The Green Hour
Here’s a tradition to consider instating that will surely make for a very jolly green Christmas. Absinthe, now legal in the US, makes a distinctly different holiday cocktail ritual. A vivid green, absinthe, first concocted during the late 19th century, was once believed to have induced hallucinations and was a favorite of Bohemian artists including Picasso, van Gogh, Rimbaud, Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Oscar Wilde and Ernest Hemingway. Derived primarily from wormwood, modern absinthe is not as powerful and tastes strongly of black licorice.

During its popularity in the 1890s, absinthe was such a bitter product a ritual was started to make it taste better. We spoke with Michel Roux, chairman and CEO of Crillon Importers, makers of Grande Absente, and he schooled us on the preparation of absinthe. “The flavoring that was in absinthe in the late 1800s was very bitter. In order to give flavor to it, you added fennel and everyone had their own recipes. That’s how the sugar ritual started, to make it taste better,” Roux offered of absinthe’s storied history.

According to Roux, the ritual of the Green Fairy is simple but makes for a grand presentation especially at any holiday gathering. Start by pouring two ounces of Grande Absente into a glass. Place an absinthe spoon across the top of your glass. Position a sugar cube on it. Next, dissolve the sugar cube with three ounces of cold water. Finally, stir with absinthe spoon and start indulging.

Deriving its flavor from Star Anise, the 138-proof Grande Absente is best consumed as a pre-dinner cocktail, according to Roux. “But it’s a little more than this. It’s a little bit like champagne. Maybe you have it in New Orleans while having brunch at Brennan’s or you invite friends into your home and offer the traditional (absinthe) ritual. It’s much easier to have a party and do something traditional and perform the ritual, in bars people don’t have time to deal with this,” he explained. 

Another way to imbibe in absinthe is to pair it with food. Roux is working on a cookbook full of over “50 recipes of food made by great chefs that includes mostly fresh fish dishes cooked with absinthe and desserts. It’s quite a versatile product. I am interested to see what the chefs come up with,” said Roux. “The favorite dessert of France’s late president Francois Mitterand was absinthe pie. It’s much like key lime pie but instead of key lime you use absinthe.” Roux also noted that absinthe is very good with chocolate. Out in March 2009, the cookbook will include top chefs in America and France including several people from Las Vegas.

But watch out for the Green Fairy, rumor is it is an aphrodisiac. “It’s not Viagra, but it will get your blood flowing in the right paths,” Roux diplomatically stated.

Go Wild This New Year's Eve
Morton’s The Steakhouse will be featuring a Wild Hibiscus Champagne Cocktail this New Year’s Eve. The Wild Hibiscus flower garnish sits on the bottom of a fluted glass and chilled champagne is poured over it, making the flower “bloom” to reveal its magnificent colors, $16. A feast for the eyes, this bubbly is perfect as a pre-dinner cocktail or a celebratory toast with dinner, and the flower is edible.

Morton’s The Steakhouse is located at 400 East Flamingo Road.  The restaurant is open for dinner Monday through Saturday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. 

For reservations, call Morton’s at (702) 893-0703 or visit www.mortons.com.

Sky High Dining
Gather 21 of your most daring friends for Dinner in the Sky this New Year’s Eve. Although a well-known experience in Europe, Las Vegas is home to the first and only US location for such a pie-in-the-sky happening. December 31st will serve as the date of its inaugural flight.

“It’s the next greatest thing,” said Keith DeRiso, vice president of Las Vegas Event Planner. “The United States needs something new and fun. We have been planning this for the last year, and to have New Year’s Eve as the kickoff time is pretty exciting.”

The high-flying adventure will begin with a welcome reception of wine, cocktails, and hors d’oeuvre. Then once seated in a skybox, your ascent into the sky will take a mere 45 seconds (after all it’s only 12 stories explains DeRiso) and will include an approximately one-hour meal of four courses.

“Our dinner table along with the crane can be located anywhere that has a 100 x 100-foot area. As far as a permanent location, we have that on West Sahara,” explains DeRiso. “And the center of the dining table accommodates up to five service personnel for serving guests.”
 
But if you do have a case of batophobia, beware the flying skybox you will be seated in hangs 180 feet in the air.

Your Right to Champagne
Champagne is, of course, a staple of many a New Year’s Eve celebration. Well, more accurately, it is a libation that is commonly preferred for oh-so-many celebrations. Irish playwright and poet Oscar Wilde even imbibed in some bubbles on his deathbed, declaring, “And now, I am dying beyond my means.”

At a recent champagne tasting luncheon of Piper-Heidsieck’s Rare held at Bellagio’s Sensi, we overhead several sommeliers discussing the all-too-common blunder of plopping a strawberry in your bubbles. Our ears perked up at this fruity faux pas and with New Year’s Eve upon us, we thought there was no better time to dispel some common champagne myths. So with the help of the experts at Perrier-Jouët, to follow are several little known facts about Champagne. And, by the way, if you do want to put something in your Champagne, try a Concord grape, it’s devine.

• Many people think champagne comes from the mini champagne grapes, which could not be farther from reality. Champagne (with the exception of blanc de blancs) is made with two red variety grapes: Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, as well as one white grape, the chardonnay grape.

• Many people don’t realize that champagne is actually a wine. In fact, many top chefs consider champagne the ultimate wine for food. Due to the acidity of champagne, it complements the widest variety of menu items. Plus, you don’t have the added pressure of picking a red or a white wine, as you get both in champagne!

• Many people think that champagne is only supposed to be used for celebrations or with dessert. In reality, champagne should be considered as any wine would be and most desserts are too sweet to accompany a brut champagne (the most common variety of champagne; some demi-sec champagnes are more suited for dessert).

• Most people think that champagne should be ice cold. In reality, the colder it is, fewer tastes and aromas are experienced.

• Most people think the fastest way to chill champagne is to put it into a bucket of ice. In truth, ice water will chill a bottle much faster (in approximately 20 minutes.)

• Most people don’t know that unless the champagne comes from the Champagne region of France, it’s not really champagne. All wines made outside of Champagne, France are Sparkling Wine.

• Little known fact: many people think that once a bottle of champagne is opened, it must be consumed all at once or it will go flat. The reality is that if you have more than half a bottle left, and re-corked properly, it will still be bubbly.

Our friends at Perrier-Jouët recommend giving gift sets for the holidays such as the Single Bottle Gift Box with Perrier-Jouët Fleur de Champagne 2000 or the Luxury Gift Box with Perrier-Jouët Fleur de Champagne 2000 that comes with two flutes. Both are available at Lee’s Liquor.

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