Classic Cocktails

I was born about a generation and half too late.  I love everything from about 1945 to 1965.  On our trip to Cleveland, our friend Chris, who is the best person in the world to travel with, dutifully did her research and found The Velvet Tango Room in the New York Times - 36 Hours in Cleveland.

The Velvet Tango Room serves classic cocktails - the kind I imagine that my parents drank when my dad returned from World War II and took my mother out for a night on the town.  Highballs, frothy fizzes, Sidecars, Old-Fashioneds.  As the menu states, "sure, you can order a chocotini, but, we die a litle each time you do."

The Velvet Tango Room makes their own homemade bitters, their own ginger-ale and their ice is frozen in precise-size cubes to perfectly chill your cocktail without diluting it.  You have to love a place that posts in the doorway the rules that along with the usual, "No Shorts, Tank-Tops, Ballcaps",  also includes, "No White Zifandel" and "No White-Stretch Limosines".

My friend Chris and I decided on a flight of cocktails - yes I said flight - had I died and gone to heaven?  We wanted to try one of everything and this seemed, at the time, to make the most sense.

Our first cocktail was an Apricot Lady - Rum, apricot brandy and egg white.  I had forgotten that genuine cocktails often include egg whites to make them frothy.  The bartender said that in order to get it right, "Shake the bejeezus out of it."  The Apricot Lady was smooth and creamy and even though there was just a tinge of after taste, my favorite.

The next work of art (and these cocktails are truly works of art) that was served, was the Aviator - an interesting elixir of Luxardo Maraschino Originale (an Italian liqueur), gin and fresh squeezed lemon juice.  This definitely had a woodsy taste, much like Italian grappa that is made from stems, pits, vines, etc.

The third and final cocktail in our flight was a Tango Negroni.  Although it was kind of sweet like a cream soda, the homemade bitters gave it a slight bite.  I could certainly tell that this cocktail contained one of my favorites, Campari.

When our friends Tess and Brett joined us, we ordered cheese fondue and "speck on rye" to compliment our cocktails.  The cheese fondue was made from a very high-quality cheese and was perfectly warmed so that it clung perfectly to the bread cubes served for dipping.  The speck on rye, morsels of smoked pork bellies atop fresh rye bread, topped with a spicy mustard - the type of appetizer that I can imagine being butlered on my mother's silver serving platter with Glen Miller playing in the background.

Is there anything sexier than a man ordering a highball - such a sexy masculine drink.  I swear Nerdy-Boy turned into Cary Grant right before my very eyes - only better because I knew he was going home with me!

A few regrets about the Velvet Tango Room.  The service left something to be desired. Given the pretty penny we were dropping, as a former bartendar/waitress, I would have been clearing the empty glasses and making sure our glasses were never empty.  The second is I wish I would have packed a little better and included a black cocktail dress, my mother's pearls, a pair of pointy high heels and a pair of cocktail gloves.

This is an experience that should be shared with lots of friends - it was a perfect evening and a perfect birthday celebration.

The Velvet Tango Room has given me whole new inspiration - perhaps after I have researched and tested these cocktails, not only will I share the recipes on the Pink Stove Diaries, but, perhaps you will join us at Chez Patton-Isenhour for appetizers on my mother's silver tray, highballs and Apricot Ladies.