If Alice Waters is a fan of your food, you know it’s good. And the queen of green really likes the Cleaver Co. , a slow food catering company which runs the Green Table within the Chelsea Market on New York’s west side. Mary Cleaver, founder of the Green Table – an organic eatery and wine bar- believes that the best foods are grown, tended and harvested within a day’s drive of your table.
The wine menu is stocked with local favorites from Finger Lakes and the Hudson Valley and the food menu changes daily: fresh produce drives the offerings.
So when you think of a spirit brand that would be best aligned with this food philosophy, you would think of Square One Organic Vodka or a locally distilled Brooklyn gin.
But rather than opting for the obvious, the Green Table is infusing its summer cocktail program with Patrón tequila.
A small batch, organic tequila? Well, no.
But it’s a spirit that prides itself on sourcing the finest and purest ingredients to produce an impeccable spirit. And it makes sense: that a restaurant dedicated to a similar principal aligns with a spirits brand that holds itself to the same standard.
A visit to the Green Table and a chat with Rick Hickman, the beverage director within the Cleaver Co., confirmed what I have always known: Patrón is a damn good spirit.
This summer the Green Table is incorporating Patrón varietals into its daily cocktails. As with the food, the menu changes daily depending on what’s fresh and available. On this particularly humid evening, we sipped on two drinks. The Green Market Cooler was a blend of Patrón Silver, ginger simple syrup, seltzer, mint and cucumber – a combination so good yet so dangerous. The second was the Patrón Pimiento which incorporated the Añejo, heirloom peppers, cilantro, lime juice and a hint of a jalapeño for a healthy kick. The latter hinted at severe spiciness but a sip proved that the bark was worse than its bite.
Complementing the market fresh cocktails was unusual bar fare – we noshed on a platter of organic veggies like carrots, celery, radishes and bell peppers paired with tapanade and black bean dip. I drank all night and actually left feeling healthy.
For Chicagoans who are itching for a local cocktail to call their own, Patrón is also working with Rich Szydlo of One Sixty Blue who is currently serving up the Outside Living, made with Patrón Reposado, strawberry consommé, basil, lemon and whole strawberry slices.
