The above photo is of LeNell's, looking a little empty, about half an hour before the store (or, rather, the current incarnation of the store) closed down. It's really more of an au revoir than a goodbye, because after a sojourn in Yurp and elsewhere, LeNell will be back in Brooklyn (despite my entreaties for her to move her business to Queens) and continuing her search for acceptable real estate with which to re-open the best liquor store in the city. We'll miss her like hell, though, till she's back. (Robert Simonson interviewed LeNell for Saveur a few weeks back.)
Also worth checking out:
- an interesting, sensible, WaPo article on the evolution of the Martini;
- St. John Frizell, an amazing bartender in his own right, traces the mixological bloodlines of PDT's Jim Meehan;
- Jay Hepburn suggests Cocchi Americano as a substitute for Kina Lillet. I gotta pick some of this stuff up; I've seen the label and have been intrigued;
- Ooooh! Camper English spots Pimm's No. 3 Cup at a Manhattan bar; and
- this Pre-Prohibition Cocktail Party at Keen's looks very interesting. DeGroff! Wondrich! Pacult! (I hope to attend this and report back.)
Also coming up, soon's I get back from vacation, reviews of Pimm's No. 3, Cointreau Noir, VeeV Acai Spirit, Pernod Absinthe, the new Noilly Prat formula, and whatever else various spirits producers (and generous friends) have been kind enough to send me.
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