Drinks in Durango

Well, something DID come up that is writable about!

          Yesterday Lorelyn and I were in downtown Durango picking up some books from Maria’s Bookshop, one of the finest booksellers on the planet. When we were done she called Adam, one of her associates from her old law firm and asked him if he’d like to join us at the speakeasy.

          That is correct.

          An actual, real life, concealed door in the bookcase, old time, done correctly, speakeasy.

          The Bookcase and Barber.

The exterior looks like any barber shop that you would go to, complete with the spinning barber pole.  You can go in and get a haircut, or…

          If you know the password…..

          You get to go behind the swinging bookcase and enter a dimly lit, very comfortable old bar.

          No one can see inside from the street, there are reflective glass windows that help illuminate the interior. People stroll by outside not even giving this place a second thought.

          Unless….

          Someone has “tipped” you off on it and you’ve gone on their Facebook page and procured the current password.

          Adam happens to be one of their best customers, so his password, “my money is green“, got us in with no problem. In  fact, we arrived before they opened, but they let us in so we could wait inside comfortably. It not what you know… It’s who you know!

          It’s totally cool, and about as authentic as it can be in the 21^st Century. Not that I would know what an authentic speakeasy was like, I don’t even drink!

          Except yesterday.

          Story time!

          Back in the day, like 47 years ago, I was the closing manager on Monday nights at my Dad’s restaurant, The Cozy Tavern. After we closed at 11 PM, we would all go up to Pompton Plains and go to The Rum Seller, a bar that stayed open much later. All of the staff from other restaurants in the surrounding area would come here after their respective bars, etc. had closed. The only thing that I liked to drink back then was the old standby, a Whiskey Sour, because it was kind of sweet, depending on how much sugar one put into it.

          Sue, one of my co-workers, who was married to Greg, another co-worker, who was the son of Hank, our head bartender, whose girl friend was Oona, our head waitress, who was related to another great restaurant in Clifton called All in the Family, suggested that I may like a Jack Rose.

          A Jack Rose is one of those cocktails that only your grandparents knew about. It consists of Applejack, lemon juice, grenadine, and an egg white for the foam on top.

          Well, it turned into my favorite drink and I’d have one a week on Monday nights with the crew.

          Eons later I would reminisce and long for a good Jack Rose, but alas, nobody makes them anymore. At least not correctly. I think it’s even hard to get a good Whiskey Sour! I decided to take accounts into my own hands and scour the earth for the correct ingredients and make one myself.

          Voila! It all came together nicely and during a phone conversation, I recounted my experience to Lorelyn, who said that she would check out a place in Durango that may be old timey enough to have one.

          Sure enough, there on their drink menu, was the Steinbeck. (All of their signature drinks are named after that era’s authors.) It was their version of it, using lime juice instead of lemon, but it was REALLY good, and I enjoyed both the company and the libation.

          Maybe in another 47 years I’ll try a different cocktail.