OF THE
Operators around the country are excited
about cocktail garnishes. By Thomas Henry Strenk
B
eef jerky, shaved beets, pickles, squash blossoms, freshly fried beignets—sounds more like an appetizer than a drink. Indeed, there's a strong kitchen connection to
today's trendy cocktail garnishes. It's a long way from doing that twist: olive or cherry. But even those elegantly simple garnishes are being rethought and updated as part of an innovative and classic cocktail resurgence. Some of these garnishes are simply beyond eye candy. "A good
garnish is not just eye-candy, it adds another dimension to the drink," opines Ralph Ortiz, director of beverage marketing for Cypress, Calif.-based Real Mex Restaurants, which operates some 200 casual-dining restaurants. Real Mex has upgraded its classics as well as updating and contemporizing its Margarita collection. At its upscale El Torito Grill and Sinigual concepts, where the half dozen specialty cocktails are priced $8 to $9, Manhattans are topped with imported Luxardo maraschino cherries. "We don't sell a lot of Manhattans but we wanted to sell the
The Rooster Cogburn at Anvil is a play on a Boilermaker using Bourbon, IPA and house-made beer syrup shaken with a whole raw egg.
36 | SEPTEMBER 2011
best," declares Ortiz. Th e Martini, made with Rain Organic Vodka, is enhanced with a chipotle-stuff ed olive. "It gives a spicy, smoky fi nish to the drink, and fi ts with our mesquite- grilled menu," he notes. Similarly, a Mesquite-Grilled Pineapple
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ALEX GREGG
