Designer Cocktails Call for Designer Ice

Sensuous texture, deep flavors mark new dishes

(NEWSER) - A new "haute stoner cuisine" is being developed by chefs influenced by the weed with which they unwind, reports the New York Times . “Everybody smokes dope after work—people you would never imagine,” says author chef Anthony Bourdain. The inventive touch of a marijuana high has inspired cuisine in restaurants from Montreal to New York and the Left Coast. The owner of the Kogi Korean taco trucks in Los Angeles compares the phenomenon to Deadheads who get high listening to live music. "Now people get high and share delicious, inventive and accessible food," said Roy Choi. More»

Martinis are about simplicity and sophistication, not... apples

(NEWSER) - Listen up yuppie bar-goers of America, this is the recipe for a martini: gin, dry vermouth, and maybe some olives or a lemon peel twist. That’s it. The apple-tinis, lemon-tinis, and prickly pear-tinis that young people have been quaffing in recent years just don’t sit well with NPR food commentator Bonny Wolf. “Putting a drink in a long-stemmed V-shaped glass does not make it a martini,” she rants. More»

Expect your cocktails to be herbal, matched with food, and cold

(NEWSER) - Absinthe and other speakeasy libations are so last decade. Now that craft cocktails are mainstream, what will the next 10 years bring to the hottest watering holes? Derek Brown of the Atlantic looks into his crystal ball:

• Food pairings: They're not just for sommeliers anymore. "Expect to see cocktails accompanying your food in 2010."

Great summer drink fits move toward local, natural, artisanal

(NEWSER) - If you’re still sipping ginger ale from a can, you must be sadly misinformed about the latest drink trend. The cool thing now is ginger ale from scratch, informs the New York Times, and bars and restaurants are catching on. Why put in the extra effort of steeping ginger with lemon and sugar, then adding seltzer? It’s more delicious, for one. More»

Restaurants, liquor firms aim to gussy up drinks

(NEWSER) - In a tough economy, restaurants are hoping to cash in on cocktails—and bartenders are going back to school to improve their mixology prowess, the Wall Street Journal reports. Restaurants hope expert barkeeps will bring in upscale drinkers, and the courses help trainees score top jobs. But the advanced-level programs are “no walk in the park,” says a designer. More»