Why I love this Austrian restaurant SO much is a little mystifying to me.  Maybe it is because I once had a blissful weekend skiing in Austria?

Maybe it’s because I love EE in Wolfords?

Austrian hosiery rules. (EE agrees.)

Actually, I think I like the elegant, simple style and high functionality.  These things come through in the food and drink – they’ve got you covered, but nothing overwhelms. 

Anyway, we started with cocktails while waiting…

I had a Fig Manhattan, which was a really good idea.  They infused bourbon with fig, made a Manhattan with it, and then garnished with half a fig.  I wouldn’t have thought to put fig in a Manhattan, but the sweet earthiness worked perfectly.

WOW! Teaches me not to be ashamed of taking pictures in restaurants!  It’s hard to find an attractive picture of a fig… 

They do look better in Manhattans, I promise.

The ladies had Aperol Sours, which were simple (and apparently very much enjoyed) combinations of Aperol, lemon juice, and sugar.

What impressed me most about the Wallse cocktail menu is that it was relatively short, at about eight drinks, but represented a wide range of flavor profiles.  From their Peppar Tomato (like the essence of a Bloody Mary – lovely if you want to kick your brunch up a notch), to Fig Manhattans, to Aperol Sours…  I consider this a nice change from the many restaurants with lots of drinks relying on the same or similar ingredients, and having a similar taste.  Additionally, all of the drinks were pretty simple in terms of ingredients, which allows patrons to anticipate what’s coming and receive their drinks quickly.

Finally, we had wine with the meal.  I don’t normally write about wine because plenty of others do, but this was notable.  Wallse’s wine list is all (or close enough to all) Austrian wine.  We chose the cheapest Pinot Noir-equivalent because the waiter recommended this section of the list.  It was spectacularly tasty – a perfect combination of fruit, bite, earthiness, etc.  Lange leben österreichischen Wein!  Specifically this stuff:

Weingut Brundlmayer
St. Laurent. (Type of grape)
Ried Ladner 2003

Prost!

Ingredients

1 Gin (typically Sapphire)

0.9 Aperol

0.7 Cointreau

The absurd measurements above are not because the drink requires that much precision.  I’m just saying:

As much gin as you want

A little less Aperol than gin

A little less Cointreau than Aperol

Combine in a shaker and shake!  May be served up or on the rocks.

Problem: bars don’t have Aperol.

Solution: substitute Campari.

Ingredients (BAR VERSION)

1 gin

1 Campari

1 Cointreau

When out on the town, transform the drink a bit by asking for equal parts gin, Campari, and Cointreau.  The Campari is more bitter, but the extra Cointreau counteracts it.  Overtime, people who started out disliking Campari will grow to enjoy it.  At that point they will be ready for the Negroni – a classic so spectacular everyone should be able to enjoy one.

I was Dick Tracy for Halloween in second grade.  I had style.

Since then, honestly, Halloween has not been my best holiday.  I’ve never gotten arrested, beaten-up, or improperly drunk.  Maybe it’s for the lack of such events that I’ve found Halloween a bit of a let-down.

Luckily I now have a blog, and blogs can fix anything.  How might Tessin Rinpoche pull this off?  I have as many option as a super-hero’s tool-belt (yeah, blogs are just as awesome as yellow belts over spandex), but I’m only dealing with one of them today: the Vampire’s Tan.

Maisie the Halloween cat guarding a Vampire's Tan

Ingredients

1 white rum

3/4-1 Stone’s

3/4 Aperol

1/3 Cointreau

dash Peychaud

Combine the ingredients in a shaker and shake!  Alternately, if making pitchers, feel free to just stir like crazy.  Serve it up or on the rocks.  Garnish with a piece of black licorice.

Why this is a great Halloween Drink:  It…

1. is orange – people can find it through the eyeholes of their masks
2. tastes good – almost swillable, but not quite so lethal as the Nevermake
3. is resilient – you can just pour it into whatever receptacle you have handy
4. is orange – yet it doesn’t use orange juice, which is typically yellowish anyway
5. uses white rum – a special request from a bride with wedding rum to burn (but not BURN)
6. has a cool name – people have to ponder it a bit (ok, maybe only dorks like me will think it’s a good name)

All in all, I think this is a great, simple winner.  The only downside is that it may be a bit much for a long party, especially if people need to drive home.  This is Halloween, though, so driving is a bad idea no matter what.  You can solve this simply by partying with your neighbors (they’ll be wearing masks anyway – you can pretend they’re your normal friends).

Cheers,

Count Poche