OUR LADY OF THE HARBOR
PHOTO BY MATT ROTH FOR THE NY TIMES
TEELING IRISH WHISKEY
PINEAPPLE - LIME
ANGOSTURA BITTERS
CHARTREUSE
I WANTED OUR LADY OF THE HARBOR TO BE LIKE A LINEN SUIT. FOR WHATEVER REASON I'VE ALWAYS BEEN REALLY INTO THE IDEA OF A LINEN SUIT (LIKE SINCE I WAS A TEENAGER. I THINK IT WAS INSPIRED BY A GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ NOVEL). THE LINEN SUIT IS BUSINESS LIKE (I MEAN IT'S A SUIT) BUT RELAXED AT THE SAME TIME. I THOUGHT THE DRINK VERSION OF THAT WOULD BE TO HAVE DARK BAR QUALITIES AND TIKI BAR QUALITIES SIMULTANEOUSLY. I FIGURED WHISKEY BUT ALSO PINEAPPLE. THAT SEEMED LIKE THE MOST OBVIOUS PLACE TO START. WHISK(E)Y BEING THE STREOTYPICAL SERIOUS SPIRIT AND THERE'S NOT MUCH MORE FUN THAN PINEAPPLE. PINEAPPLE SEEMS LIKE EVERY KID'S FAVORITE FRUIT BUT ITS PINS-AND-NEEDLES, REISLING-ESQUE ACID IS A GOOD BACKBONE FOR A DRINK THAT'S GONNA HAVE A LOT GOING ON IN IT. CHARTREUSE IS THE PINNACLE OF THE A-LOT-GOING-ON-BUT-NOT-MUDDIED-FLAVOR AND IT GOES HISTORICALLY WELL WITH PINEAPPLE (CHARTREUSE SWIZZLE, SWAMP WATER). LIME TO UP THE ACID AND ANGOSTURA TO PULL IT ALL TOGETHER. IT BECAME ONE OF 2 BIRDS' MOST POPULAR DRINKS- ESPECIALLY, OF COURSE, IN DC'S HOTTER MONTHS.
THE NAME COMES FROM A LYRIC FROM THE SONG "SUZANNE" WRITTEN BY LEONARD COHEN, BUT I WAS INSPIRED BY THE FEEL OF NINA SIMONE'S VERSION TO USE THAT LINE FOR THE DRINK'S NAME.