Bottoms Up: Cellar on Greene
For many of us, New Year’s Eve brings with it the promise of change. Granted, some of those changes don’t last as long as we would like, but the holidays are all about hope and tradition.
And one tradition of the holidays is having champagne to ring in the new year. Now, whether bubbly is a taste you crave regularly or seek out on special occasions, there is more than one way to enjoy it, as was discovered at Cellar on Greene.
This cozy spot in Five Points uses every bit of its space, offering a robust selection of unique wines as you enter on your left and the restaurant and bar to your right.
While its wine list is comprehensive and the selection of beers impressive, it’s the champagne on its menu that makes Cellar effervescent.
“I think you should drink champagne every day,” said Laurel Jeffries, bartender at Cellar on Greene. “It does not need to be a special occasion. And it’s so food-friendly. Before dinner, after dinner, with chocolate. There is every occasion to drink bubbly.”
According to Jeffries, proseccos are popular right now, along with cavas, because they’re more citrus-driven and crisper.
“But people like true champagne also,” she said. “And brut rosé is very popular. It could be a rosé cava. It could be a rosé champagne. Pink bubbly is excellent. And generally very dry. People have the misconception that pink wine is sweet, but pink bubbly is generally very, very dry and very food-friendly.”
Cellar on Greene’s champagne cocktails are beyond your Bellini (frozen peach purée and champagne) and Rossini (strawberries and champagne) – and what you’d liken to thinking outside of the champagne flute.
“One of my favorite holiday cocktails is the Poinsettia,” Jeffries said. Made simply with cranberry juice, bubbly and dried cranberries, the cranberries rise and fall in the glass as the bubbles in the champagne attach and release themselves.
Any quality juice pairs with bubbly, especially pomegranate or a really good apple cider. Pineapple. Just mix in a little bubbly and it makes it more festive.
Laurel Jeffries
bartender, Cellar on GreeneAnother cocktail Jeffries likes is The Bees Knees, an homage to the classic cocktail. But because they don’t have liquor, Jeffries uses an aromatic Riesling, along with fresh lemon juice and honey to recreate the tasty and refreshing beverage.
And last but not least, the “Kirsch” Royale or, as it should be called, a Champagne Royale.
“The Kirsch is not the cherry brandy that you would normally get but it’s Liefmans Cuvee Brut, which is essentially a cherry beer made in the style of a champagne,” Jeffries said. “It’s slightly fizzy and has a lot of deep, dark cherry notes to it. I mix that with a little bit of dry bubbly and drop in some bourbon-soaked cherries.”
And if these don’t suit your fancy?
“Honestly, just drink champagne in a glass. Maybe a frosty glass. That’s all you need,” she said.
Cheers to that!
The perfect toast
Toasting takes center stage at New Year’s. Here, eight tips from Laurel Jeffries, bartender at Cellar on Greene:
1. A toast is given after the first-course dishes are cleared – so it’s early into the night. “So you have had a drink but not seven.”
2. Generally, the toast is given by the host.
3. If the host chooses not to or if someone else gives it, he should pay tribute to the host.
4. Keep it under a minute. “Always leave them wanting more.”
5. Use a little comic relief, but make sure it’s audience-appropriate. “The worst thing you can do in a toast is offend someone with a lewd joke gone wrong.”
6. The second-worst thing you can do is be too quiet. Speak loudly and clearly.
7. Plan it ahead. Don’t try to wing it. “You’ll feel more comfortable and speak slower, which comes across more prepared.”
8. Relax. Any misgivings you may have about giving a toast, the way you feel after will take all that away!
This story was originally published December 30, 2015 at 11:53 AM.