Above, you can see a few scenes from Monday night’s Dining & Libation Society dinner at Allen & Delancey. The six-course “Spirits Salon” offered multiple gin cocktails paired with complementary dishes. And oh, it was a scene. Read more »

A sampling of bitters. (Photo: Michael Anstendig)

Cocktail bitters, unsung heroes of the libation world, got their props yesterday at Julie Reiner’s Clover Club in Brooklyn. Artisanal drink jockeys like Jim Meehan and Don Lee (PDT), Alex Day and Joaquin Simo (Death & Company) and even the honorable king of cocktails, Dale DeGroff, were on hand for an educational immersion into this macerated realm. Read more »

A row of tinctures

Leave it to Don Lee and Alex Day—the charismatic warlocks of PDT and Death & Company—to do what Mr. Wizard never could. Friday night’s Cocktail Chemistry class at the Astor Center focused on infusions—both the kind that yield commercial products (gin, vermouth) and the sort of inventive alchemy that produces potable juggernauts like PDT’s bacon old-fashioned. Oh, what fun chemistry can be when your cheeks are flushed and there’s no jock threatening you with a Bunsen burner. Read more »