Lillet Blanc

Oh right one more thing and I really gotta go to bed…

For those AA dropouts out there, you'll love this one. A Brit friend of mine had made, some time ago, little 'business card' sized cards that had on one side a quote from the original Ian Fleming James Bond story, Casino Royale, and on the other side, the recipe for quite possibly the single best drink on the planet.

The Vesper Martini
The recipe goes like this…

• 3 parts Gin (Gordons is good)
• 1 part Vodka (anything pure, no flavored shit)
  
• 1/2 part Lillet Blanc (more on this in a moment)
  
• Shake ingredients over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
• Garnish with a twist of lemon

You'd be amazed at how many bartenders, even with these clear instructions, have fucked this drink up. One notable exception is Bouchon in Las Vegas (Thomas Keller's place, of the famed French Laundry), where the bartender made a perfect Vesper. Or 30 of 'em. So over the course of a week, we drank our fair share of these fabulous concoctions.

(Side note: If you do manage to find yourself at Bouchon, do ya'self a favor and order the Salade Frisée aux Lardons et Oeuf Poche (frisée salad with bacon lardons, poached egg & bacon vinaigrette). It's quite possibly the best incarnation of this salad I've ever enjoyed, and it is soooooo good. I've ordered this salad at other famous French restaurants and been disappointed. Keller teaches 'em good here).

Where was I… oh yes, the Lillet. So I've been trying to find this ingredient, and I've been told it can be found at BevMo or even at Safeway (!!), but I had thus far failed to find it. Until today. O'baby I found it, at Whole Paycheck Foods. Happy boy.


(Yes that's my scrawny-ass wrist in the photo)