Garces Trading Co. has evolved a few times since it opened in 2010, and its latest remake has transformed it into a casual, comfortable, chic bistro with a focus on the best of Spain, France, and Italy. The restaurant has new brunch, lunch, and dinner menus, and a revised – and much more interesting - cocktail menu created by Amy
Hartranft.
Her 10 signature cocktails focus on fresh and local ingredients with a “preservation aspect.” Using seasonal foods that have been preserved is her way of creating a cocktail menu that can last through several seasons with slight tweaking.
“The drinks are all loose riffs on classics,” said Hartranft.
The “Lady Marmalade” cocktail, for instance, is a riff on an Amaretto Sour. She turned the Garces Trading Co. preserve Cherry Fig Marmalade into a syrup and added it to Rittenhouse Rye Whiskey, Amaretto, Luxardo Maraschino, fresh lemon, and egg white.
Hartranft also dusted off some bottles of underused spirits like Dubbonet. The “Countess of Chinchon” is a quinine on quinine cocktail that’s a riff on a classic gin and tonic. It replaces the gin with Dubbonet, a fortified red wine that contains quinine.
The other cocktails on Garces Trading Co.’s new menu are just as inventive.
La Femme Francaise
Lillet Blanc, elderflower, cava, fresh lemon, mint
The Run of Precosia
Fino Sherry, Luxardo Maraschino, Rose cava, raspberry
Jardin Martini
Ketel One Vodka, Fino Sherry, Lillet Blanc, celery seed tincture, muddled olive, cherry tomato
Rosslyn Chapel
Bluecoat Gin, Drambuie, honey, fresh rosemary
A-Murcian Derby
Jim Beam Bourbon, Aperol, grapefruit white balsamic honey shrub, fresh grapefruit
El Gran Calavera
El Jimador Tequila, Cointreau, ginger syrup, fresh lime, thyme
King’s Claret Punch
Red wine, brandy, Amontillado Sherry, white rum, triple sec, fresh lemon, grapefruit
Maison Fournaise
A sangria containing white wine, dry vermouth, fresh orange and lemon
Garces Trading Co.’s happy hour runs Monday-Friday from 5–7 PM. Several of the new cocktails are available during happy hour for $8 each. Also during happy hour, house wines are $6 a glass and a selection of draft beer is $4.
Garces Trading Co., 1111 Locust St.; 215-574-1099
Photos: A-Murican Derby and Rosslyn Chapel, A-Murican Derby, and The Run of Precosia, Rosslyn Chapel, and El Gran Calavera via Garces Trading Co.
Tags:
Cocktails,
Spirits
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