Asiantini - Currents

Cheers, April, 2002

You know the Alternatini craze has conquered the globe when every restaurant, no matter what the theme, seems required to create its own signature recipes. Take these two big city restaurants, NYC's Indian Bukhara Grill and Chicago's Thai Erawan.

Bukhara Grill's owners created "Cocktails and Kababs" as an end-of-the-workday attraction, and discussions about what drinks to include got so hot and furious that today no one dares take full credit for suggesting that a blend of Absolut citron vodka and Cointreau and cranberry juice, should be called a Tajmopolitan. There's also the Vindaloo-tini (Stolichnaya, Chambord, and lime juice), the Madras Mango-tini (Absolut, mango and lime juice, and the Bombay Breeze (Bombay Sapphire Gin, grape juice and cranberry juice laced with lime.

Erawan, a fine dining Thai restaurant in downtown Chicago, features a quality wine list as well as a signature Martini created by chef Art Lee, the Lemongrass Thai-tini

Lemongrass Thai-tini

2 ounces Absolute Citron

2 ounces lemongrass syrup

Pour into shaker cup filled with ice. Shake, strain and serve up, garnished with a freshly sliced kumquat, slice of kiwi and cantaloupe, and a blueberry

Lemongrass syrup:

4 stalks fresh lemon grass

1 cup pandan leaf

2 cups sugar

2 quarts of water

Combine above ingredients into a covered pan. Then bring to a boil. After the ingredients boil, reduce the heat and simmer uncovered until the liquid reduces by 1/3. Store the syrup in the refrigerator. Once the syrup chills, it is ready to be served.