HOW I MAKE THAT DRINK (AND WHY IT'S SO GOOD)

The Horiatiki Martini is technically a Greek salad in a glass, except that it’s not of course

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This is an elaborate drink, and deceptively off-puting when you first think about it. A Greek salad as a cocktail? You’re having me on! (My actual, real-world reaction when I first heard about it.) But Tom Garvin is nobody’s fool, and, quite obviously, a very creative drink maker.

 

Tom is the Beverage Director at Marathi an exquisite, small, Crete cuisine inspired Greek restaurant in lower Manhattan, where the streets have names. He’s done the rounds, having worked for the last seven years at some of New York City’s best restaurants and bars, where he made a name for himself creating imaginative cocktail menus. As one has to these days. It’s competitive out there, baby.

 

He says the key to this, let’s face it, complicated, drink is “homemade ingredients, proportions, and the order of mixing ingredients.” But do try this at home! If you fail, Marathi is at 200 Church Street in NYC… If you don’t live in NY, well, you’ll get there one day right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Drink

 

Horiatiki

 

Horiatiki means salad in Greek, so it’s essentially many elements of a classic Greek salad made into a dirty martini style cocktail. When we opened Marathi in Tribeca, NYC, I was tasting a lot of Greek food. I tasted the vinegar we were using for the Greek salad and thought why not a Greek salad cocktail! I love the idea of transforming our classic dishes into cocktails; flavors that compliment each other generally work the same in food as they do in beverages. It’s just a matter of finding a way to implement them in liquid form.

 

Here is my Horiatiki! 

 

Yamas! (Cheers in Greek)

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

 

1.5 Oz The Botanist Gin

.75 Oz Feta Brine

.75 Oz Pepperoncini Brine

 

 

 

 

Preparation

 

Stir and Strain into a coupe. Top with Tomato Vinegar Espuma (see below).  Garnish with a skewered feta triangle and cherry tomato.

 

For Tomato Espuma (enough for 6 cocktails):

Combine the following ingredients in a saucepan on low-medium heat.

 

250 grams tomato water

10 grams gelatin sheets (about two)

10 grams red wine vinegar 

Pinch of salt

Teaspoon of xanthan gum 

Splash of water

 

Stir until the gelatin sheets and xanthan gum dissolve. Remove the liquid and pour into a bowl and place the bowl in an ice bath to chill the liquid. Once cold, put the liquid in an ISI whipper and charge 2 times, shaking before, between, and after each charge. Let stand in a refrigerator for about 45 minutes.