Meet Nadia Abdelrhman, a Stranger reader who has vowed to do everything The Stranger suggests for the entire month of March. Look for her reports daily on Slog and Line Out. —Eds.
Yesterday’s Suggests solely involved the purchase of a specific drink at a specific bar. All because of a chainsaw.
At Mistral Kitchen, an upscale dining hall, I was served the Bitter Handshake. It’s served in a highball glass, and a ball comes included with the high. Beware: inebriated folk at Mistral Kitchen are armed with icy projectiles. Did I mention Mistral Kitchen is on a corner, and lined with windows? Seems dangerous, Mistral Kitchen owners.
But, if you come to Mistral Kitchen in search of chainsaws during a Thursday happy hour, you’re not going to find any; Andrew Bohrer chainsaws his specialty ice into blocks on Thursday mornings on Mistral Kitchen’s loading dock (which last the bar through the week), then he takes the rest of the day off.
- The orb.
Fortunately, our bartender was a doll and presumably hand-carves these icy blocks into balls all evening. The sound of the carving ran a shiver up my companion’s spine and his discomfort immediately transferred onto me. So if that nail-screeching sound puts you off, I probably wouldn’t sit right at the bar—though one must be brave.
Mistral Kitchen also sells fancy food, but I didn’t try any because I had other plans. The menu looked good, though. They offer oysters for a dollar a pop during happy hour and we were even given some free popcorn which was tasty and possibly seasoned with pesto.
The Bitter Handshake—made with Fernet Branca, a blood orange reduction, house-made Wild Turkey Rye syrup and orange zest—was deliciously smooth and lovely to look at; the icy orb reflected an array of colors beneath its orange-peel wrapping, all the while cooling the temperature of the drink without watering it down. My fellow barfly tried the Bees Knees, made with frothy egg white, gin, lemon, and bitters. To wrap up, I had the herbed gin. It was refreshing and mellow (and all gin).
I walked out of there with a buzz and it wasn’t even 6 pm. Mistral Kitchen’s drinks and atmosphere are nice, but if you want a chainsaw show, you’re out of luck. Suggests denied.
artisan ice!
I was misled! Emails from Mr. Bohrer made it sound like there would be ice-chainsawing AND ice-chainsawing-remnant snowball-fighting right at the bar. Apologies to you, Nadia, and to all Suggests readers. But: At least the cocktails were good.
Personally, I was looking forward to goggle-wearing chefs using a chainsaw right before you to make your drink, before lighting it on fire with a giant blowtorch.
Le sigh.
Crap, that Bitter handshake sounds good. I was wondering when the Fernet Branca craze would reach Seattle. Stuff’s awesome, and it’s inspired me to seek out a whole range of similar German and Slavic bitter potions. Zwack is wonderful, and a lot easier to take than Fernet. Pelinkovac, a Croatian (I think) wormwood liqueur made in Cleveland, is a little rougher going.
And of course blood orange is world’s best bitter mixer. Try it with Campari, it’ll blow your mind.
*slap*
Nothing like a little followup to keep the Stranger (or the venues) on their toes. This is two days in a row of FAIL.
I’m suddenly liking this whole “Yesterday…” gig a lot more. 😉
I lol’d at “one must be brave.” Cheers to small victories in booze houses.
My fear of the orb: tooth chipping potential. I’d have to make this my first drink while I could still remember to use my lips as a cushion.
Seriously, why be so vocal about the chainsaw bit if none of your patrons are even remotely involved?
Not that I’m a proponent of indoor chainsaw ice-cutting, which would be more appropriate at a Cowgirls Inc. then a bar claiming to care about good cocktails.
For all we know every decent bar in Seattle has to cut their ice this way after it’s delivered, but they’re not beating their chests about it every time they do an interview.
Maybe someone went overboard trying to impress a certain Ms. Bethany. 🙂
In all fairness, though, it sounds like a great bar and I can’t wait to try it out. 🙂
@7, if your bar features a naked girl cutting up ice with a chainsaw on top of the bar, I’m there!
Well, that’s one way to charge $12 for a drink.