Palace Kitchen's Cynara Cocktail
A Perfect Change-of-Seasons Drink
Summer’s Almost Gone
“At night, we swim the laughin' sea / When summer's gone / Where will we be”
—The Doors, “Summer’s Almost Gone”
Fall is my favorite season so I won’t be longing for the past few months of mostly being confined to Big City heatwaves, rainstorms, and sweat-soaked daily routines. While I welcome apple cider donuts, butternut squash, and hearty, one-pot Sunday suppers, I worry that I didn’t take advantage of all the heirloom tomatoes, fresh corn, stone fruit, and summer berries.
I got to see my dear friends Mike and Ali on Friday (I officiated their wedding in St. Louis this past spring), and we had a great time but I was also sad, even while in their presence, as I don’t get to see them with the frequency I was used to when they both lived in NYC.
Yesterday, my friend James invited me to stop by his restaurant Popina, where they were celebrating their 7th birthday hosting the team from Penny for one last summer barbecue. It was packed and quite hot out in the sun, but my plate of smoked brisket, panzanella, red gem lettuces, grilled shrimp, grilled swordfish, charred vegetables, and a single roasted oyster was delicious and served as a symbolic end of summer dining as the smoke from the live fire grill lingered on my T-shirt into the evening.
September in New York is a turning point but it always flies past in a blur. One day it’s still post-Labor Day mode, and then September 30 hits with the anniversary of the death of James Dean (September 24 also marks the 3-year anniversary of saying goodbye to Louis), and then it’s a mad dash through Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Year’s. But the NFL regular season beings next week and in October the Knicks will be back in action.
My left ear has been plugged up all summer. This happened when I was writing and traveling for Last Call and it lingered for months until one late night in Portland, Maine, when I bent down to pet a stray cat and my ear violently crackled and popped until it settled and I was able to hear normally once again. This time around I paid $250 at a local CityMD just to be told to take Zyrtec for two weeks, which only made me loopy. I still can barely hear out of my left ear and there’s a dull constant ringing. And when I talk, in my head I sound like one of the off-screen adults on the Peanuts Holiday Specials. There has been no relief, and it’s been the lingering condition as I work hard to wrap up my book manuscript, struggle with finances maintaining a living as a freelance writer, and so much more. That piano hanging on a wire over my head casting a shadow on my life continues to dangle and strain against its own weight.
This will be the final dispatch for August, but I’ll see you again on the other side of summer on Friday, September 6.
But in the meantime, enjoy this perfect change-of-seasons cocktail, whose bright and bold sunset hue belies a riptide of lingering aromatic bitterness that will pull you deeper into contemplation with each ship.
Recipe: Cynara
Maggie Early, Palace Kitchen | Seattle, Washington
