February 19, 2015
As a Japanese person, I love to drink. The first time I traveled to the U.S. with my sister, the two of us would always order a bottle of wine during lunch, and then again for dinner. The servers were always amazed; we were usually the only customers to order a full bottle. I thought […]
September 2, 2013
While Jonathan and I were visiting the east coast for a wedding last week, we snuck away for a couple of nights to his family’s house in Vermont. New England is absolutely gorgeous this time of year. Blueberry-picking is a popular activity here during the month of August, and we found a stunning place to gather some […]
April 6, 2011
The Prohibition Era figures prominently in the collective imagination of the cocktail world. The aura and mystique surrounding that era still wields great influence on popular culture. The popularity of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire is a perfect example of our still not fully reconciled fascination with that period, as is the proliferation of modern “speakeasies” in […]
March 16, 2011
When selecting a mid-March cocktail for this article, I was tempted to go the easy route with a St. Patrick’s Day whiskey drink. Then this weekend, I had the fortune to dine at Magasin Wells (aka M.Wells), the critically acclaimed Québécois-American diner in Long Island City, Queens. M.Wells’ haute comfort food menu and greasy spoon […]
February 16, 2011
“Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?” “Certainly, monsieur.” The barman seemed pleased with the idea. “Gosh, that’s certainly a drink,” said Leiter. Bond laughed. “When I’m…er…concentrating,” he […]
August 2, 2010
As if little $1 yogurt cups of vodka to-go weren’t amazing enough, I have also found oversize ketchup type packets of vodka at corner stores in Tel Aviv! These are also $1 and will fit in by beach bag even easier. I just pick up a bottle of cold seltzer on my way down to […]
July 12, 2010
One of the many funny little things I love about Israel is that in almost every convenient or corner store, you can find little cups of vodka to go. In the same place you would find your diet coke in the mini-fridge near the check-out, you will find these portable quadruple shots of vodka for […]
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 […]
February 9, 2010
Photos by Mike Brandeberry and Kayoko Akabori. ‘Tis true: there lives a kickass distillery named St. George Spirits, just east of San Francisco, right across the Bay Bridge, in a little town that bleeds into Oakland, called Alameda, in California. A group of us went a few weeks ago and experienced it in all its […]
January 13, 2010
It’s mid-January and by this point many of you are off to the races as far as your resolutions are concerned. You’ve detoxed, cleaned up your diet, and are hitting the gym as frequently as a Playboy bunny who’s about to be cut from the squad. However if you’re like me, 2010 didn’t really start […]