Is there such a thing?
I mean, can one start drinking two weeks before a night out instead of the customary two hours?
This week I experimented with the concept by making myself a Poquito Picante, in anticipation of visiting that cocktail’s birthplace – Yerba Buena restaurant in New York City – later this month.
What’s so hot about a Poquito Picante, you ask? I wondered the same thing when our son Ben called one morning from his home in New York City raving about the “awesome” cocktail he had discovered the night before. The New York Times seems to be of a like mind, calling the restaurant’s cocktail list “a knock-out” and adding that “everything tastes good while sipping a Poquito Picante… (Photo by Rebecca McAlpin for The New York Times.)
The Web site Metromix.com also sang the praises of the PP at YB in a post entitled “New York’s Spiciest Cocktails.”
“A textbook handling of heat in a cocktail: the subtle spice adds body and texture, rather than sharpness or pain, and serves as a distinct flavor before giving way to other notes, like the cucumber’s freshness. A fire that warms rather than burns you.”
And apparently the Poquito Picante isn’t the only thing worth raving about at Yerba Buena (which has two locations, on Avenue A in East Village and Perry Street in the West Village). Our other son, Nicholas, visiting his brother from Seattle, also sang the praises of the eatery’s pan-Latin food, including to-die-for renditions of “coffee-glazed pork belly” and “tamarind-glazed duck confit,” a modern way of saying ropa vieja.
I hate being left out of the party. That’s why Yerba Buena will be the first stop on my trip to New York next week. Stay tuned.
Here’s the recipe for the Poquito Picante to hold you over ‘til you, too, can visit Yerba Buena.
Ingredients:
6 to 8 cilantro leaves
2 slices of cucumber with skin
3 slices of seedless jalapeño
¾ ounce fresh lemon juice
¾ ounce simple syrup
½ ounce Cointreau
2 ounces gin
Gently muddle cilantro, cucumber, and jalapeño with lemon juice. Add remaining ingredients. Shake well and double strain through fine mesh strainer.
Garnish with a dry chili pepper or a small bird chili.
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