Properly Sauced: Vie Restaurant's Meyer Lemon Smash
By Roger Kamholz in Food on Feb 16, 2011 8:20PM
Do we dare celebrate this brief retreat winter's been making? Can we safely point and laugh at the once-Andean snow piles that've been reduced to pathetic roadside lumps? Part of us says no, any pleasure we take in these hood-down halcyon days will come back to bite us on the...nose. (Mother Nature is so immature.) If only we could somehow honor the fruits of the season, but in a refreshing beverage built for these blissfully tepid days of pre-spring. Luckily, we've got guys like Michael Page, bar manager at Vie in Western Springs, working on the problem.
Case in point: his Meyer Lemon Smash, a three-week-old muddled-fruit creation that features said gift of midwinter, the sweet little Meyer lemon. Page works closely with Vie's chef, Paul Virant, to update the restaurant's cocktail menu with seasonal ingredients at the height of their freshness. "We'll probably keep it on for at least a couple of more weeks," Page says of the Meyer Lemon Smash, "as long as Meyer lemons are hot." What's more, Virant is also a big believer in jarring, jamming, preserving and the like - which gives Page even more toys to play with at the bar. His Sweet Milk Punch, another recent addition to the cocktail list, includes a housemade milk jam, which judging by Page's description sounds delicious. (Milk, cream and sugar party in a pressure cooker for 20 minutes and somehow come out a "milky, creamy, caramelly" jam.)
While making your own milk jam may prove difficult, Page assures us the home bartender should have no trouble mixing up the Meyer Lemon Smash. For one, it's built right in the drinking glass - no shaker required. We found a bag of handsome Meyers at the downtown Trader Joe's for $2.49. For the base spirit, Page uses WhistlePig Rye, a 100-proof, 100 percent rye whiskey that hit the market last year. WhistlePig is the work of former Maker's Mark master distiller Dave Pickerell, who established his own distillery in Vermont. "I was looking for new rye options, as bourbons and ryes are very hot right now," Page explains. "Really cool stuff. It's a nice, smooth rye." To help balance the spiciness of the rye and the top-off of ginger beer, Page adds locally-made honey to the Meyer Lemon Smash. "We actually have our own hive, which we purchase a share of from some local farmers," he says. "Orange blossom honey would probably be a neat addition if someone was making it at home."
For our at-home version, we grabbed Rittenhouse Rye and Cointreau in place of WhistlePig and the Luxardo Triplum, and the result was still damn tasty: fresh, spicy-sweet and deeply satisfying. A tempting glance toward summer that also remains true to what winter's all about.
Meyer Lemon Smash
1 3/4 ounces WhistlePig Rye
1 orange rind (roughly the size of a dollar coin)
4 pieces Meyer lemon (2.5 - 3 ounces)
1/2 ounce honey
1 ounce fresh Meyer lemon juice
1/2 ounce Luxardo Triplum Triple Sec
2 1/2 ounces Barritts ginger beer
Muddle first five ingredients in a large tumbler glass. Add Triple Sec and ginger beer. Top with cracked ice.
Vie is located at 4471 Lawn Avenue in Western Springs, Illinois.