recipe: on the rocks

Recipe by Tony Lombardi, Hitchcock Restaurant Group

Photo: Tony Lombardi

1½ oz. shellfish-rested gin (below)
1 oz. seaweed (wakame) tea (below)
¾ oz. lemon juice
½ oz. wildflower honey syrup (below)
1½ oz. Gramercy Cellars (Walla Walla) syrah

Add all ingredients (except for red wine) in a shaker tin. Add ice and shake, then strain over fresh ice. Float red wine on top.

Shellfish-rested gin
1 liter Bainbridge Organic Distillers’ Heritage Douglas Fir Gin
½ lb. shellfish shells (can be oyster, clam, abalone, scallops etc.)

Bring four quarts of water to a boil and add shells. Boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove shells and rinse with cold water. Using a hammer, roughly break up shells (do not pulverize to a fine powder). Rest gin on the sterilized shells for one week.

Wakame tea
1 oz. wakame
2 c. boiling water

Pour hot water over wakame and let steep for 10 minutes. Strain mixture through a fine sieve and cool in refrigerator.

Honey syrup
1 c. wildflower honey
1 c. water

Pour hot water into honey. Whisk until thoroughly incorporated and cool in refrigerator.

---

Bottoms up to the Walla Walla

On April 15, a wildly off-course Washington State ferry ran aground in Rich Passage, stranding 600-some passengers and crew on the rocky shore of Bainbridge Island for several hours. Since April is National Poetry Month, we decided to have some fun and invited our social media followers to submit haikus about the epic mishap. Our favorite, penned by esteemed islander Clarence Moriwaki, inspired us to ask local mixologist Tony Lombardi for a cocktail recipe. Lombardi, beverage director at Hitchcock Restaurant Group, came through with “On the Rocks,” an elaborate concoction available at Cafe Hitchcock in June. Order it there or mix one up yourself, and raise a glass to the Walla Walla, once again plying Puget Sound waters. / Alorie Gilbert

The Walla Walla
Bainbridge Island's new cocktail
It's served on the rocks
- Clarence Moriwaki

Photo: Kori Abbott