drink seco issue no. 6
A reckoning for hospitality and fine dining, drinks that have captivated the public imagination, drinking habits and your politics, the favorite drinks of our US Presidents, and more!
Hello!
Welcome back to edition 6 of the Drink Seco newsletter! Congrats on you all making it through January, and for some of you I assume ‘dry January’ (there are always a few).
Hope you all enjoyed the last newsletter, please don’t come for me if you tried out some of those old-fashioned cocktails. I think they were called ‘lost cocktails’ for a reason…
The holiday season is officially over and it’s time to get back to some regular programming and Dolly’s good old 9-5…
As a personal update in the world of Kate and Carlie, we had to put down our gorgeous little Figgy this week. Anyone who has had to say goodbye to a pet/furry family member knows how hard it is. It was a tough decision but ultimately the right one. She had a long and happy life, and we’re glad we could be there for the end.
Sleep well sweet Fig.
On a lighter note, this week I promise to steer clear of all milk-based cocktails of the past and instead shift the focus to the world of fine dining and hospitality.
That’s right the world of extravagant and sometimes absurd haute cuisine.
Full disclosure, this might have in part been prompted by the trailer release of the new Succession season... The countdown is on.
If there were two themes of television in 2022 it would be wealth and the hospitality industry. White Lotus; case in point.
America has a longstanding fascination with the ill-behaved rich. Whether it be in movies, tv, reality shows, or celebrity culture, we want to see it. I’m sure we could get into the psychology and politics of this but the fact remains, it makes for good viewing.
In this week's newsletter, I’ve decided to combine and unpack a few of these cultural, fine dining experiences and what they might hail.
A reckoning for hospitality and fine dining
Drinks that have dominated the public imagination
Drinking habits and your politics
The favorite drinks of every US President
Know the talk about Cabernet
Let’s get into it!
A reckoning for hospitality and fine dining:
Last year we saw the release of The Bear and The Menu. Similarly, in 2021 award-winning Boiling Point (2021) came out. These huge hits that have dominated much of the public discourse on toxic hospitality culture and fine dining, prompting a re-examining of what we know about hospitality workplace culture and the behind-the-scenes of the flourishing high restaurant scene.
Previously, if someone had said: “name a cooking/chef movie”, what would you say? Most would probably say, Ratatouille, Chef, Julia & Julia, I Am Love, or reality cooking shows; MasterChef, The Great British Bake-off, or Gordon Ramsey’s shows. Undeniably, these are not the most accurate representations of kitchens and hospitality.
We are increasingly confronted with growing wealth disparity, an examination of class divides, and the ‘uber rich’, all of which were made particularly patent through the pandemic. Intertwined with our obsession with the lives of the rich and famous, it’s no surprise our tv shows and movies are reflecting this. Over the past few years, tv shows and movies like Succession, White Lotus, Squid Game, Billions, or movies like Parasite have dominated our screens and the award shows.
Last year took an interesting development by deepening this analysis and looking at the relationship between fine dining, hospitality culture, and those who participate in it.
The New York Times heralded The Bear “the restaurant industry’s overdue reckoning”. In case you missed it, The Bear was an HBO show about a young chef who returns to Chicago from the world of fine dining to run his brother’s sandwich shop. The show features all the grueling work, hours, tantrums, pressure, sacrifices, and emotions that come with running and working in a kitchen. Unlike the glamorized chef narratives or studio glitz of reality tv we’re used to, it shows the hierarchical militaristic style of running a kitchen, complete with intensity and abuse.
The show naturally generated much discussion about the industry's darker side. Many former chefs and line workers expressed just how accurate The Bear’s portrayal of hospitality is. In Bon Appetit, Genevieve Yam wrote she “could barely get through The Bear, because “it was the most accurate portrayal of life in a restaurant kitchen I've seen in a while. It was so accurate that it was triggering.”
Similarly, The Menu explores the absurd and abusive structures in the kitchen and how it interplays with the types of customer demands in fine dining through dark comedy and horror. The Menu is about a group of elite guests on a private island for a dining experience from a celebrity chef, which has a dark twist. It’s also a reflection on ‘foodie culture’ and obnoxious diners. While I wasn’t a huge fan of the film itself, it is yet another example of these sorts of questions dominating the public discussion.
Are these shows marking the shift, and shining the light on the problematic elements of high restaurant culture?
It isn’t only fictional shows that are talking about this. I’m sure you all remember the tidal wave that was Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential exposing industry secrets and the behind-the-scenes of the haute cuisine world. Last year two notable books that were released in a similar vein were Jess Ho’s Raised By Wolves and A Waiter in Paris: Adventures in the Dark Heart of the City by Edward Chisholm.
Raised By Wolves is about all the allure and dysfunction of the Melbourne hospitality scene in the 2000s, the industry’s obsession with ‘Asian Fusion’, and the politics of food colonization.
A Waiter in Paris is about the underbelly of the restaurant world in Paris and experience working in restaurants. “A world of inhuman hours, snatched sleep and dive bars; scraping by on coffee, bread, and cigarettes, often under sadistic managers, with a wage so low you're fighting your colleagues for tips. Your colleagues—including thieves, narcissists, ex-soldiers, immigrants, wannabe actors, and drug dealers—are the closest thing to family that you've got.”
Both depict the often dysfunctional, abusive, almost different universe that exists on the kitchen door.
In other news, one of the world’s most famous restaurants Noma in Copenhagen has announced that it will be closing its doors after reports of abuse, poor staff treatment, extremely low pay, and reliance on unpaid interns were revealed. This is one of many high-dining restaurants that will be closing, alongside it is Blue Hill at Stone Barns and Eleven at Madison Park.
A lot of these restaurants and power dynamics continue to thrive because of the almost God-tier and Rockstar-like status we put chefs on. After years of elevating Chef’s status, they are now considered famous personalities and celebrities. No doubt all of you could name at least 10 celebrity chefs. Perhaps the only pop culture turn I wasn’t expecting was the sexualization of Carmy from The Bear and head chefs to line cooks. I saw a tweet that said “Yes, Chef” is the new “daddy”. A disturbing and funny take.
This Bon Appetit article titled “Everyone’s Horny for the ‘Sexually Competent Dirtbag Line Cook’” had me chuckling. “Imagine no-bed-frame man, but he only drinks from plastic quart containers and cooks a spaghetti carbonara that will make you write in your journal for the first time since high school.”
So with the tide seemingly turning from the era of thriving haute cuisine and fine dining, and a hospitality industry still reeling from the effects of Covid-19 where does this leave us? There’s a lot to love about restaurant life but hopefully, it’s the beginning of a new era where we can leave some things behind.
Drinks that have captivated the public imagination:
Since we’ve already briefly discussed the misconceptions of hospitality in the media, let’s talk about drinks that have captivated the public and have a weird grip on everyone thanks to tv and film!
The Vesper Martini - AKA The James Bond: made with 2 dashes orange bitters, 1 oz lillet blanc, 1 oz vodka, and 1 oz gin.
The Cosmopolitan- AKA The Carrie Bradshaw made with vodka, Cointreau, cranberry juice, and freshly squeezed lime
The White Russian- AKA The Dude made with vodka, coffee liqueur, and light cream
The Old Fashioned- AKA The Don Draper made with 6 dashes of angostura bitters,
0.5 oz simple syrup and 2.5 oz bourbon.
The Orange Whip- AKA The Blues Brothers made with 4 oz orange juice, 1 oz rum, 1 oz vodka, 0.5 oz triple sec, 2 oz heavy cream, and crushed ice.
The Banana Daiquiri- AKA The Godfather (Part II) made with 1 oz white rum, 1 oz dark rum, 0.75 ounce banana liqueur, 1 bar spoon-rich demerara syrup, and 0.75 ounce lime juice.
Ultimately, I’m a big believer that you should just drink what makes you happy and a good bartender should encourage that! It is funny though to see what film and tv represent and the trends they make, they’re not always the obvious choices. Plus it only adds to the authenticity for your dress-up parties!
Drinking habits and your politics:
You can get a quiz on pretty much everything these days, and likewise, you can get data on pretty much everything. This newsletter might slowly be turning into me nerd-ing out over data… (See last newsletter’s obsession with The New York Public Library’s Menu Collection for reference).
Anyways, even though what you drink really doesn’t ultimately say much about your politics, it’s interesting to look at the trends!
A two-year study by National Media Research, Planning & Placement collected 50,000 surveys that determined the drinking preferences of right and left-wing voters.
Republicans are open fans of Robert Mondavi wines while Democrats prefer Smoking Loon
Democrats drink more champagne
Republicans drink more whiskey, specifically bourbon, while Dems go for vodka and gin
Another study found when a state becomes more liberal politically, its consumption of beer and spirits rises, while its consumption of wine may fall
Rum was the only thing that reached across the aisle
So if you’re having a dinner party and talking politics make sure you’ve got a bottle of rum on hand…
A little fun side piece, see if the data lines up with our President’s drinks of choice.
The favorite drinks of our US Presidents:
George Washington was a whiskey drinker
John Adams allegedly liked a hard cider
Thomas Jefferson loved wine (it almost financially ruined him)
Abraham Lincoln apparently drank the least
Teddy Roosevelt used White House garden mint to make mint juleps. I make mint juleps with 6 sprigs of fresh mint, 0.5 oz simple syrup, and 2.5 oz spirit (I use a whiskey)
Harry S. Truman was a bourbon man
John F. Kennedy loved a cocktail, in particular a bloody mary, but was also partial to daiquiris.
Richard Nixon mainly drank expensive bottles of Château Lafite Rothschild.
Ronald Reagan liked Orange Blossom Specials, made with orange juice, vodka, and sweet vermouth.
George H.W. Bush drank a bit of everything but George W Bush didn’t drink in the office.
Bill Clinton drank ‘snakebites’ which is hard cider mixed with beer.
Barack Obama drank beer, in his administration the White House even started brewing its own honey ale from honey on the grounds.
Donald Trump didn’t drink but he did try (unsuccessfully) to launch his own vodka brand.
Know the talk about Cabernet:
This leads me to my next piece of news. My next class will be on Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and some general wine tasting!
In late 2021, the New York Times wrote “California cabernet sauvignon occupies a paradoxical position in the United States. It’s the country’s signature wine, yet it holds little interest among important groups of wine drinkers. Younger people in particular seem to ignore it.” Which I think is pretty spot on. I also think, there are a lot of reasons to be excited about Cabernet!
A decade or so ago, many professional young wine drinkers turned on Bordeaux, not because of the wine itself but because they associated it with older, wealthier people and status seekers. Because of this, a whole type of wines were dismissed and people missed out on what can be delicious wines. Literally what we have been talking about in this newsletter, drinks, and the reputations/associations they have!
Cabernet Franc is a red wine grape varietal believed to have originated in France’s Basque country, close to the Spanish border. (If you thought I could go a newsletter without mentioning San Sebastian, try again lol).
It’s most commonly used as a blending grape in the famous Bordeaux blend, usually with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. You’ll also find single-varietal wine using Cabernet Franc made in the US (California) and Loire Valley, France. It is grown across many different climates.
Cabernet Franc is known for the unique flavor of bell pepper and black pepper, plum or black cherry, and occasional whiffs of graphite and dark chocolate.
To learn more about this intriguing wine consider joining my class!
That’s all for this week! I hope you enjoyed reading this edition of the Drink Seco newsletter! Last week I left you all with a lot of reading-related content, this week hopefully makes for some food for thought when catching up on the big foodie shows.
Have a good weekend, another January down!
Carlie x
Yes Chef! More champagne! Rum and Fig 4 EVA!