The famous former Rainbow Room mixologist and "King of Cocktails," Dale DeGroff, recently led a margarita-making tutorial on the upstairs level of Nest, a club in Chelsea. The purpose of the event (sponsored by Cointreau) was to demonstrate the ease of concocting the cocktail from scratch using merely limes, Cointreau, and tequila—and to prove the superiority of Cointreau over Triple Sec, to say nothing of the thorn-in-the-side of cocktail purists everywhere, the lowly pre-made mix. With a few deft flicks of his hand, the distinguished DeGroff—movie-star handsome, a shoe-in for the role of 007's Debonair Bartender—breezily tossed lime juice, Cointreau, and tequila in a shaker, rimmed an old-fashioned glass with salt, and poured the sublime concoction over the rocks. As light and refreshing as lemonade, a perfect melding of salty, sweet, and tart, DeGroff's margarita was unquestionably superior to anything that came... More >>>