While I'm posting, here's a first look at the menu. This is available in various places around the interwebs, but I thought I'd summarize it here so it can provide context for future reports on experiences at the bar. Once nice feature is that the menus will be printed on nice paper, rather than inserted into the usual heavy leather book as they are at Flatiron and Pegu. This means you can take yours home, if you like.
The menu at Clover Club is somewhat smiliar to the menu at Flatiron Lounge, only expanded (in some interesting directions). This means that it consists of acknowledged classics, some "new classics" and a nice sprinkling of entirely new creations from Julie and her crew. This is not a menu that places a great deal of emphasis on new techniques and the unexpected, as with Tailor and some of the offerings at PTD. It's cocktails in the classic tradition.
The menu is divided into sections, consisting of sours & daisies, collins & fizzes, bucks & mules, cobblers & highballs, juleps & smashes, swizzles, royales, cocktails, and punches. Each section is prefaced with a short history, explanation and/or anecdote.
The sours & daisies included the Tequila Daisy, New York Sour, and Chaz Baker's Daisy De Santiago. We had a chance to sample all of these. It's especially fun to see people progress through surprise, puzzlement and pleasure upon reacting to the tannins in the claret float on top of the NY Sour.
Under collins & fizzes were the Southside Fizz ("London Style," which I think explains the otherwise unorthodox inclusion of cucumber), Hoffman House Fizz and Bohemian Fizz (gin, elderflower, lemon, soda).
Bucks & mules brings us Grandma's Buck (rhum agricole, sour apple juice, gingerale), the Gin Gin Mule, and the El Diablo, which I believe comes from Trader Vic. I'm anxious to sample Grandma's Buck. The other two were not featured at the opening party, but I've had them any number of times at both Flatiron and Pegu, and they're as delicious and refreshing as can be.
Now we start getting into parts of the menu that (re)break some fertile ground. Cobblers & highballs offers a Madrono Cobbler (a tweaked Sherry Cobbler including oloroso sherry, amaro and muddled strawberry), a Champagne Cobbler and a Hemingway Cobbler (essentially, a Hemmingway Daiquiri served cobbler-style). I haven't had the chance to try any of these yet, but they will be on the top of my list. What synchronicity that, just when I was thinking of exploring cobblers, here comes a whole menu section devoted to them!
Juleps & smashes is also a category I really like to see. It's not too manmy bars that will feature three crushed ice categories (Swizzles on the way!) that are this labor-intensive. As you can see from my pictures above, Clover Club has nice barware for their Juleps as well, and the bar staff are sufficiently well versed in Julepry that they won't have any trouble going off menu in this direction. In fact, the traditional bourbon Julep we sampled at the party doesn't seem to be on the menu. Instead, we find the Highland Smash (scotch, lemon, mint, honey), the Market Street Julep (pisco, pineapple, mint) and the Jersey Julep (applejack, mint, maple syrup). This is what I mean about "cocktails in the classic tradition."
For swizzles there are the Bermuda Swizzle, Queens Park Swizzle, and Negroni Swizzle. I had the chance to try the Negroni Swizzle when Giuseppe was working on it down at Flatiron. It’s compounded exactly how you might expect, but the swizzling and crushed ice creates an entirely different impression. Bermuda Swizzles were in great supply at the party, and theirs is a good one. They certainly aren't stingy with the Angostura bitters, making this drink at once warm and spicy, cold and refreshing.
For royales they have the French 75 (pictured above), Charles Baker’s Burra Peg, and the Sorrello from Flatiron (muddled orange, campari, punt e mes, champagne). Hard to go wrong with these, and they're priced to sell -- especially for champagne drinks.
Under Cocktails is the Clover Club, of course, the popular Slope from Flatiron (and
quite popular among eGullet cocktailians) the Improved Whiskey Cocktail, the Gin Blossom (gin, apricot eau de vie, martini bianco, orange bitters), the Mole Old Fashioned (mezcal, mole agave nectar, angostura & orange Bitters), the Black Maamba (rye whiskey, pommeau de normandie, green chartreuse -- Giuseppe’s twist on the Copperhead/Diamondback meme), the Bramble and the Perthshire from Flatiron (single malt scotch, mandarin orange, lillet blonde, lemon, spice). I’ve had all of these, except for the Mole Old Fashioned and the Gin Blossom. You can see the picture of the old school ice they’re using upthread. The Black Maamba is a good introduction for those who may be working their way into boozier, herbal cocktails as the use of pommeau de normandie in place of the usual bonded applejack lightens things up considerably.
Last, but not least, is the selection of punches, all served in vingate punchbowls for 4 to 8. As Julie says, "it's my answer to bottle service." They have their Clover Punch (gin, lemon, blackberry, allspice, champagne) a Pimms Punch and the classic Algonquin Bar Punch (Jamaican rum, sloe gin, lemon, sugar, raspberry).
This post has been edited by slkinsey: 21 June 2008 - 11:54 AM
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