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WSJ Says We Fail As City of Serious Spirits

Posted on December 8th, 2008 1:26pm by Eric Celeste
Filed under Bars, Beverages, Uncategorized

One of my favorite columns is Eric Felten’s “How’s Your Drink?” column that runs every Saturday in the Wall Street Journal. In this week’s offering, Felten tells about how spent a year and a half evaluating the bartenders at old-school, elegant hotels across the country. His methodology: He would order a Sidecar (“[A] standard in the classic cocktail canon. Made of brandy, Cointreau and lemon (or lime) juice, it is a drink known to any bartender worthy of the title.”) and an Americano Highball (“Campari, sweet vermouth and soda water on the rocks. The Americano is one of those semiobscure classics that all serious bartenders know, and that amateurs have never heard of.”). Dallas, as you may have guessed from this headline, did not fare well.

I also ran into the awful sour-mix-and-Rose’s Sidecar combo in Dallas at the Stoneleigh and the Melrose Warwick hotels. I didn’t get any sort of Sidecar at the grand, downtown Adolphus Hotel. The young woman behind the bar was too bored to be nonplussed: “We don’t do much of that kind of drink,” she said, unapologetically.

Reminds me of the awful excuse of an Old Fashioned I received at a favorite pub that shall not be named. Quite a far cry from the perfect OF I received later that same day (so sue me) at Sevy’s. What say you, commenters? Are we bereft of good bartenders? Or his Felten’s sample size too small? (So to speak.)

23 comments

  1. he should have ordered a blueberry mojito!

    @ 1:28 pm on December 8, 2008

  2. I can’t say I’m terribly surprised. Has Dallas ever been known for being a drinking town? Maybe he should have tried the Ritz?

    @ 1:34 pm on December 8, 2008

  3. who drinks that cr@p anyway?

    @ 1:38 pm on December 8, 2008

  4. I wouldn’t be surprised either. Texas is all about beer and margaritas, unashamedly so.

    People don’t order drinks like sidecars and the like anymore, other than at high end steak joints, etc., because, simply, they take a bit of time to make, and we’re not a society of waiting for a hand-crafted drink to be made.

    @ 1:38 pm on December 8, 2008

  5. That’s just embarrassing. He should have hit the Mansion Bar, possibly Fearing’s or Rattlesnake Bar, or anyplace really if he asks for freshly squeezed juices. If someone ever asked me for a cocktail with freshly squeezed juice, I did it. No questions, no hesitations.

    @ 1:47 pm on December 8, 2008

  6. I order Sidecars all the time. I have had good ones at Mignon and Central 214.

    @ 2:00 pm on December 8, 2008

  7. I thought people stopped ordering Sidecars when they stopped wearing leisure suits. We have plenty of good bartenders in Dallas. They have so many more ingredients and ideas to inspire them. I also think that flavor profiles have evolved so much since the 1920s.

    @ 2:12 pm on December 8, 2008

  8. The NY Times last Wednesday had a great review of the current mixology/bartending trends. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/dining/03bars.html?ref=dining None of the new thinking bars are here…as per http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/2008/09/22/mixologist-wanted/ discussed recently we have some good drink makers but no great innovators. I really hope sometime soon that the trend that is happening elsewhere arrives here.

    @ 2:25 pm on December 8, 2008

  9. I beg to differ MNS – there’s a guy at The Mansion who is a true innovator. Tobacco-infused rum, home made tonic — he is always coming up with something new. The drinks actually taste good too. The Havana Nights is the tobacco infused rum drink – it’s strong but good.

    @ 2:43 pm on December 8, 2008

  10. No excuses for those who failed but the cocktail culture is thriving in Dallas at spots like Bolsa, Victor Tangos, Neighborhood Services, Mansion…I could go on but must work.

    @ 3:04 pm on December 8, 2008

  11. @Sandy. My apologies… I should have extolled him specifically. You are correct. Nancy is correct as well about Neighborhood Services and Bolsa. Now, we all need to patronize these places so that the bar scene continues to be worthwhile for restaurants to expand.

    @ 3:14 pm on December 8, 2008

  12. I like cocktails.

    @ 3:58 pm on December 8, 2008

  13. kind of like when i ordered a tom collins at the ritz and the server asked what kind of vodka would i like…after stating that gin would be preferred he almost tried to big-time me: “i guess traditionally gin would be used, yes”…oh well thanks for the approval.

    @ 4:03 pm on December 8, 2008

  14. How do you make a fruit cordial?

    @ 4:26 pm on December 8, 2008

  15. Cocktails are for blue-haired old ladies. Good booze, like prime beef, doesn’t need any help and, in fact, suffers from interference.

    @ 4:37 pm on December 8, 2008

  16. I like drinking drinks. Specifically: bourbon (Knob Creek, if you’re buying) + water (not too much) + ice.

    Unless it’s summer. Then it’s secret girl drink time. But only at home.

    @ 8:11 pm on December 8, 2008

  17. I’m with Zac. But instead of bourbon and water, I order bourbon . . . and more bourbon.

    @ 7:44 am on December 9, 2008

  18. I’m partial to the Manhattan. I think our reviewer would have better luck with those particular drinks at one of the old-line steak houses.

    @ 9:15 am on December 9, 2008

  19. I think many innovators in Dallas have been overlooked. People keep mentioning the Ritz. Has anyone checked out the newest GQ? Bombay Sapphire held a competition recently for most innovative cocktails made with Bombay Sapphire and Fearing’s Justin Beam was one of the finalists… maybe those who doubt should go to the Ritz and have him whip up something!

    @ 4:06 pm on December 9, 2008

  20. I concur, “Interesting”, Justin Beam has been making killer cocktails in this city for quite some time. He ran the beverage program for M Crowd (Mamo Taxi, anyone?) before leaving for Craft at The W Hotel, and if I remember correctly, was named by StarChefs.com as some sort of Rising Star mixologist… I have seen him in The DMN, D Mag, Modern Luxury, and most recently, GQ. I haven’t had the pleasure of making it over to the Ritz yet, but I had several of his concoctions at Craft, and they were as innovative and creative as anything I have ever seen in our neck of the woods, not to mention de-lish! He can get me loaded anytime, as can the guy at The Mansion, or even the bar-keep over at ALO, La Duni’s sister spot…

    @ 5:22 pm on December 9, 2008

  21. I tried ordering a vodka gimlet.(I had watched way too many Mad Men episodes in a row.) It was awful. I made them at home before with homemade simple syrup, fresh limes. Beautiful.

    And for Victor Tango. They need to be a little more consistent. The first time I went on a Friday around HH, my drinks were great. I took a friend the following Tuesday and I had to ask for sugar to fix my gin fizz. You would think the waitress’ answer to be “Let me get the bartender to remake that”. But you would be wrong. Left after the second round. Charge that much for a cocktail, it better be good all the time. IJS.

    I would love a bar that had great cocktails and great music that you could talk over. Hotel bars? Not unless I want to play “Spot the hooker”.

    @ 7:05 pm on December 9, 2008

  22. I saw Nancy mention Neighborhood Services. Where or what is that? I looked on the D site and could not find anything.

    @ 7:09 pm on December 9, 2008

  23. “Spot the Hooker”

    Fun game to play at The Ritz!

    @ 5:54 pm on December 10, 2008