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Homegrown scratchmade Negronis at Stateside
For starters, Conley wanted to add a Negroni. "[It] has made such a comeback," she says, but the bracing, bittersweet Italian tonic's principal ingredient, Campari, is not made in the U.S.
Homegrown scratchmade Negronis at Stateside
Though unlisted among the mixers for the Early Riser, the Clover Club, the Movie Star, the cocktails at Stateside (1536 E. Passyunk Ave.) all feature one important ingredient: patriotism. "We feature only American-distilled spirits," says Jenn Conley, who designed the drink list for the restaurant. The gin is Bluecoat and Tub, the vodka Death's Door, the absinthe Vieux Carre, so on and so forth. But "about a month ago, the owners approached me to do an additional nine classic cocktails for the menu," says Conley. "As I started compiling the list and figuring out the menu, I began to really realize the limitations we had."
For starters, Conley wanted to add a Negroni. "[It] has made such a comeback," she says, but the bracing, bittersweet Italian tonic's principal ingredient, Campari, is not made in the U.S. "I didn't want to leave it out, so I decided it would be really cool to follow what our kitchen is already doing and make whatever possible in-house," says Conley. "Doing some research on the internet, I found some recipes, tried, failed and tried a few more times before getting the result I wanted."
That result: a homegrown Negroni featuring both sweet vermouth and "Campari" (Conley calls it "bitter orange aperitif") made in-house by infusing herbs and aromatics into wine (for the former) and vodka (for the latter). Wormwood, juniper, sage and citrus peels are just a few of the ingredients boiled with Pinot Grigio to create the flavor profile of vermouth. For the aperitif, calamus, angelica, star anise and cinnamon sit two weeks in vodka, which then gets strained and fortified with red wine and simple syrup. Some gin, some soda water, a slice of orange and voila! A Negroni Americano.
"It's a touch sweet but is balanced with a lot of herbal notes," says Conley of the drink. "The feedback has been wonderful." Stateside's bar is generally popping, especially at happy hour, when oysters are $1.
Photo: Courtesy of Stateside
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