On October 5th, right after New York City’s mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg declared it Bloody Mary Day, I — and about a hundred others — were invited by Paul Nash ( the general manager of the St. Regis Hotel in New York City) to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Bloody Mary at the King Cole Bar.
According to the folks at the St. Regis, the drink began as the “Red Snapper” cocktail in 1934 when bartender Fernand Petiot concocted it for one of his vodka-loving clients who asked him to recreate a tomato juice cocktail he’d had in Paris. At that time, the name “Bloody Mary” was deemed too vulgar for the hotel’s elegant King Cole Bar, hence it was named the “Red Snapper”.
During October, the bar is offering 20 variations of the drink created by top New York City restaurants, including one from Charlie Palmer, WD-50, Blue Hill, Prune, Blue Smoke, ‘21’ Club, Landmarc, Adour Alain Ducasse, The Palm, Dovetail, The Spotted Pig, Prune, Freeman and Mikaels.
One drink will set you back $18 — with the St. Regis’ promise to donate twenty-five percent of the purchase price of each cocktail to City Meals on Wheels, to provide meals for home-bound, elderly New Yorkers.
The St. Regis served up a few of the offered versions during the party. I tried them all but my favorite is still the original! Just call me old fashioned!
Here’s that original recipe:
The Red Snapper (AKA Bloody Mary)
2 oz. tomato juice
1 dash lemon juice
2 dashes salt
2 dashes black pepper
2 dashes cayenne pepper
3 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
– bonnie
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