By: Kevin Buchanan
Just heard from our friend Eddie Vanston that there will be a big opening party for his new Miller Lofts at 311 Bryan Ave. this month, on Friday the 16th. Beer, snacks, and plenty of good times will undoubtedly result. Word is that local awesome band The Theater Fire will be performing, so it’ll be a grand evening all around. More details to come.
For more on the development, make sure to check out our most recent walkthrough of Miller Lofts.
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Saw a couple of them during Arts Goggle. What a cool little pocket neighborhood over there. W/O the Goggle, might never have gone there.
Shoot! I just renewed my lease not far from here and would’ve loved to settle into one of these spaces…
The mangers’s office turned kitchen, remarkable.
Interesting concept. I’m a 22 year service-industry veteran. I’ve consulted on quite a few high-end concepts of this sort and am always surprised by the levels of ambition.
Interesting too about the Prohibition era drinks. In reality, this era defined the American bar. The use of ingredient-relative names (The Cape Cod [Collins-glass, 1 1/2 oz. Vodka, fill with Cran, garnish w/ Lime wedge.] for instance gets its name from the Cranberry juice in it, which is a Massachusetts thing.) was once secret-code for ordering drinks in an illegal drinking place. Relating the name of the cocktail to it’s ingredients helped to standardize certain popular recipes. Keep in mind too that people would typically BYOB these events, and asking a fellow party-er for a drink was illegal, and poor form. Hence the name thing.
None of which would be common knowledge if it weren’t for the American cocktail parties of the 60s. It became quite a fad to recreate these prohibition era cocktails and serve them at parties. This in turn carried over into the service industry, and now these drinks are virtually the entire paradigm.
Do you know what the original recipe for a Martini is thought to be? It is this drink that is often thought to have been the one to start it all. How about the origin of the word Cocktail?
By far and away the most popular mixed drinks back then were what became known as a Highball. There is an actual drink called a Highball, though I’ve seen a different recipe for it from just about every decent tender I’ve ever met. But this drink is it’s own paradigm now.
Bacardi Cocktail is a huge one from back then too, and of course all the Collins iterations, Sidecar, and a litany of cream drinks. I know about 5 cream recipes that I sold heck out of over the years, and they’re all from this era. Pink Squirrel, Green Grasshopper, Cadillac, these were all drinks from the 20s and 30s re-popularized by the 60s era cocktail party.
The irony of this effort in a smoke-free business is kind of funny, but to each his own. The best of luck with this.
Oh woops, sorry I posted my last comment to the wrong post. Feel free to move that guy, or whatever.
Any details on the open house tonight?