His moment in the national spotlight came when the St. Louis Post Dispatch published a tongue-in-cheek editorial on May 28, 1913 regarding the quality of Mr. Bullock's juleps. It seems Teddy Roosevelt had sought to vindicate his reputation for sobriety via libel suit, a suit in which he claimed to drink "just a part of one julep." The Post Dispatch editorial responds, "Who was ever known to drink just a part of one of Tom's? Tom, than whom there is no greater mixologist of any race, color or condition of servitude...To believe that a red-blooded man, and a true Colonel at that, ever stopped with just a part of one of those refreshments...is to strain credulity too far!" Okay, so let's just say the man new his way around a shaker.
One of our favorite original cocktails from The Ideal Bartender is The Horse Thief is a wonderful combination of Old Tom Gin, Sweet Vermouth and a drop or two of Absinthe. It is a remarkably complex libation that really deserves more attention that it has gotten.
Friday night, we will offer The Horse Thief for $8 and pass hors d'oeuvres until 9 PM and the most tasteful cocktail enthusiasts of The Garden State will be in attendance, as is their custom.