April 12, 2013
*I met Payman at a dinner party at Erin’s in Brooklyn. He was making caprese cocktails, his own invention. A tomato and cheese cocktail, how wondrous! This was right at the beginning of the cocktail boom, and I was intrigued. He agreed to write for Umami Mart, and has helped to foster a community of imbibers amongst Umami Mart readers.
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December 14, 2012
Over the last decade the cocktail renaissance has spread across the country and helped turn bartending from a mere side-job for college students and aspiring actors into an honorable profession. It has also resurrected previously unknown names like Jerry Thomas and Harry Johnson by turning them into prophet-like figures, and their recipes have become gospel for a new generation of barkeeps and cocktail geeks.
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December 7, 2012
Categorically speaking, a flip is a cocktail in which a whole egg is deployed, the reason being to impart a richness, body, and a silky texture to a drink. Because of how rich these drinks are, they are considered more appropriate during the chillier months (unless you’re like a certain photographer for The PDT Project, in which case you enjoy them all year round).
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November 30, 2012
The Blackbeard debuted on the PDT cocktail menu in the Summer of 2008. It’s another creation by former PDT bartender Daniel Eun, who now attends law school full time but occasionally manages to squeeze a few shifts every now and then at The Varnish in LA. Apparently the drink’s name came about when he ended up with a bunch of blackberries on his chin during recipe testing.
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November 16, 2012
The Bizet cocktail was created by David Slape, a former PDT bartender. The drink is a Champagne-based riff on the classic Americano, and is named after 19th century composer Georges Bizet, who is most famous for his final operatic composition, Carmen.
Bizet
1.5 oz Shinn Estate Rose
0.5 oz Luxardo Bitter
0.5 oz Amaro Ciociaro
1 oz Moet Imperial Champagne, to top
Flamed orange twist, as garnish
Tools: barspoon, mixing glass, strainer, match
Glass: chilled coupe
Method: Stir the first three ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled coupe.
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November 9, 2012
There was a bit of bad weather last week that stole my focus away from the PDT Project, but now that Sandy’s been replaced by something more manageable for New Yorkers (a blizzard), I can refocus my attention and trudge on to the next recipe in the PDT Cocktail Book, the Bijou.
Bijou is French for “jewel,” and it is speculated that the various ingredients in the drink represent different precious stones.
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October 26, 2012
The Betula cocktail first appeared on the PDT menu in the Fall of 2007, and a great cocktail for the Fall it is. The name Betula comes from the Latin word for birch, which is infused into the base spirit of rye whiskey.
Betula
1 oz. Birch-infused Rittenhouse Bonded Rye Whiskey (recipe below)
1 oz. Matusalem Gran Reserva Rum
0.5 oz.
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October 19, 2012
If you grew up in America, then chances are you’re familiar with the story of Elizabeth Griscom Ross, better known as Betsy Ross. If you didn’t, or if you had ADD during elementary school, the story basically goes like this: during the period when America was fighting for independence from the Brits, George Washington came over to Betsy’s home and asked her to help design and sew the first-ever American flag.
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October 12, 2012
When creating cocktails, bartenders draw inspiration from a wide array of sources. The most common of those sources are other bartenders and other classic cocktails of the past. Today’s cocktail, the Berlioni, draws inspiration from both another bartender and a classic cocktail. Berlin-based bartender Gonçalo de Sousa created the Berlioni as a twist on the classic Negroni cocktail, supplanting the bitterness of Campari with that of the another Italian amaro, Cynar, and using dry instead of sweet vermouth.
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October 5, 2012
If there’s one drink on the menu that PDT is perhaps most famous for, it is the Benton’s Old-Fashioned. Although PDT’s menu is ever-changing and some would say hyper-seasonal, there are a few drinks that are mainstays. The Benton’s Old-Fashioned is one of those drinks, and to my knowledge it has not come off the menu since it first debuted back in the Winter of 2007.
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815 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94607
Tue-Fri: noon-6 PM / Sat: 11-6 PM / Sun: 11-5 PM
Tel: (510) 575-9152
