Blast From the Past Series: Home & Away
BY: JOSHUA GANDEE,
Beverage Director, Watershed Kitchen & Bar
On March 15, 2020, an executive order came from the Governor to close all Ohio bars and restaurants to in-house patrons. “Our goal is for everyone to get through this," said Governor Mike DeWine. "Our hope is that next St. Patrick’s Day, everyone will be there and that they’ll have the opportunity to live their life and live their American dream. But, if people are not around, they can’t do that.”
I am writing this blog mid-April 2021, and while we are initiating plans for a re-open of Watershed Kitchen & Bar, our doors remain closed to the public. Re-reading those words took me back to the place I was when I first heard them. I had just poured the last bucket of ice into our well, which is typically the task that signifies we are open for business. At 9:00pm that night we would close the restaurant for what, at the time, felt like possibly two weeks.
I walked around in the middle of the quiet shift and took a picture of everyone working that night. Not knowing how long this pause would last, I wanted images that would help me remember a day like the one we were experiencing. As we locked the doors that evening, the staff stood silently around the bar. What was there to say? Who would speak first? I took the helm behind the point of sale and began speaking. In lieu of trying to speak about what I didn’t know, I shined a light on what I did. I spoke about what was happening in the building, how despite a statewide closure the band seemingly played on. Aaron trimmed beef as Jim made sauces. Matt orchestrated expo. That’s the thing about restaurants; as a guest they tend to look the same because it is our duty to clean, to reset, and to present it in a pristine fashion each and every night. It’s the things we do in the shadows, behind the scenes, that help you to enjoy your time with us.
Even as I was taking the photos and saying goodbye for the evening, I was unsure when I would see many of my team’s faces again.
If you would’ve told me what was going to happen when we were creating the last cocktail menu to come out before lockdown, I might have reconsidered the theme. However, leafing through it again now, I’m reminded of where we’re headed and what we’re capable of.
Home & Away was meant to highlight the many facets of international travel, how being away makes you long for your own bed, and how the road inevitably will lead back home. The cocktails we created were meant to invoke those warm beach days, the Italian rooftop negroni, and tropical drinks in winter wastelands. It allowed you to drink for the weather you had, or for the weather you wanted.
The irony is not lost on me and in some ways it makes me chuckle that the things we would miss the most while being sequestered in our homes were locked in a menu we were unable to serve. If you have a copy, keep it. What a time capsule! The cocktails inside this menu were some of the most inventive the restaurant had ever seen, and even though the menu didn’t get to live the full life that others did, it had enough time for favorites to arise.
In the introduction to the menu I wrote, “It is not until the warmth of June and July are gone that we begin to think about it, just as we often take for granted the green of August leaves until we find them rustling and browned at the base of a tree.” It is this quote that rests on my mind as I think about the many things given up over lockdown, the places we didn’t visit, the people we didn’t see, and the longing for that distance.
Turning the pages in this menu is like unwrapping the world, and with a single point of the finger you are able to travel by simply closing your eyes and taking a sip. Within these pages you can take a tour of Appalachian Mountain trails, feel the warmth of the sun in a Snowbirds Getaway, or to simply turn on the TV to enjoy a staycation….which we may have gotten a little too comfortable with over the last year.
Separating these drinks into different destinations allowed us to play with their presentation. The Snowbird’s Getaway, the Spring pages, and the Euro trip all brought a splash of sunshine to drinks with tropical bright influence, or fresh countryside fruits. Extracting flavors from the region brought a personal farmer’s market to the glass and let you hit the trails, slopes, or cruise line without ever leaving the bar.
The Farmer’s Market was a cocktail that brought a multitude of influences to the glass. Each flavor descriptor read as more outlandish than the last, culminating in a delicious worldly experience: a blend of Watershed vodka, pisco washed with sesame oil, bitters infused with seaweed, and finished with crisp and tangy yuzu soda. Described as a “world traveler refreshment,” this cocktail tasted like if you walked one whole loop at Epcot.
For our more bold and boozy crowd, the 52 Tunnel Road became a fast fan favorite. An alpine mountaintop refresher on the Après Ski page, the drink was meant to excite the taste buds after a day on the slopes. A simple three-ingredient cocktail featuring Watershed Guild Gin, 52 Tunnel Road tasted like picking your way through a field of flowers and eating berries straight from the bush. This gentle nod to the negroni brings a fruitier backbone to the bold and bitter favorite.
52 TUNNEL ROAD
1.25oz Watershed Guild Gin
1.25oz Amaro Pasubio
.5oz Salers Gentian
Add all ingredients to a mixing glass and stir until well chilled. Strain over new ice in an Old Fashioned glass and garnish with fresh citrus peels.
Our Spring Getaway page was littered with refreshing gin cocktails, each crisper than the last. This page was inspired by the brazen simplicity of Wes Anderson films. His imagery is always balanced yet nuanced in such a way that the deeper you dig, the more you discover. This inspiration was at the heart of the cocktails in this section, and we think we hit the mark. The easiest to execute was The Grand Budapest, named for the hue of the hotel it was named for. A luxurious mix of Four Peel Gin, two types of bitters, and soda makes this cocktail unique, yet easy to replicate at home. It’s the Pink Gin cocktail meets the highball.
THE GRAND BUDAPEST
2oz Watershed Four Peel Gin
3 dash Peychaud Bitters
3 dash Angostura Bitters
4oz Soda Water
Add all ingredients to a collins glass with ice and gently stir to combine. For the most refreshing result, place your gin and glass in the freezer ahead of time.
One of our more complex yet inviting cocktails came in a coupe glass with a mint green punch. Garnished with an orchid, the Hotel Chevalier only needed one sip to become your favorite. I’m certain that if this cocktail had its own t-shirt you’d be wearing one right now. A blend of Guild Gin (or Seedlip if you were enjoying the non-alcoholic version) pistachio syrup, matcha tea, and rosewater this floral cocktail was as abundant as a bouquet. To make the syrup at home, please enjoy this easy-to-follow recipe from Imbibe. Following the package instructions for the matcha and letting it cool is the only other seemingly difficult step for this cocktail.
HOTEL CHEVALIER
1.5oz Watershed Guild Gin or Non-Alcoholic equivalent like Seedlip
1oz Pistachio Orgeat
1oz Matcha Tea
1 dash Rosewater
Shake all ingredients until well chilled and double strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with an orchid, edible flower, or whatever brings you the joy of spring.
The Old Custer, featured on the same page, was citrusy and delightful, and if we offered brunch I’m sure orders would come in by the pitcher. Simply adding spices to Aperol was a surefire way to introduce more elaborate flavors to this seemingly simple mix. To infuse your own aperitif, just fill a mason jar with Aperol, and add a cinnamon stick, a vanilla bean, a couple cloves, and a star anise. Let rest 2 hours up to overnight and strain before use. This can also be used in a spritz with Watershed vodka or gin...just sayin. The Old Custer was named after the book that Eli Cash writes in the Royal Tenenbaums and inspired by his character in general because what you see is not exactly what you get.
OLD CUSTER
1oz Watershed Four Peel Gin
1.5oz Spiced Aperol
1.5oz OJ
.25oz Lemon Juice
Shake all ingredients until well chilled and strain over ice in an Old Fashioned glass. For a unique spin, add all ingredients to a blender without ice and put it on the highest setting for 2-3 minutes. The result is a fluffy, airy sipper sure to impress.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the spectacular art that accompanied these recipes. The compelling travel couldn’t have been captured without the unmatched artistry of Greg Davis. The beauty of his design is found in the details, and the more time you spend with this menu the more you uncover. Each page is more unique than the last, and the way glassware and cocktails become entangled with coastlines and ski lifts is truly remarkable.
It is these tiny touches of magic that even now I truly pine for. The work that we were doing, the guests we were pleasing, and the ideas we were professing were only ever put on pause. It is only now that many of us are catching wind of that proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, but even mentioning its existence unlocks a world of possibility. I am excited that sooner than later we may be together again to serve you drinks, to catch up, and pick up right where we left off.
Although the irony was blinding in the beginning, I can’t think of a better menu to look back on as we count down the days until we’re together again. As I said in the welcome letter of the menu, I say again today, “From conversations with our bar team about their treasured trips and destinations, we explore where we’ve been, where we’d like to go, and the places we call home; where we’re welcome to drop our suitcase and rediscover the comfort of our own bed.” Only in this case, we get to leave our beds and rediscover the world.
See you out there,
Josh
Scroll through the Home & Away menu below and be sure to check out the rest of our cocktail menus here
