Adri Barr Crocetti

A Vino Aperitivo for the Season

It’s early on Christmas Eve when the phone rings in the parish office, and the caller asks “What time is Midnight Mass?” Honest. Every year at parishes around the world inquiring minds want to know. A friend who was a parish administrator herself said that she fielded dozens of such calls every Christmas. We all chuckled at the goofy question. And every Christmas Eve morning I called my friend at work, put on my silliest, most heavily accented voice and asked the very same question. I could hear the hesitation in her voice while she figured it out, and then she replied “And Merry Christmas to you too, Miss Adri.” It was our very own Christmas greeting.

But Christmas Eve Midnight mass presents its own logistical problems. What do you serve before Mass? We’ve eaten a big feast just hours before, but by the time 10 PM rolls around, as the rest of the relatives arrive for a visit and the drive to the family parish, everyone is ready for “a little something” to tide us over. Somehow when I think of Mass, and what to drink, I think of Italian vermouth – served straight up in a pretty etched glass. But it is Christmas, and that should have you seeing and serving red, the festive kind, crimson with citrus and herbal notes. I know. You think I am talking about Campari, or perhaps Aperol. Nope. Allow me to introduce you to Cappelletti. It’s not the Bridge convention, nor is it Modena’s famous pasta, the “little hats” bathed in capon broth so popular at this time of year. Read the remainder of this entry »

Boulevardier – A sophisticated, worldly, and socially active man; a man who frequents fashionable places; a man-about-town.

Are you in the mood for a cocktail? A Negroni, perhaps? Ah, what say you? You have had too many Negronis of late? What, they are just everywhere, too trendy? Oh, but you still want one, or maybe some thing with an even bigger punch. Running with the big dogs, are you? Well, then try a Boulevardier. Mais oui, ma certo, a Boulevardier – like a Negroni but lose the gin (I’ve said that before) and replace it with (get ready) bourbon. Yes, bourbon. The bourbon lends the drink a voluptuous smoothness that was a complete surprise to me. You simply have to try it. I am thinking this is not a cocktail for every woman, but it is surely a cocktail for every man. Read the remainder of this entry »

It’s binge blogging again – and this time the subject is Orangecello from the Ventura Limoncello Company. I discovered this delightful liqueur early this Summer as I was finishing up a purchase at K&L Wines here in Hollywood. The fellow who was helping me, knowing I enjoy citrus liqueurs (my regular readers will recall how I rhapsodized about Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur and Acqua di Cedro), suggested I try a bottle of Orangecello. He told me it was the latest release from the Ventura Limoncello Company, a local concern about an hour’s drive from my home. Local. I love local. Further, it had just won a Double Gold at the 2011 San Francisco World Spirits Competition and was flying off their shelves. Local, a winner and popular – that was enough for me. The slender bottle made the trip home with me. Read the remainder of this entry »

Well, I’m back to James Bond again. I’ve come to him late in life – or is it just that Daniel Craig came to Bond late in my life? Either way, it is time for L’Americano – the first cocktail 007 ordered in Casino Royale. This cocktail, originally known as a Milano-Torino – for the Campari which came from Milano and the Cinzano vermouth that came from Torino – underwent a name change when it became a favorite of American tourists escaping the deprivations of the Volstead Act. Sort of a Campari cocktail with training wheels, it is composed of 1 ounce each of Campari and sweet vermouth over ice in a Rocks glass topped off with club soda (the training wheels.) Read the remainder of this entry »