Cocktail
Hyperfresh,
Hyperlocal
Bartenders join chefs
in the hunt for the freshest
possible ingredients, crafting
cocktails that are as substantive as they are ephemeral
BY JOSH KRIST
PHOTOGRAPHY BY QUENTIN BACON
Drink locally. It sounds like a recession-inspired plea from the neighborhood bar.
Actually, however, it’s an idea at the cutting edge of the cocktail world. Whereas
a chef in a kitchen is respected for taking
myriad ingredients—ideally seasonal
and local—and shaping them into a harmonious whole, mixologists are often
seen as just fancy bartenders.
Not so, says James Meehan, general manager and mixologist at PDT
in New York’s East Village, who
cemented his cocktail cred at Pegu
Club and Gramercy Tavern.
“In reality, I spend a ridiculous
amount of time sourcing my ingre-
dients. Cocktails are still not recog-
nized as a full-fledged culinary art,
so the bartender who insists on the
best and freshest ingredients works
twice as hard to get those relation-
ships with farmers and people at the
local markets.”
Meehan is among a growing class
of mixologists who are hunting the
