Comments (0) Best Cocktail Trend - 2010
Momofuku Ssam Bar, Via Della Pace, GustOrganics
Here's where the food pyramid gets interesting. The USDA says we need to consume three to five servings of vegetables a day. So when the evening rolls around and your veggie intake consists of potato chips and tomato sauce on a slice, an increasing number of the city's restaurant bars have got you covered. Vegetable cocktails were long the domain of Hendrick's ("Waiter, there's a cucumber in my gin!"), but piggybacking off the popularity of the long, green gourd (actually a fruit), bartenders are getting more adventurous with their produce. Momofuku Ssäm Bar doesn't stray too far from the cucumber, offering a gin martini with pickled ramp brine. Via Della Pace looks instead to leafy greens, granting a nutty bite to its cantaloupe and muddled arugula cocktail. The fresh basil in the daiquiri at GustOrganics is sweet, spicy, and, well, organic. Despite those drinks' success, not all salads should show up in your spirits. Cynar, an Italian artichoke liquor that made its way into Alta's "The Sicilian," is bitter, sweet, and nasty—if you want artichokes that bad, just put them on the pizza. 207 Second Avenue, 212-254-3500, momofuku.com; 48 East 7th Street, 212-253-5803, viadellapacenyc.com; 519 Sixth Avenue, 212-242-5800, gustorganics.com; 64 West 10th Street, 212-505-7777, altarestaurant.com
