February 8, 2013
“Champagne for our real friends and real pains for our sham friends.†– A toast from Harry’s Bar in Paris circa 1920 This Valentine’s Day, make sure your pre or post-romantic dinner drink is the classic champagne cocktail. The French 75 is the grand dame of champagne cocktails and has been the basis for dozens […]
June 29, 2011
There’s just something about growing your own food. In this Brave New World of global import/export where you can basically die from eating the wrong vegetable (big cucumber scandal in Germany with lots of casualties), is a home grown meal the new epitome of “comfort food” (as in “food that doesn’t kill you”)? For an […]
May 25, 2011
It feels good to return to normalcy (read proper hydration) now that the Manhattan Cocktail Classic (read Manhattan Hangover Classic) has concluded. For myself and the other Bar Fellows of this year’s cocktail classic, normalcy took a bit longer to reach, as we were in the Astor Center Kitchen 12 hours a day prepping and […]
June 9, 2010
 This past Sunday I had rare the opportunity–via my cocktail consulting and event company, Life’s a Cocktail–to use the power of mixology to help the forces of good, serving up cocktails in the name of marriage equality as a vendor in the first ever Illegal Wedding Fair. The event was held in an amazing West Village townhouse called […]
July 9, 2009
My mom went to Paris and all I got was this lousy Edible Paper. Being a fan of everything fake and pink I had to give this a try. Everyone across the world is probably constantly wondering: How do those French supermodels keep so beautiful and fit? What on earth are they eating? Well, here’s […]
March 11, 2009
Back atcha this week to talk about an ingredient that is essential for so many cocktails, yet is usually given a mere cursory glance: simple syrup. I suppose the reason for this is, well, as the name indicates, it’s a simple ingredient; so simple to prepare and it so exponentially simplifies the preparation of many […]
February 11, 2009
When I committed to making the Happy Hour column a regular Wednesday thing, I realized that either I’d have it pre-written and ready to be posted at the designated time (ideal scenario) or that I’d write it on the day of and post it immediately. What I didn’t take into account is that I’m sort […]
January 28, 2009
With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I figured I’d have some strawberry liqueur on hand to toss in some cocktails, or if I’m feeling lazy, in some bubbly. And there’s no way better to do it than to make it yourself at home. Although I’m a little late on the planning of this, as I […]