The Boulevardier

Last Friday our friends Visnja and Franck came to dinner in the City. One nice thing about being the cook for the evening, of course, is getting to choose the menu, and I put together a line-up of old favorites: Dried Figs in Red Wine (that I had on hand) with blue cheese and crackers as an appetizer; Roasted Pumpkin with Cheese “Fondue” as a first course; Pistachio, Sesame and Sumac Crusted Chicken Breasts with a green salad as the main, Tarte Tatin for dessert, and a favorite New Zealand Pinot Noir to wash it all down. For cocktails, though, I wanted to try something new.

A Negroni –made of Campari, sweet vermouth and gin– is one of my favorite drinks, but it always tastes better to me in the warmer months when the superdry, herbal flavors of gin seem particularly refreshing. When it’s cold outside, I want a drink with a deeper flavor, and the Boulevardier turned out to be just the ticket. Comprised of Campari, sweet vermouth and bourbon, the Boulevardier has a warm, almost spicy quality that makes it much more than a winterized Negroni. It’s like the love child of the Negroni and the Manhattan, living in some luxurious exile in Paris.