The National Culinary Review | October 2009
38
Laurie Proffitt
The 10 Cane-based Homemade Cherry
Cordial used ground cherries and cape
gooseberries. The Pear Sidecar featured
pears with Hennessy VS, and the Heartland
Cosmo paired cranberries and vodka.
Pittman also closely monitors the
production of herbs, fruits and vegetables
used in cocktails. Produce comes from
the garden on the restaurant’s roof,
local farmers or Woodland Farms in
Oldham County, Ky., which is located on
the restaurant owner’s property. (Proof
is owned and operated by 21c Museum
Hotels, Louisville. Two of the principals,
Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson, are
also owners of Woodland Farms.)
Each week, Proof offers a “garden
cocktail.” The first one offered was The
Secretary, featuring Scotch, fresh lemons,
local honey and peaches.
The Baker Street Collins has grapefruit
vodka, Proof garden basil, fresh lemon
and sugar. The Great Dane features
Woodland Farms cucumbers, fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice, sea salt and
gin. Pimm’s Cup has local strawberries,
Woodland Farms cucumber, Proof garden
mint, Pimm’s and housemade lemonade.
“We change the cocktail menu according
to the season,” says Pittman. “The great
thing about our weekly garden cocktail
is that we can make use of various
ingredients that may not necessarily be
available for the entire season, but rather
only are available for several weeks.”
Heirloom Tomato Mojitonico, topped with
purple basil, was one of the cocktails offered
at Nacional 27 this summer.
At Mez, Steiner uses fresh produce from local
farms and farmers markets. “We constantly
update specialty cocktails according to what
is fresh and in season, and often run daily
drink features inspired by a particularly fresh
batch of produce,” he says.
Raspberries, blackberries and apples are
featured in the Ginger Smash. Muddled
strawberries are the key ingredient in
the Fraise Sauvage. Apples and mint are
used in the Apple Mojito, and fresh basil
is featured in the Tomato Martini.
“We use produce to create drinks that are a
little out of the ordinary,” says Steiner. “Our
customers enjoy the true berry, herb or fruit
flavors we get from using fresh produce.”
Fresh infusion
Another way to bring the flavors of fresh,
local produce to the bar is through in-house infused alcohols and juices.
Bartender Matthew Kennedy at The
Temple Bar in Bellingham, Wash., creates
a variety of infused alcohols for special
events and the cocktail menu. “We strive
to create cocktails that are as fresh and
clean as possible,” says Kennedy. “Every
Sunday we feature an infused alcohol
with two to three suggested cocktails.
Some of our favorite infusions include the
cucumber gin, a blueberry vodka and a
basil vodka.”
Another infusion is sweet-onion gin, for
which, Kennedy says, he was pleased to
find that the floral qualities of both the onion
and the gin helped contribute to a complex
bouquet. “It is a savory cocktail, served
