July 22, 2011
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Is Cocktail Culture Back?
American cocktail culture is reviving. It’s the subject of a major museum exhibition this summer at Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art. It’s even got a museum of its own now in New Orleans.
Cocktail culture might well be the most versatile invention of American ingenuity. Look how Will Rogers applied it to predict this year’s Arab Spring uprising:
“One revolution is like one cocktail, it just gets you organized for the next.”
Business guru Peter Drucker found it the source of the greatest lost ideas:
“The really important things are said over cocktails and are never done.”
Cocktail culture inspired great moments in the arts, like Billy Strayhorn’s jazz classic “Lush Life,” and William Powell’s ode to the art of bartending in the “The Thin Man.”
“The important thing is the rhythm. Always have rhythm in your shaking. Now, a Manhattan you shake to a foxtrot. A Bronx, to two-step time. A dry martini you always shake to waltz time.” a tuxedo clad Powell implores with the most sophisticated accent of his generation.
Cocktail culture’s most instructive metaphor though is that of mixing. Historically it facilitated the mixing of genders and races as well as liquids. Before WWI, men drank straight liquor in the company of other men in saloons. After Prohibition in 1919, men went to drink in the company of sartorially splendid women in elegant homes and illegal speakeasies. And races mixed as easily as bitters and gin in the jazz clubs of that era. After Prohibition’s repeal in 1933, women emerged from the speakeasy wearing liberating dresses by Givenchy, Chanel and Dior and crystal necklaces by Swarovski, a la Garbo. They also then carried the right to vote in the hand that did not hold a cocktail.
Cocktail Culture in DSM
Americana Restaurant opened in May professing to “revive the swagger of cocktail culture.” Such lofty expectations are met in its locale, in an historic old Chrysler dealership building across the street from the Pappajohn Sculpture Park. Dan Hunt’s restoration respects the historic trappings (tiled floors, pressed metal ceilings, industrial railings) while adding minimalist spectacle – symmetrical staircases emphasize the bar and lead to veiled semi private nooks in the large balcony.
The kitchen is run by rising star chef Mike Holman (The Café). Long time Chip’s chef Javier Guzman adds impressive depth as a sous. A “contemporary classics” menu includes new twists for old fashioned comforts. Creamy “mac & cheese” employed cavatappi and chevre. Eggs benedict included duck confit and was served on polenta cakes. Chicken livers were southern fried in corn meal. Deviled eggs were stuffed with chorizo. The menu mixed those with some of the popular hits from contemporary casual dining. Thai style short ribs were paired with sweet potato puree sweetened with maple syrup. A banh mi style sandwich mixed chicken livers with pork shoulder and was served on an Italian style bun.
Chicken curry eschewed all spices usually associated with the word curry. A $34 cold smoked porterhouse steak, inappropriately named “big ass,” overdosed on cheese accompaniments with blue cheese mousse and smoked cheddar mashed potatoes. Barely warm scallop beignets left me dreaming about Alba’s.
Some things were most impressive.
Shrimp tempura, honestly named, were the best I’ve had in awhile.
An adorable smoked salmon parfait was inventive with capers and mayo instead of creamed cheese. Little things like pico de gallo were exquisitely fresh. The eggs benedict variation worked well.
Cream of garlic soup was addictive.
Seared artichoke hearts were perfectly restrained with just herbed garlic butter and smoked paprika. A weekend brunch delivered great value and invention for $15.
Burger and the cheesy mashed potato prescriptions irked a la Bobby Dupea (“Five Easy Pieces”).
So did the absence of ingredients described on the menu. Romaine and field greens are not a “micro greens.” Sliced tomato is not “smoked.” Clear gin is not pink gin.
Ironically, the bartending arts came up short of kitchen levels. William Powell, and the bartenders at cocktail culture strongholds like Trostel’s Dish and 801 Steak & Chop House, would be appalled to see martinis shaken just three or four times, drinks layered incorrectly and topped with final mixers before any resting period.
“Fresh squeezed” citrus consistently tasted other than fresh. Twists and wedges were sliced too thinly to allow any fresh fruit to be squeezed. Nine dollar cocktails demand more attention. Even $6 draft beers, served in stemware that measured far less than a pint, also seemed pricey.
Americana has added a Happy Hour with reduced prices since this was written.
Bottom line – Americana is a charming new addition to the Western Gateway but Trostel’s Dish, 801 Steak & Chop House and Continental remain the epitome of cocktail culture in Des Moines.
Americana
1312 Locust St., 283-1312
Mon. – Thurs. 11 a.m. – 11 p.m., Fri. 11 a.m. – 2 a.m., Sat. 10 a.m. – 2 a.m., Sun. 10 a.m. – 11 p.m.
