Photo by Megan Irwin
Ordinarily, if you find yourself inspired by a painting or photograph in a museum, you reach for your phone to preserve the moment.
At the exhibition “Yves Saint-Laurent: The Perfection of Style” at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, you can cement the connection with a cocktail.
Molly McCurnin, who tends bar at Amuse, the museum's restaurant, has combined her background in art history and her love of mixology to pay homage to the famed clothing designer and style setter.
Poring over YSL's many and varied catalogs, she hit upon a theme — “jetset Mediterranean” — and from there, a palette of flavors and combinations that evoke that particular aesthetic.
The best of the boozy paeans: All About Yves, a daiquiri perfumed with rose and mint.
Saint-Laurent was born in Algeria and spent time in Morocco, so McCurnin has emphasized bold north African flavors. Bacardi white rum is the foundation. To this base she adds rose syrup, lime juice and fresh mint, and then shakes and serves it in a coupe glass over ice.
