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Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/123667
The Jolly Green Machine, one of the "Market Cocktails" at Napa Valley Grille. The Buzz on the Rooftop Replacing simple syrup and other sugar-based sweeteners with honey procured from local farms can be a great way for a bar to start to incorporate the locavore trend into their drinks program. Honey can be stored indefinitely; it lends a rich, earthy sweetness to drinks, and can be combined with warm water in a variety of ratios so it's easy to add to cocktails. Founding Farmers, a Washington, D.C. farm-totable restaurant operator, even has its own hive. "Whenever possible, we use honey from the Founding Farmers apiary, which is located on the rooftop of George Washington University's Lisner Hall," says chief mixologist/beverage director Jon Arroyo. The restaurant partners with the university, which maintains 13 hives—making it the largest restaurant-owned urban apiary in the country. Bees leave the hive and pollinate a variety of plants in a four-mile radius around the city. Founding Farmers harvests in late August or early September—this past year the hive yielded 130 lbs. of honey. The staff uses it in cocktails like the Brown Derby ($8), with Jim Beam Black 8-Year Bourbon and grapefruit juice, and the Yellow Jacket ($8), with Beefeater gin, lemon juice and Luxardo Maraschino liqueur. How sweet! —KAM 34 | MAY 2013 Riesling; the Beet Down ($6.50) mixes tequila, lime and brown sugar with a spicy syrup crafted from local beets; and the Concordian ($7) infuses gin with local Concord grapes, topped with tonic. "People expect to see locavore cocktails on Felicia's menu, yes, because we've fed that expectation with our creativity and experimentation," Sauter says. As with locavore cuisine, the time of year tends to drive what's available on back-bar shelves. "Seasonality dictates much of our cocktail program," says Corey Polyoka, bar director for the 152-seat Woodberry Kitchen in Baltimore, MD, a restaurant focused on the cuisine and growers of the Chesapeake. "We know what's coming in from our growers in every season, and we think about ways we can use it at the moment, and how we can use it when preserved." Woodberry Kitchen's Ruby Sour ($12) mixes West Virginia barrel-aged gin with organic rhubarb, apple-cider molasses, grapefruit bitters and house-made sour—all made with locally grown products. The staff cans tomatoes to use all year in the restaurant's Bloody Mary ($10); when the tomato supply is depleted, the drink is pulled from the menu. FARM-FRESH FINDS Anyone who has ever strolled the stalls of a farmers' market recognizes that much of the enjoyment lies in seeking out what looks and smells the freshest, and then taking it back to the kitchen—or bar—to experiment. Napa Valley Grille in Westwood, CA, has a "Market Cocktails" section of its drink menu. One libation is the Jolly Green Machine ($12), which mixes Farmer's Organic gin, St. Germain elderflower liqueur, lemonade and kale juice, topped with club soda and garnished with cucumber and lemon. Napa Valley Grille's Emeryville, CA-based parent company Tavistock Restaurants, which runs 33 upscale concepts and 90 locations of Freebird World Burritos, doesn't have a set locavore cocktail program, says beverage director Mike Hanley. But the bar staff often uses ingredients found at farmers' markets. "People come to our restaurants for our chefs' use of fresh, seasonal, local ingredients, and they appreciate that in a cocktail as well," Hanley says. "Any time we use local ingredients in a cocktail, it automatically makes it more popular." The two locations of the company's California Café (in Palo Alto and Los Gatos) offer a Spiced Strawberry Margarita ($11.25) with El Jimador tequila, Triple Sec, house-made sour, habanero simple syrup and local strawberries; the Market Vegetable Bloody Mary ($11.25) blends roasted local vegetables. Tavistock concepts partner with CSAs (community supported agriculture) groups, as well as with local farms, for fresh ingredients. Carlo Splendorini, Mina Group bar director and Michael Mina San Francisco lead bartender, has witnessed the farm-totable cocktail trend growing in the Bay Area during the past five years. At Michael Mina San Francisco, guests can recreate the experience of farmers' market shopping with the On a Whim cocktail ($14). "The guest joins us at the bar, tells us what he or she likes, and we create a custom cocktail based exclusively on www.cheersonline.com