1. DRINKS CART
he Austrian bar chef Albert Trummer
arrived in Miami two years ago to create
drinks for the MTV Music Awards and
never left.Now he’s at David Bouley Evolution, the
new restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton, South Beach,
combining exotic ingredients like kumquat
liqueur, homemade bitters and vanilla beans.
Trummer, who won acclaim as a bar chef in
New York, is part of a serious group of purist
bartenders. He claims to be the first to use elder-flower
in a cocktail. He calls his elderflower con-coction
“an offshoot of the peach-infused belli-nis
of the day.” It became the signature drink he
created for Danube in New York.
The elderflower? Why, that’s what turns into
the elderberry, a fruit commonly used to make
European wine, Hungarian brandy and sambu-ca.
Trummer found a jam and marmalade pro-ducer
in Austria to package, label and export the
zesty, peach-flavored elderflower syrup he uses at
the bar. He recommends it for flavoring cham-pagne,
but his signature elderflower drink is
Florida InsideOut 147
something called the Grape.
Trummer muddles eight to 10 Concord
grapes with a touch of Grand Marnier; he then
adds a squeeze of fresh lime, brown sugar, elder-flower
essence and Roberto Cavalli vodka. The
ingredients are shaken over ice and served in a
tumbler like this one from iittala, sold at
Glottman in Miami for $38 per set of two. Tart,
sugary and heaping with ice, the Grape down-plays
the taste of alcohol. Trummer said, “A
good drink is simple, not too showy and means
no hangover the next day.” David Bouley
Evolution charges $13 for the drink and recom-mends
it for those who love all things sweet.
The Grape
A NEW TWIST ON A CLASSIC
BY ELLIOT KOTLYAR
THE GRAPE, AT DAVID BOULEY
EVOLUTION
8 to 10 grapes, Concord if possible
1⁄3 oz Grand Marnier
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1⁄3 oz elderflower essence
2 oz Roberto Cavalli or Grey Goose
vodka
Muddle grapes and add Grand Marnier.
Mix all ingredients in a shaker with ice
and serve in a cocktail glass. Add a few
grapes to garnish. You won’t know what
hit you.
SWEET!
The Grape served
in an Ultima Thule
tumbler from iittala.
T
PHOTO BY XAVIER MERCADAL