The Violet Hour
Snake Eyes – Junipero, Green Chartreuse, Amaro Sibilla, Plum Bitters, Twist of Burned Lemon
PB&J – North Shore Aquavit, Lemon, Carpano Antica, Orgeat, Egg Yolk, Peychaud’s Bitters
Rum Diary – Ron Botran Reserva, Punt e Mes, Zacapa 23, Amaro CioCiaro, Laphroaig
Cookies and Milk – Chocolate Chip and Sugar Cookies with ‘Tiger’s Milk’ – Brugal Anejo Rum, Pierre Ferrand Cognac, Spice Trader Syrup, Cream, Cinnamon
Disgusted by the ‘service’ at Graham Elliot to the point of walking out it was largely in hopes of quality in service and selections that I ended up at The Violet Hour, the former more or less ensured given the restaurant’s operation under Paul Kahan’s “One Off Hospitality Group” and the later assumed largely based on strong word of mouth, the swanky ‘scene’ and velvet curtain shtick notwithstanding. Dark and stark yet nicely apportioned with high back chairs to create personal space as nouveau-Jazz played overhead it would not be long before we garnered admission and with patrons both swanky and dressed down intermingling I personally enjoyed the scene, though my sister found it all a bit ‘precious,’ but any concern of such things went away the moment our server arrived with the menu; an ample listing of top-shelf libations and small bites from which we selected four. Typically the teetotaler it was with little coaxing that I opted for the cocktails noted to trend more closely to “sweet” while my sister and her fiancé opted for complexity yet while everything was quite good and surprisingly well priced at $13 per drink it was actually my “PB&J” plus the crowd-pleaser Milk and Cookies that proved the group favorites, the Tiger’s Milk especially lovely with a light bitter giving way to cinnamon and sweet.
