Thursday, September 16, 2010

Royalton's Forty Four Bar Reveals Debut Cocktail Menu

The six-person "Cocktail Collective," put together by the Royalton Hotel to create a cocktail program for the lobby bar, called Forty Four, has done it work. 

The members—Richard Boccato from Dutch Kills and Painkiller in New York City; John Lermayer from the Florida Room in Miami Beach, and Woodward in Boston; Simon Ford, a former London bartender, and now a global cocktail ambassador employed by Pernod Ricard USA; Willy Shine, one of the founders of Contemporary Cocktails, a prominent cocktail consultancy based in New York City; Misty Kalkofen, who tends bar at Drink in Boston; and Eric Alperin, head bartender at the Varnish in Los Angeles—put their heads together over the past month and came up with a menu that evokes the great hotel bars of yesterday (and some of today).

It's divided into classic cocktails and Cocktail Collective originals, and there is a punch program as well. The classics include drinks that made their debut at the Savoy Hotel in London, the Hotel Nacional in Havana, the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans, the Raffles Hotel in Singapore and the Metropolitan Hotel in New York (which sat just a couple blocks away from the Royalton, on 42nd St.)

Here are some of the originals: 

Cocktail Collective Originals - Inspired by all that has come before and all that is yet to be realized.

The Hocus Pocus Gin, sweet vermouth, Combier and the unmistakable charm of Fernet Branca stirred and served up with an orange twist.

This is a variation of Ada Coleman's infamous Hanky Panky Cocktail.

The Stone Place Jamaican rum, fresh squeezed organic lemon and orange juices and house-made grenadine shaken and served up.

A play on the indisputable classic Ward Eight cocktail.

The Other Word Mezcal, fresh squeezed organic lime juice, agave nectar, yellow chartreuse and maraschino liqueur shaken and served up.

The Detroit Athletic Club was the birthplace of the Last Word, which is the inspiration for this new modern favorite.

Italian-American Reconciliation Rye whiskey, Amaro Lucano and a scant portion of house-made orgeat served over a hand-cut rock of ice with a Sambuca rinse on the glass.

An indirect homage to the indispensable Old Fashioned that was made famous at the bar at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

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