Just for NOW readers, five Toronto bartenders concoct Film Fest celebrity slurps that will let you drink like the stars. Try these recipes to taste how TIFF Town mixmasters put the sizzle in the swizzle.
TIFF CELEBRITY Andy Serkis in Death Of A Superhero
Serkis plays a psychologist counselling a young man dying of cancer who expresses himself through composing a superhero comic.
STARTENDER Scott Mochrie, Grind House Burger Bar (365 Queen West, 416-977-3010)
Mochrie got his start 11 years ago at Kilgor’s on Bloor and has been shaking up the town ever since.
THE DRINK Kong’s Revenge
1 oz Kraken Black Spiced Rum
1 oz Sauza Silver Tequila
¾ oz Havana Club Dry 7-Year-Old Rum
¾ oz Galliano
¾ oz fresh OJ
¾ oz fresh lemon and lime juice (equal parts)
¼ oz grenadine
2 dashes Bitter Truth Creole Bitters
1 dash Angostura Bitters
? of a banana
Muddle banana in a cocktail shaker. Add all ingredients and shake vigorously with ice. Pour through a fine strainer into a 10-ounce ceramic tiki mug filled with crushed ice. Garnish with banana, lime, lemon and orange wheels in ascending order. Serve with a large-diameter straw.
THE SYNOPSIS Knowing that it’s really hard to make a tasty cancer-themed drink, Mochrie has focused on Serkis’s famous monster roles: “The tiki-style cocktail with real banana is, of course, for the movie King Kong, where Andy plays the role of Kong himself. The swamp created in our sink by making the drink is, possibly, my homage to his Gollum in The Lord Of The Rings. Kong’s Revenge is definitely a monster of a drink with over 3 ounces of liquor in it.”
TIFF CELEBRITY Robert De Niro in Killer Elite
Mr. Are You Talkin’ To Me joins Clive Owen and Jason Stratham in a welcome return to badassery.
STARTENDER Simon Ho, Drake Hotel (1150 Queen West, 416-531-5042)
Having spent most of his life behind bars, Ho is now one of the head ‘tenders at the Drake, where he’ll be making elite, killer drinks until 4 am every night for the duration of the fest.
THE DRINK The #12 To Sedgwick Ave
1¾ oz Victoria Gin
½ oz dry vermouth
¼ oz St-Germain elderflower liqueur
Dash of orange bitters
Juice of half a grapefruit (about 1 oz)
Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with cracked ice and stir. Strain into a double old-fashioned glass over a 2-inch ice cube. Garnish with grapefruit zest.
SYNOPSIS The #12 is a variation on the traditional Bronx cocktail. The drink takes its name from the bus De Niro drove in A Bronx Tale. Ho observes, “De Niro didn’t want to get pigeonholed in Mob roles, so he mixed things up with comedic parts in movies like Analyze This and Meet The Fockers. With this in mind, the #12 has a little sweetness despite its tough exterior.”
TIFF CELEBRITY Nicolas Cage in Trespass
The TIFF website blurb for Trespass starts with, “A seemingly straightforward home invasion evolves into something far more complicated.” What, like a night out in a New Orleans restaurant with Nic “Who Let Him Out Of His” Cage?
STARTENDER Rob Montgomery, The Miller Tavern (3885 Yonge, 416-322-5544)
Perennial mixology contest contender, including the 2011 Grey Goose Pour Master title, Montgomery focuses his gimlet eye on the Miller’s new sister location, the upscale Fox pub, which opens at Bay and Harbour on September 5.
THE DRINK Gone In 60/40 Seconds
1 oz Averna
? oz St-Germain elderflower liqueur
1 dash Reagan’s Orange Bitters No.6
Freeze all bottles overnight. Combine all ingredients in a chilled old-fashioned glass. Serve immediately.
THE SYNOPSIS Montgomery adapted this drink from one sampled at Tales Of The Cocktail, the annual boozehounds love-in. “60/40” refers both to the Cage and Jolie stolen vehicle from 2000’s Gone In Sixty Seconds and, as Montgomery explains, Cage’s transitional career mix “in the late 90s and early 00s, when he started making more blockbuster-style movies and fewer artistic efforts. The ratio also reflects the proportion of amaro to liqueur. St-Germaine is called bartender’s ketchup for a couple of reasons: it seems like every bar on the planet is using it, and guests are drawn to its charming profile. Same could be said for Nic Cage a few years ago.”
TIFF CELEBRITY George Clooney, starring in The Descendants and directing The Ides Of March. The festival’s gone bi-George, but red carpeteers can’t have too much of a good thing.
STARTENDER Michelle Tham, Beer Bistro (18 King East, 416-861-9872)
Having claimed victory at this year’s Made With Love cocktail competition, Tham continues her winning ways at the Beer Bistro, where she’s developing an innovative lineup of beer-based cocktails.
THE DRINK Oh Bourbon, Where Art Thou?
4 oz Woodford Reserve Bourbon
1 oz Bénédictine
½ oz Luxardo Maraschino
3 dashes Bitter Truth Creole Bitters
Combine all ingredients into a mixing glass and stir. Funnel into a flask. Age away from sunlight for 11 days.
Drink from flask.
THE SYNOPSIS “Clooney is a well-known flask-carrier,” says Tham. “Aged in flask, this drink, like the actor, only gets better with time. Hailing from Kentucky roots, Clooney must have a bourbon cocktail with old-fashioned complexity and a hint of fruit. There’s something about drinking a strong, well-made cocktail from a flask that’s gentlemanly yet still a little badass, just like Clooney.”
TIFF CELEBRITY Vanessa Redgrave in Anonymous
Redgrave plays Elizabeth I in this thriller that claims Shakespeare didn’t write all that Shakespeare. Redgrave has never avoided controversy, so it’s no surprise she stars in this retelling of one of the world’s oldest conspiracy theories.
STARTENDER Lynn McNeill, The Beaver (1192 Queen West, 416-537-2768)
McNeill has beveraged many a Toronto reveller during his years at Lee’s Palace and as owner of the beloved Beaver on Queen West. Prior to that, he worked at world-famous bars that are actually world famous, like New York’s Danceteria and London’s Stringfellow’s.
THE DRINK: The Blow-Up
1 oz Hendrick’s Gin
1 oz Campari
½ oz Limoncello
Combine all ingredients with ice in a mixing glass and stir. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a candied lemon peel
THE SYNOPSIS Named after the 1966 art house classic that helped establish Redgrave as a serious film actor, O’Neill’s script is adapted from the Negroni, with references to Redgrave’s portrayal of Mary Queen of Scots, symbolized by the Scottish gin, and her often red tresses, represented by the Campari coloration. The two Italian alcohols pay tribute to the Continental double whammy of her husband, Franco Nero, and Blow-Up director Michelangelo Antonioni.
All bartender photos by Michael Watier except Simon Ho by Connie Tsang. De Niro and Clooney by Michael Watier
