Calm

I’ve been putting off a new blog post. I don’t like excuses but I’ve been quite busy getting well-acquainted with my new job, new car, and trying to come to terms with the Fino afterlife.

I had some trouble adjusting to new sleeping and eating schedules and I missed my co-workers. Luckily, I quickly came to the realization that sometimes my new job just might require me to eat and drink better than I have before. I've also maintained the friendships after all of the information overload and mourning. I still also managed to snap a couple pictures here and there when I've remembered that I have a blog and that I enjoy writing for it.

Visiting Houston at Contigo:

mm, mezcal in the texecutioner

mm, meatballs

 Catching up with girl-friends over lunch at Kome:

sashimi lunch

sake cheesecake

Still not giving up on your 1am dates with your guy-friends:

eel buns! chicken skin buns! pho buns!

 There will be plenty more where that come from.

New York and Philadelphia.

We always tend to take for granted the space we live in. I had a friend recently talk to me about being entitled to the space you’re in, the space around you, and your entitlement to expanding that space. We tend to be a little mundane in our everyday and comfortable routines. I’ve already created one here in Austin. I write and drink coffee at Houndstooth, work at Fino, shop in the same malls, and eat at the same restaurants.

Then someone reminds you’re from the East Coast and living somewhere else can still be traveling when you think about it or you venture into an area of Austin uncomfortable and unfamiliar and then you’re reminded that you don’t know as much as you think you do. You entitle yourself to one space but not much more than that.

Why can’t the same go for your hometown? When you realize that a vacation to New York is in the top 3 destinations of friends of yours and you go, “Huh?”.  Going home to New Jersey, I tend to entitle myself to my parents’ couch and maybe if I can get off that couch, go and relive my old comfortable and familiar route that I had when I lived in New York.

My Christmas trip was an experiment in entitling myself to more space. I treated it as travel and took advantage of my close vicinity to the two largest metropolitan cities and attempted to fuse the life I live now and the life I had:

Philadelphia

Oyster House

I have been obsessed over Find. Eat. Drink.’s travel guides and when I found out that Michael Vetri’s Osteria was not open when I needed it to be, I referred myself to these guides and found Oyster House.

The ambience is relaxing and the décor cooling and when you want to enjoy a no-fuss, all-around good experience, this isn’t a bad place to do it. The oysters are savory and the tables set up with horseradish and crackers made them even more fun to slurp down. I had heard some murmurings of punch here so I ordered the Gunpowder Punch, cardamom, white pepper, rye, blue lady tea, and citrus. I'm just going to say that large cubes of ice make me erotically excited so you can imagine my disappointment with some small rocks in my mason jar. As far as the rest of the drink, it paired well with oysters and stayed nice and light but was a bit heavy on the pepper and spice. I’m going to just go ahead and call myself spoiled and move on.

Elixr

A fun and wood-paneled coffee shop where my cousin, Taylor pointed out that everyone in there had beanies and Apple computers. Ah, hipsterdom. I had a Finca Kilimanjaro pourover from PT’s coffee and Taylor had a pretty impressive hot chocolate.

Franklin Mortgage & Investment Company

Franklin Mortgage & Investment Company was one of my favorite drinking experiences and I could have spent all night tasting drink after drink here just because of their unapologetic combinations. The vibe was everything I imagined it to be. It was low-key, unpretentious, creative, and mind-blowing. They should also be credited with changing my mind about Batavia Arrack.

I think my favorite part of this place are the names of the cocktails. Is there a job that I can have where I can just create names for cocktails?

 

1. Husker Hail Mary- Landy VS Cognac, Laird's Applejack, Cynar, Carpano Antica, Hidalgo PX, Angostura, Aromatic Bitters, Clove Tincture

2. El Presidente- El Dorado rum, Grand Marnier, Dolin Blanc Vermouth, Grenadine

3. Philadephia- Batavia Arrack, Amaro Montenegro, Cocchi Americano, Falernum Bitters

The waitress described the latter as funky and I describe it as funky mind-blowing. Who thought of that and how did they make it work?

New York

Stumptown

I thought it should be appropriate to make it to Stumptown- New York and Brooklyn’s mecca baby of coffee roasters. I thought I should give it a fair shot now knowing what I know and treated myself to a cappuccino made with some serious love and Hair Bender from my barista. It was quite a nice respite to sip on while at the bar looking out on a New York City street through the rain. How poetic.

Maison Premiere

Speaking of poetic, Maison Premiere inspired my New Year’s costume. When I walked through the tiny, unmarked door, I felt like I should have been wearing fake eyelashes, bright red lipstick, and lace which yes, I did then wear on New Year’s. You walk right into the Belle Epoque and for that, I’m in love. Marble bar tops and wooden shelves are filled with premium liquors, waiters are dressed in vests and mustaches, and absinthe is the specialty. I wish I could have drank here a bit longer but along with our massive seafood platter of lobster, crab legs, shrimp, raw oysters and clams were juleps- Winter Absinthe Julep tasting like anisette and allspice and the Champagne Julep. I was in the right place with the right lipstick, right libations, and right people.

 Dram Bar

Then when you snap back to reality and walk out to a dirty Williamsburg city street, you turn the corner and end up at Dram. It’s a tiki-esque and friendly bar and again, completely unpretentious but right on. The “Loose Noose” was perfectly wise and straightforward- a blend of white sand beach bum and New York street smart. Then they busted out a bartender’s choice white dog old-fashioned without a hitch.

I definitely tried to claim a little bit more space in my old stomping grounds and entitle myself to a little bit more in the world. I felt like I expanded greatly but my favorite dishes on this trip included farfalle and salmon in a light pink cream sauce, bruschetta, tartufo, cannoli, more linguini and more seafood in a light pink cream sauce, and well, what I’ve missed most of all- bodega coffee and a bagel.

Enhance.

I went back home to New Jersey for Christmas and when I go back to my childhood home, I can’t help but to revert back to childhood dreams, memories, and desires. My bookshelf in my room is full of Lonely Planet guides, memoirs of people curing infectious diseases, how to teach yourself guitar, how to get into college theatre programs, guides to human rights law, and environmental essays. In my brain, all of these eventually led to work in a non-profit organization visiting children in Africa with AIDS or creating programs to mentor young women. I was going to change the culture whether I was a lawyer or a famous musician.

Now I visit home for Christmas from Austin, Texas and when I get back, I am about to embark on a new job in the new year. In a blink of the eye, I’ve scored a job as a spirits representative in Austin and San Antonio and my focus on the bar community has gotten me further in a career than any other of these lavish human rights campaigns. Not only do I feel like something's working but I feel so at home with my bar brethren. I find myself alone on this vacation craving Idido pourovers and finding my sparkling water in need of a dash of bitters. I also jumped a little too quickly on the Oban 14 year in my cousins’ basement in a desperate attempt to feel high off of pears, honey, and wood. Now that I'm back, I'm ready to kick it in to high gear and start selling some obscure liqueurs but reflecting on my trip home and my bookshelf of past dreams has had me thinking, what am I doing now for the greater good? We try so hard to convert people from their dirty vodka martinis, their Grey Goose and sodas, and their Crown and Cokes. We want to change the culture one vodka-cranberry at a time but really- what am I and others in the field trying to do here?

I found this definition:

To enhance:

1. To heighten; to increase or improve in value, quality, desirability, or attractiveness.

2. To make greater, as in value, beauty, or effectiveness; augment.

To provide with improved, advanced, or sophisticated features.

I don’t think you need statistics to realize that drinking is part of our American lives whether it’s the coffee we drink in the morning, the afternoon tea, your happy hour cocktail, and wine nightcaps. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again that our eating and drinking habits are our most treasured interactions that we have with our planet. When we are drinking coffee, we are drinking from roasted beans from Ethiopia, Guatemala, and Indonesia. When we’re at the bar, we’re drinking barley from Scotland, agave from Mexico, herbs from the base of the Alps, and grapes from Sicily. We drink coffee for our morning buzz, tea for our peaceful release, and alcohol in order to lose our inhibitions and say what we really feel. We’re engaging all of our senses in bitterness, tannin, sweet, sour, flowers, cedar, leather, and vanilla from plants all over our world and all the while affecting the land, the coffee farmers, and the jimadors.

If I can make your buzz stronger and your calm more peaceful all by showing you that you are also enhancing the lives of those halfway around the world, I’ve done a good job. If I can replace your ethanol experience with an Old Tom Gin Martinez and blow away your senses with sweet, cherry, herbs, and roses that you’ll remember five years from now, I’ve done a good job. If I can get you to step out of your comfort zone and try something you have never even heard of before, I’ve done a good job.

I know I may be waxing poetic or stretching it here. I could possibly be full of it or it might not be that big of a deal. Maybe I’m just selling vermouth but what I do know is that all of my personal conversations, experiences, and thoughtful moments by myself are enhanced when a cappuccino blows my mind or my cocktail blends to perfection. I’ll remember that moment exactly for its sight, smell, and taste and be reminded of it when I sense it again.  It enhances a moment and everyday experiences to the next level and I think that’s what we’re really trying to do here.

To follow up on some viral ideas, my 2012 word is enhance. I will do my best to do it not just in the careers or accounts I’m taking on but in every aspect of my life. I want to pay attention to its detail, try something I haven’t tried before, and enhance our small everyday moments in every way possible. I’d like to not just to that for myself but to stretch the ideas far and wide and enhance the lives of others and those around me in tiny and sensual ways. I'd also like to take more time to properly thank those who have enhanced my life. To that, a shot of Batavia arrack.