THE NEGRONI
My first bartending job was at a small bistro in the Northern English city of Leeds. Happy Hour was actually Happy Three Hours, and it ran Monday to Friday. Drinks cost £1.75, and this being shortly before the dawn of the modern cocktail renaissance, the Long Island Iced Tea and the San Francisco (don’t ask) were our biggest sellers. When I was presented with the task of re-writing that menu, I grasped the opportunity to perhaps bring a little old school sophistication to the place, and over the twelve months that followed the launch of the new menu I think we sold two Negronis, both of which came back relatively untouched.