The Bar Post-Bar

I had many great intentions of getting my second post up and running over my luxurious Martha's Vineyard vacation, but due to spotty internet and a disappointing experience with blogger on my mom's iPad, I am only now getting around to posting. While a lobster laden post is on deck, today I plan to deal with one of my other most favorite consumables: cocktails.

My dear friend A. came to visit me in my humble Northern Berkshire homestead after completing what may be the cruelest standardized test known to man: the bar exam. Two days (in some places THREE!) of straight law-ing.

And you have to raise your hand to go to the bathroom.

While I thought the GRE Literature Subject test was truly cruel and unusual punishment (has anyone actually read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight?) from the sound of it, the bar really reaches a new level of torture. So when A. arrived in town, he was a bit...frazzled. And of course the best remedy for frazzlement has always been a good cocktail.

We had celebratory reservations at Mezze Bistro + Bar in Williamstown, not just to partake in their lovely bar offerings, but also to take in the new location on Rt. 7. A. and I fondly refer to this space as the New New Mezze, because this is in fact the third space Mezze has occupied in the last 10 years. While the food was lovely (if awkwardly plated in sloping bowls--I'm looking at you roasted beets) what really stood out were the cocktails.

A. treated himself to a Citadelle gin martini with two olives. The cocktail was crisp and cold, with a smoothness that can be lacking in gin martinis (ok, cheap gin martinis). Two olives added just enough extra brininess to give the cocktail some additional intrigue. Expertly mixed.



As for me, I chose my favorite cocktail: a French 75. For those unfamiliar, this cocktail is a heavenly blend of champagne, lemon juice, simple syrup and gin. I had my very first French 75 at Old New Mezze last summer at the coaxing of my friend R., and I really have not been able to order anything else at Mezze since. Gin and lemons are of course old buddies, but the masterstroke addition of crisp champagne makes for a cocktail that is not only refreshing and delicious but also fun and festive. The perfect celebration cocktail. But beware! More than one of these drinks and you will be pouring yourself into bed early!



We enjoyed our beverages on Mezze's porch, surrounded by the serene beauty of the Berkshires. The hostess was very friendly; she let us languish on the porch enjoying our cocktails then sat us at our leisure.

As I mentioned, the food was very tasty as well. A. had the ribeye and I had the homemade tagliatelle, but the true stars of the evening were those cocktails. A perfect end to a hard two days, and a perfect beginning to a lovely night.

Gotta Start Somewhere

So I thought I would start at the beginning:

I was almost named Cinnamon.

Yes, my mother, in all of her infinite wisdom, almost named her daughter Cinnamon.

She obviously didn't consider that being named after a spice would either turn me into a hippie or a stripper. Luckily she met another little girl named Cinnamon just before I was born, and decided that since it was no longer original, it was also no longer worth the potentially life altering trauma. I would like to thank The Original Cinnamon for taking that burden upon herself. I owe you one.

And yet...

There is something distinctly intriguing about being named after a food. I am currently reading Five Quarters of the Orange which features such luscious food names as Framboise, Cassis and Pistache (it takes place in France), and I find myself thinking about having a little Pamplemousse of my own someday...ok, ok, not really. But, for a person who loves food, like myself, there is something kind of cosmic about having (or almost having) a food name. Like you have been fated to love to eat, cook and think food. So, while I may not be Cinnamon by name, part of me feels like my brush with food naming may have kickstarted my loved for all things edible. And hence, this little blog.

Here I plan to post about food I cook and eat, my various food musings and of course general praise and criticism for the food related things in my life. I hope you enjoy, and I hope to hear from you if you care to correspond.

So, happy eating to us all, and talk to you soon!

xo,
C