slow motion

2 oz Angel's Envy Bourbon
1/2 oz Lustau East India Solera Sherry
1/2 oz Amaro Nardini

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with orange oil from a twist.Two Fridays ago, I paid a visit to Yvonne's to provide a staff training on Angel's Envy. Afterwards, I found a seat at the library bar and asked bartender Sam Lee for something in the Manhattan realm using Angel's Envy Bourbon. He modified that Slow Motion on the menu that sounded delightful with Amaro Nardini and Lustau East India Solera Sherry. Once prepared, the Slow Motion proffered orange and caramel aromas to the nose. Next, caramel and grape on the sip crept into Bourbon, caramel, nutty, and herbal flavors with a hint of woodiness and mint on the swallow.

rose thorn

1 1/2 oz Hendrick's Gin
3/4 oz Combier Liqueur de Rose
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/4 oz Grenadine

Shake with ice, strain into a rocks glass, fill with crushed ice, garnish with mint sprigs, and add straws.
Two Wednesdays ago, I ventured to Downtown Crossing and began my evening at Yvonne's. At their library bar, I found a seat in front of bartender Tom Hardy and requested the Rose Thorn from the menu. Tom described how this recipe was created by bartender Bruno Prado. In the glass, the Rose Thorn offered up a mint bouquet to the nose that led into a fruity sip from the lemon and pomegranate notes. Next, the swallow gave forth gin and rose flavors with the latter coming across in the similar way as violet can in drinks.

yvonne's honey bee

2 oz Plantation Barbados 5 Year Rum
1/4 oz St. George Pear Eau de Vie
3/4 oz Honey Syrup (1:1)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1 Egg White

Shake once without ice and once with ice, strain into a coupe, and garnish with 10 drops of Angostura Bitters.

Two Wednesdays ago, I took advantage of my night off by heading into the Downtown Crossing area. As a first stop, I paid a visit to Yvonne's Library Bar where I found a seat in front of bartender Sean Frederick. For a drink, I requested their variation of the Honey Bee; the classic recipe appeared in David Embury's The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks. Embury explained in the gin-based Bee's Knees that "the same drink, except for the use of white Cuban rum in place of the gin, is known as the Honeysuckle. The same drink with Jamaican rum is the Honey Bee." Here, the rum is Barbadian instead of Jamaican; moreover, pear brandy, egg white, and a bitters garnish round out the changes.
This Honey Bee gave forth a clove and allspice aroma from the garnish sitting on the egg white froth. Next, a creamy lemon and honey sip led into a rum-driven swallow with a pleasant pear and spice (from the garnish) finish. Indeed, the pear eau de vie added a bit of complexity to replace the high ester content that would have been found in the classic's Jamaican rum.

yvonne's ward eight

1 1/2 oz Rittenhouse Rye
1/2 oz Lustau Palo Cortado Sherry
1/2 oz Grenadine
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/4 oz Orange Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a goblet. Add a pineapple disk garnish inside the glass, fill with crushed ice, top with 3/4 oz soda water, and add straws.

After a round at the Highball Lounge, I made my way over to Yvonne's and found a seat at the main dining room's bar. For a drink, I asked bartender Sean Sullivan for their version of the Ward Eight. I had previously written about the way Drink in Fort Point modified David Wondrich's recipe in Imbibe! to make their version. One problem with the Ward Eight for me is that the orange juice in the recipe clashes with the whiskey. Some whiskey drinks like the Blood and Sand have other ingredients that work well with orange juice to bridge the gap. Here, the magic ingredient is sherry which helped to tie the orange juice in place. Sean described how this version was created in collaboration with Wondrich where he pulled the sherry aspect from a 1934 New York Sun article.
Yvonne's Ward Eight began with pineapple and other fruit aromas. Grape, pomegranate, and lemon on the sip transitioned into a rye and nutty sherry swallow. Indeed, the sherry not only smoothed over the orange juice flaw in the popular recipes for the Ward Eight, but it also donated a bit of complexity to the Daisy.

yvonne's toronto

1 1/4 oz Calvados
1 oz Old Simon Genever
1/2 oz S. Maria al Monte Amaro
1/4 oz Demerara Syrup
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass with a large ice cube. Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg.

After having a drink at Yvonne's main bar, I made my way off to the part of the restaurant that I passed by on the way to the dining room -- namely, the library. The library has a shorter bar with a lot of lounge seating scattered amongst the bookshelf walls with amusing paintings of celebrities and politicians; surprisingly it has a completely different menu that the main bar. The backbar of the library bar also had a similar dark wood aesthetic for it came from another part of the old Locke-Ober and moved to that wall during the renovation.
The Toronto I ordered from a menu of reconfigured classics began with a nutmeg and apple nose with hints of malt creeping in. Next, a rich caramel and apple sip was followed by a Genever and menthol-herbal swallow.

bairdley legal

1 oz Mezcal
1 oz Cynar
1 oz Passion Fruit Nectar (*)

Shake with ice and strain into a tall glass. Add 2 oz grapefruit soda and top with ice. Garnish with mint sprigs and add a straw.
(*) I had originally written passion fruit syrup, but in retrospect, it would have been too sweet.

Two Mondays ago, I decided to visit Yvonne's on their opening night. Normally, I would give a bar program a few weeks to find themselves, but I had faith in Will Thompson, Sean Sullivan, Sean Frederick, and the rest of the crew to have things in order by the time the curtains opened. Yvonne's had some big shoes to fill in taking over the home of the Ward Eight, namely the old Locke-Ober space. And history was just one of the things for the space is rather immense. To combat that second aspect, the restaurant is broken up into two rooms each with a unique bar and distinct drink menu. My first stop was the "supper club bar," a long classic-feeling bar with lots of dark wood that runs the length of the dining room; my second stop was the library bar with a shorter bar and lots of lounge seating. The former bar has taller, more refreshing offerings including their take on a Ward Eight, and the latter has reinterpreted cocktail classics.
I started my evening out on the supper club bar in front of bartender Sean Sullivan and requested the Bairdley Legal. The name pays tribute to one of Will Thompson's Bon Vivants collaborators, namely Scott Baird of San Francisco's Trick Dog. Originally, the drink name started as a different cocktail that was rather "west coasty"; however, that concept did not work out as well as intended and instead they started over to create this tropical number. Once prepared, the Bairdley Legal offered mint and tropical fruit notes on the nose. A carbonated passion fruit and grapefruit-laden sip transitioned into a passion fruit and Cynar herbal swallow with a light smoke finish.