Ginger Spice

Ginger is a good thing, as Martha would say. Halfway through the 20Th Century, a drink that was in fashion, especially in England, was gin and ginger beer. How such a drink fell out of popularity, I don't understand. Actually, I do - all it takes is a sip of some of the ginger beers available out there. No spice, no ginger, no love.

I've tried-believe me- I've spent time searching for something with a little more punch, only to find that most quality ginger-beers are made in such small batch that it is either too expensive or simply to difficult to always have it in stock.

Another problem I faced with existing ginger-beers is that they fell in the same category as sodas, therefore limiting it's usage, mostly because it'd loose the bubbles if I shook it to mix with other ingredients.

So my ginger beer not only needed spice to give you something to drink for, it also needed to be shaker-friendly, so I set out to make my own. It was the first of many ingredients I attempted to create from scratch and after a few tries, I became satisfied with the results.

When I made the trial versions at my house, back in my early days in Boston, my roommates would go crazy waiting for it to get done so we could finally drink some dark-and-stormies. The smell of ginger travelled through the house and lingered the whole afternoon, we'd sit on the porch , cocktails in hand, and could still smell it at dusk.

Steven Brand was the man with the secret ingredient. Part of a recipe for ginger syrup he used in New York was adapted into the ginger beer base I had concocted and the rest is history. Stop by the bar anytime and I'll give you the recipe.

Speaking of history, an early 21st Century revivalist (Audrey Saunders, if we're going to name names) created the Gin Gin Mule. Looking at the recipe, you can't help but think of the popular British thirst quencher the Mid-Century drinkers downed on their porches.

Gin Gin Mule

1/2 oz lime juice

1/2 oz simple syrup

6 mint sprigs

3/4 oz non-sparkling ginger beer

1 1/2 London Dry Gin

Splash of soda water

In a cocktail shaker combine the juice, syrup, mint, gin and ginger beer. Shake well with ice, strain into a highball glass filled with ice and top with club soda. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Doors Closing and Opening

This past Sunday, the B-Side Lounge served its final "Last Word," a cocktail that has gained infamy here in Cambridge and with my liver. Huddling close to an island off the bar with several friends, I couldn't help but marvel as the ever ready and well stocked bar at which I had spent so many nights began to dwindle; bottles being polished off never to be restocked again. The faces of the patrons fluctuated between grief and joy, but settled predominantly on melancholy. Understandably the closing of a local institution will breed a sense of sorrow, but looking around the bar and seeing the faces of children presumably conceived in or around the bar, old flames staring each other down from opposing corners of the room, and a bevy of bartenders in whom I have confided throughout the years, I couldn't help but think how fortunate we are to have at the very least the nostalgia associated with this space. If there be no Perfect Manhattan, at least there be memories aplenty to drink.
This is essentially what I hope for our own Monday Club Bar: a comparable number of stories and anecdotes to match the number of meals we produce. Every day I come into the restaurant, I walk into an open slate, a groundhog day as it were. People come and go, there are familiar faces and new, dishes adapt to the seasons, and generally nothing is ever exactly the same. It's tweaked. It's nuanced. I love that about my job.
Consequently, I love the fact that in my relatively short time at UpStairs I have been able to acquire so many great stories from this place. My hope is to chronicle several of them here throughout the course of this coming year. No matter how my relationship with the restaurant unfurls, I will always have the great moments I've had here to look back upon.
So as the door of one of my favorite after work hangouts closes, my appreciation for the place in which I work opens up and continues to grow.

Hits Of Sunshine

This cocktail is called "Hits Of Sunshine". Fresh!

3/4 oz raspberry puree
1/2 oz St. Germain elderflower liqueur
Champagne

garnish with a yellow rose

The Long Awaited Harvard Graduation 2008 Dinner Menu

Commencement 2008
Congratulations Graduates!
Thursday, June 5, 2008

……….

First Courses

Sweet Spring-Dug Parsnip Vichyssoise
Chilled Parsnip & Leek Soup, Fingerling Potato Crisps

Tempura-Fried Snap Peas
Bagna Cauda

Salad of Eva’s Spring Greens & Herbs
Crispy Onions

Creamy White Bean Tortelli
Spring Bean Salad, Goat Cheese & Chives

Olive Oil-Poached Shrimp
Lemon, Summer Herbs & Crispy Black Trumpet Mushrooms

Entrées

Hand-Rolled Cavatelli
Spring Sweet Peas, Favas, Pecorino & Mint Pesto

Pan-Roasted Giannone Chicken
Asparagus, Oyster Mushrooms & Aromatic Jus

Seared Rib Eye Steak
Olive Oil Crushed Potatoes, Herbs Florentine & Truffle Vinaigrette

Grilled Leg of Lamb
Parmesan Custard, Tiny Spring-Dug Beets & Minted Jus

Desserts

Mint-Ganache Warm Chocolate Soufflé Cake
Mascarpone Cream

Profiteroles with House-Made Tahitian Vanilla Ice Cream
Chocolate Sauce &Toasted Almonds

Alomond Biscotti
Fresh Cherries & Limoncello

Housemade Cantaloupe Sorbet
Blueberries & Sugar Cookie


$85 Prix Fixe Menu

………

To find out about all of our events and activities, visit:
www.upstairsonthesquare.com

……….

Steven Brand, Chef
Mary-Catherine Deibel & Deborah Hughes, Proprietors

*Consuming raw or undercooked foods
may increase your risk of food-borne illness.
An 18% gratuity is added for parties of six or more.
6.2.2008

Let Them Eat Brioche

Spring Ahead

Continuing with my "seasonal drinking" rampage, may I just say that I dig spring? Not too hot, not too cold, just right.


Anyway, I was in New York last week and found myself with some time to kill before dinner with friends from the old Library, so I stopped by to say hi to yet another friend. Ryan Smith, with whom I worked behind the bar years ago is now at Puck Fair where I tasted some great seasonal beers and the one I liked the best was Dogfish Head's Aprihop. As the name suggests it taste of apricots and hops. It is a little tart (my favourite flavor profile) and very refreshing. Another sign of spring is the Weihenstephaner Hefe Weiss that I added to our beer list recently. Weihenstephaner claims to be the oldest brewery still around and I believe them. Their Hefe Weiss is a little sweet, a little yeasty, just right for the season (this is it's third consecutive Spring on our beer list).

We are just about to open the sidewalk tables on Winthrop Street, which, despite being hundreds of years old, I think was really intended for outdoor dinning and beer drinking (with moderation of course). It may just be that our wise ancestors knew that the marketplace where farmers traded (Winthrop Park) would be outgrown by the city it created and that the little side street would have not other use except for sitting in the sun and enjoying cold beer. I may even suggest that we serve the coldest beer in Cambridge, I just can't prove it.

'Tis the season to drink...

Strawberries are not in season right now. Blood oranges are. Blood oranges, kumquats and pomegranates. Running a bar that reflects our chef's local and seasonal inclinations is not the easiest task I've undertaken. Most people who come to the bar in February and order Mojitos never thought of the idea of drinking seasonally, but if you ever did stop to think about how much better and fresher blood oranges are right now in new England than any bunch of mint or strawberry you could pick up at the supermarket, you know what I mean. I drank seasonally even before I knew chef Steve's seasonal menus. I used to indulge in Gin in the spring, specially when I lived on Martha's Vineyard, and saved my Whiskey for the cold winter months, specially when I lived in New York. Above 30º C, there is nothing quite like rum.
Beer drinkers are aware of the difference that it makes to have the right drink in the right season, mostly because beer does not have the shelf life of spirits and it has to be consumed shortly after it's bottled. Wine lovers and their object d'amour are almost always connected by the general environment in which wine is consumed. Opening a bottle of still rosé in the winter is like wearing a fur coat to the beach...or like Mojitos in the snow. To that end we have replaced the beloved (but summery) Lolita with a cocktail created by our bartender Chris O'Neil called "Siren". It has our house-made meyer-lemon Limoncello, combined with Spanish Licor 43 and fresh squeezed blood orange juice. It hits the same tart-sweet notes in the palate that the strawberry liqueur and Champagne hit with the Lolita but the aromatics are more winter citrus/vanilla-caramel.
Meanwhile, my lemon-basil plant has dried (and probably died), and my thyme is just hibernating (I hope). The concord grapevine outside my window was covered in snow this morning but somehow, someone is going to walk into to the bar today and have the audacity to order a Mojito.