophisticates of Silicon Valley. So bizarre, yet so satisfying. Upon finishing, the bartender agreed to hide the bottle for us. A nice gesture, in an establishment that, previous to this experience, I completely despised.
 

Yes, pleasant surprises always come in the most unlikely settings. What is the name of this pseudo-French restaurant that houses such a rare bottle of liqueur, you ask? Sorry, that is for me to know and for you to find on your own. Happy hunting.

Corn n Oil at Sidebar. Downtown Las Vegas.

Thanks to a good friend who also happens to be a New Orleans local, I was able to get an introduction to Chris Hannah, bartender at Arnaud’s French 75 Bar in the French Quarter. Arnaud’s is a storied restaurant opened in 1918 by Count Arnaud Cazenave. Given Chris’s reputation as one of New Orleans’ top bartenders, it’s only fitting he run the bar of such an establishment.
 

My inclination was to order some classic New Orleans drinks – Sazerac, Ramos Gin Fizz, and the like – from a local maestro.  However, my buddy had a simple and better suggestion: let Chris do the driving. He is the master, after all. Not surprisingly, this proved to be the superior path.
 

The Last Word

My girlfriend and I arrived at French 75 on a Friday evening and took a seat at the bar. We chatted with Chris for a bit, and then told him we’d like him to drive us through three courses of drinks. After asking us of our mood and our plans for later – he didn’t want to get us trashed, as it was still early and our last night in town – he started us with his variation of The Last Word. The Last Word is a prohibition era cocktail, using equal parts of gin, Chartreuse, maraschino liqueur, and fresh lime juice. Hannah’s version, however, replaced the maraschino with Suze, a French liqueur flavored with gentian root. Not knowing what the hell Suze or gential root was, Chris gave us a short shot of the liqueur so we could taste it straight. We both found the smell metallic, but the flavor quite floral. The cocktail itself was fantastic, a perfect balance of botanicals, citrus, sweetness, and alcohol.
 

Suze Liqueur

Our second course was a mix of gin, dram, and Cynar. The name of this drink, well, I’m not so sure. Phonetically, the name of the drink is “Tamerus.” Chris explained that “Tamerus” (Tmolus, perhaps?) was a figure from Greek mythology who, due to some type of conflict, became quite bitter at his adversary. I’m not going to butcher the name of the drink or the ancient tale any further, but do understand the character’s bitterness is reflected through the use of Cynar in the cocktail. Clever.
 

Perhaps more interesting than the root of the cocktail’s name was the dram, made by Chris himself. Standard dram is made by steeping allspice berries in rum, and then mixing with simple syrup. An even easier “recipe” is to buy a bottle from the liquor store. Hannah’s dram involved steeping cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice in rum, which was later added to hibiscus syrup. Again, Chris gave us a short shot of the dram to taste alone. Light on alcohol, but rich in flavor, the dram countered well against the bitterness of the Cynar without overwhelming the gin.
 

Our final course brought us back to a citrus cocktail. This was part of Hannah’s plan to keep us from getting completely wasted, as the previous drink consisted of purely alcoholic ingredients. Chris called this drink The Movie Goer, and it was made of Orange Curacao, gin, Averna, and fresh lemon juice. While this drink certainly didn’t look light, it was actually quite refreshing after the previous round.
 

The Cocktail with the Unknown Greek Name

There were two things I took away from our trip to French 75. First, Chris Hannah operates on a different space/time continuum than your standard bartender. This is reflected in the ingredients selected and the patience he displays while mixing each drink. His dedication to precision is demonstrated by his use of a small measuring cup. Yes, he measures out each ingredient with incredible precision, so if you go, please don’t be in a hurry.
 

The second point I took away is a testament to the first point. You see, my girlfriend is an avid vodka Martini drinker, but she dislikes gin Martinis. In other words, she’s not afraid of the taste of alcohol, but doesn’t care for the taste of gin. As all three of our courses were gin based, she continued to shake her head in disbelief. She verbally attested to liking them all, and repeated more than once, “I can’t believe I actually like a(nother) gin drink.” Apparently the right mix of ingredients can win over even a skeptic.  Congrats, Chris Hannah, on helping convert my girlfriend to gin. Now it’s my duty to keep her along that path, until our inevitable return to New Orleans.

Live from the Carousel Bar, at the unmistakable Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans, Louisiana. Classic mixes from Marvin. Details at eleven.

Live from the world famous Arnaud’s French 75 Bar in fabulous New Orleans, Louisiana. Fresh mixes from Chris Hannah. Details at eleven.