The Lowdown
Brandy Alexanders and Breakfast Corn Dogs, A Tale of Two Summery Soft-Serve Twists, The World Cup Watch Party with a Killer Merguez & Frites Sandwich, A Gimlet & a Gilda Walk into a Bar...
Welcome to The Lowdown, a regular Paid Subscriber exclusive featuring what (and where) I’ve recently been eating and drinking.
On today’s The Lowdown…
Checking Out Some of the New-Look, Disco-Era Drinks from Conor Johns at Tavern Next Door.
A Tale of Two Summery Soft-Serve Swirls at Leo.
World Cup Watch Parties at Leon’s with a Don’t-Miss, Deliciously Messy AF Merquez & Frites Sandwich.
A Gimlet and a Gilda Walk Into a Bar at the 14 De La Rosa Pop-Up at The Long Island Bar
Could this Strawberry-Basil Campari Seltz at Bar Ferdinando by my Aperitivo of the Summer?
A Big Scoop of Chocolate Caramel Smoked Budino Ice Cream at Salt & Straw.
One Last Order of Wango-Tango Wings from Brooklyn’s Dinosaur Bar-B-Que.
And more!
The Lowdown
Brandy Alexanders and Breakfast Corn Dogs (Tavern Next Door)
327 Van Brunt Street, Brooklyn, New York 11231
Last month, Billy Durney’s red-hot Red Hook Tavern in Red Hook, Brooklyn, opened a new space right next door called, appropriately enough, Tavern Next Door. Thankfully, at least for now, the line to Tavern Next Door isn’t as daunting as the one is for its neighbor, home to one of the most buzzed-about burgers in town. Even better, there’s some overlap on Tavern Next Door’s menu so you can enjoy the exact same dry-aged Tavern Burger at the bar as well.
My dear friend and associate Conor Johns has taken his Head Bartender role to Tavern Next Door where he’s created a cocktail list that showcases a lineup of drinks dusted off from the ‘70s and ‘80s, refreshed with a modern point of view and quality ingredients along with some unexpected presentations.
On the menu under “Strong & Stiff” you’ll find a Wisconsin Old-Fashioned, a Rusty Nail, White Russian, and Adam’s Appletini, while the “Shaken & Refreshing” section delivers a Blue Hawaiian (nearly everyone at the bar when I was there had one of these tall, pebble-ice-packed Windex-blue drinks in front of them), Singapore Sling, Amaretto Sour, and a Tequila Sunrise.
I kicked things off with an Amaretto Sour, a favorite drink of mine, though Conor counters the drink’s often tooth-achingly sweet profile with some vegetal spice. He shakes things up using St. George Spirits Green Chile Vodka, Adriatico Amaretto, Giffard Crème de Fruits de la Passion Liqueur, Ancho Reyes Chile Liqueur Verde, Contralto Bitter, lemon, and egg white and garnishes it with half-moon dusting of smoked paprika.
The Wisconsin Old-Fashioned might make some Wisconsinites raise a skeptical eyebrow of concern, though I was a fan of this spirit-forward spin on the state’s more sessionable signature Old-Fashioned. Conor’s is built with a spirited base of Rye, Cognac, and Bénédictine along with Rothman & Winter Orchard Cherry Liqueur, and dashes of Bitter End Moroccan Bitters and The Bitter Truth Bogart’s Bitters. While they’re not muddled in the glass as they might in Madison, the drink offers a nod to the WOF’s classic garnishes with a fat quarter-moon slice of brûléed orange and a fire engine-red Maraschino cherry.
I closed out with a Brandy Alexander, whose normally creamy profile gets revived by Conor with Cognac, Alpe Genepy Liqueur, Crème de Cacao, Averna, Forthave Marseille Amaro, along with salted maple syrup and coconut served in a snifter packed with crushed ice. I can never sip a Brandy Alexander without recalling the the Brandy Alexander-fueled antics of John Lennon and Harry Nilsson one March evening in 1974 at the Troubadour in Los Angeles during Lennon’s Yoko Ono-sanctioned three-year “lost weekend” when they were forcefully shown the door after aggressively heckling The Smothers Brothers. I behaved, but one more may have had Conor tossing me out onto Van Brunt Street.
As for the snacks, the Disco Fries (a plate of their house cottage fries covered in smoky brisket-flecked queso and brown gravy had already been 86’ed for the night when I was there soon after their official opening. I tried the Fried Artichoke Poppers breaded with corn flakes and stuffed with pimento cheese. They had an excellent crunch but they weren’t as packed with melty cheese as I would’ve liked; the balance between artichoke leaves and creamy pimento cheese seemed off. But the real standout among the munchies was Billy’s Breakfast Corn Dog, featuring three deep-fried, pancake-battered Jimmy Dean sausages with spicy maple syrup and a dusting of confectioner’s sugar. Sadly I wasn’t able to take a picture because my partner in crime Tim McKirdy and I wolfed these down the second the dropped the plate on the bar.
A World Cup Watch Party with Cocchi Cocktails and a Killer Merguez-Frites Sandwich
(Leon’s)
817 Broadway, New York, New York 10003
Leon’s, the all-day neighborhood Italian restaurant with French and Egyptian accents from Nick Anderer and Natalie Johnson, who also have Anton’s in the West Village. Leon’s is located just south of Union Square Park, located kitty corner from The Strand.
I joined some of my friends from Haus Alpenz to help kick off their collaboration with Leon’s and catch the inaugural World Cup match between Mexico and South Africa. Cocchi’s always-charming Roberto Bava even made an appearance.
Taking the pitch among the aperitivo-ready “Cocchi Cup Cocktails” you’ll find three Cocchi cocktails sharing the stage along with three house drinks from Leon’s (along with an NA highball). There’s also several wines by the glass and beer specials available.
I eased into my corner seat at the bar with the Hat Trick Highball, a light and refreshing mix of Cocchi Americano Rosa, Hibiscus, Lime, and Soda and later followed up with a second-half Clean Sheet Negroni, made with Hayman’s Gin, Cocchi Americano Rosa, and Basil.
While both drinks delivered as expected, I was even more excited to dive into the Merguez & Frites Sandwich featured on their Bar Bites menu, which also included Lamb Arrosticini, Fava Bean Falafel, Elle’s Burger with Onion Fondue and Taleggio, and Egyptian Fries (there was talk of Wings as well though I never saw any).
The hefty sandwich arrived wrapped in foil paper and sliced in two revealing the cross-section house-made Merguez lamb sausage and thick batons of baharat-spiced fries dressed with a generous schmear of citrus aioli and Leon’s garlic-chili shatta, held together between the crispy toasted Breads Bakery baguette. That garlicky, slightly spicy citrus aioli situation really ties the whole affair together. I knew by the second bite I would likely have drops of jammy-lamby mayo staining my shirt and, yes, by the time I finished it my button-down top looked like a crime scene which no amount of dotting with soda water was going to save the situation. But it was worth every bite and I hope to return at least once more to revisit that delicious sandwich.
Leon’s will be screening Mexico vs. South Korea on Thursday, June 18 at 9:00 p.m. and U.S.A. vs. Australia on Friday, June 19 at 3:00 p.m. (See the full watch party schedule)
A Tale of Two Soft-Serve Swirls
(Leo)
123 Havemeyer Street, Brooklyn, New York 11211
Finding myself attending events near Leo in Williamsburg two weeks in a row was a good problem to have. Primarily because it meant I could swing by to grab two slices of room-temperature, square-cut Potato Pie (you likely now the drill by now: one for a midnight snack when I get home, the second for breakfast served cold straight from the fridge). But my visits also happened to overlap with their soft-serve flavor schedule which allowed me to have two different flavors within one week.