Lemaire’s Shape Shifter (Photo by Jay Paul)
Is there a more postcard-perfect expression of holiday cheer than socializing amid the winding garland, twinkling lights and towering tree of The Jefferson Hotel every December?
Now what if the drink you were holding was as colorful and convivial as your surroundings?
At Lemaire, Bar Manager Tara Schleinkofer has come up with a clever and delicious cocktail that changes as it sits in your glass. The Shape Shifter begins as a Manhattan, but then, thanks to a jewel-toned Campari ice sphere, it slowly morphs into a Boulevardier.
Schleinkofer makes the sphere by mixing Campari, orange juice and water, then freezing the liquid in a specially made globular holder. At the time of order, the resulting vermillion-colored ice is placed in a glass containing Buffalo Trace bourbon, Cynar amaro and Dolin Rouge vermouth.
As you drink, the cocktail slowly transforms itself, turning from serious amber to festive red — and putting even the most Grinch-like among us in a better, if not to say cheery, mood.
