Seasonal produce, fresh herbs, exotic spices, organic fruit purees, house-squeezed juices, homemade syrups – coast to coast a colossal cocktail craze is moving kitchen ingredients and techniques into the bar. There, a new breed of celebrity bartender, sometimes called a bar chef or master mixologist, crafts fresh and unconventional ingredients into sophisticated, vibrantly flavored libations. Even more cutting-edge are the “molecular” mixologists, using the techniques of avant-garde cooking, produce powders, foams and gels that challenge the very essence of a “drink.”
But pedigreed classics (martinis, Manhattans) are also experiencing a revival – often with a twist and especially with unprecedented attention to quality and balance in everything from the premium spirits themselves to the purity of the water used in making ice cubes.
Or as iconic Morton’s Pittsburgh bartender Dianne Porter says: “People are drinking less, so they want to drink better.”
Several years ago, Morton’s Restaurant Group astutely positioned itself to capitalize on the cocktail frenzy. While still offering the “best, biggest and coldest martini,” says Tyler Field III, Morton’s vice president of wines and spirits, the company expanded its traditional demographic base by reaching out to the post-Baby-Boomer generations. Now brightened bars offer a more relaxed ambiance and casual bar menu. Las Vegas-based master mixologist Francesco Lafranconi created an innovative, buzz-generating drink line: Heavenly Mortinis, proprietary, seasonal specialty drinks, topped with frappe-like Grand Marnier-passion fruit foam. Morton bartenders squeeze fresh juices à la minute for all drinks and experiment with the trendiest spirits – including newly legalized Absinthe and Brazil’s sizzling cachaca. A popular herbal infusion, the Thyme Lemondrop, muddles fresh thyme with homemade simple syrup, vodka and limoncello.
Also “playing around with nitrous foamers” and stretching the “from scratch” idiom is Six Penn Kitchen chef Chris Jackson. Not only does he macerate the maraschino cherries, brine the olives, make the sours and bitters in-house and squeeze fresh juices, he also makes his own grenadine from fresh pomegranates. Getting raves: a chunky Bloody Mary marries Ketel 1 vodka with smoked cherry tomatoes, grated horseradish root, capers, bar olives and diced shallots.
At Mio Kitchen & Wine Bar, bar manager Holly Shrecengost enjoys playing in the pastry kitchen, making infused simple syrups and seasonal sangrias. She also focuses on interesting rims and garnishes and creatively stuffs olives—toasted prosciutto and gorgonzola, fresh garlic. She also makes her own limoncello and purees fresh peaches for Bellinis.
Red Room restaurateur Rob Reese insists on house-made for syrups, sours and orangecello. He serves an herbaceous One-Eyed Samurai—muddled sage, sake, Absolut Pear and a splash of fresh sours.
Big Burrito restaurants also are hatching trendy cocktails. Chic Eleven utilizes seasonal fresh fruits, infuses vodkas and makes its own quinine-spiked tonic water. Other up-to-the-minute options: Casbah’s Marakesh Express-o (Van Gogh Double Espresso vodka, Patron XO Café, Voyant Chai Tea liqueur, Starbucks Coffee liqueur); Soba’s Mojito Martini (mint-infused rum, mint simple syrup, muddled mint and fresh lime juice); and Kaya’s Cabo Waborita (Cabo Wabo Reposado tequila, blue Curacao, house-made margarita mix).
For Capital Grille’s signature Stoli Doli, fresh pineapple marinates in Stolichnaya vodka for seven days. The liquid’s drained, chilled and served straight up, garnished by a pineapple slice. Fruit also stars in Bossa Nova’s Fresh Watermelon Martini (watermelon muddled in watermelon vodka, simple syrup and a dash of watermelon pucker), but it’s just one of dozens of sophisticated cocktail
Backed by flasks of infusing vodkas, Palomino’s bar features fashionable martinis, cosmos and mojitos. Olive or Twist pours hipness along with an encyclopedic martini menu. Tonic Bar & Grill offers variety, seasonality and ever-freshly-squeezed juices. Seviche rocks with a multitude of mojitos, premium rums and popular caipirinhas, the national drink of Brazil, made with cachaca, brown sugar and lime.
Crafting beverage excitement turns out to be serious business, so sip around town.
Bossa Nova, 123 Seventh St., Downtown. 412-232-3030; Capital Grille, 301 Fifth Ave., Downtown. 412-338-9100; Casbah, 229 S. Highland Ave., Shadyside. 412-661-5656; Eleven, 1150 Smallman St., Strip District. 412-201-5656; Kaya, 2000 Smallman St., Strip District. 412-261-6565; Mio Kitchen & Wine Bar, 225 Commercial Ave.
