Spanish Sips

The other night, I met a friend at one of my very favorite restaurants in New York, Sala 19. This place is one of those rare restaurants in New York City where I feel the urge to visit again and again. It's my go-to place for meeting up with friends, celebrating Big City milestones and first dates (though I happily believe my days of those are long gone...). Sala 19 is sexy, sophisticated, loud, dimly lit, affordable -- and the tapas are so damn good.


For drinks, I usually get the red sangria, but the other night, bartender Joe concocted up his own specialty for us, the El Halcon, a smooth blend of Hendrick's Gin, St. Germain, grapefruit bitters, a splash of cranberry (for color). Once all the ingredients are shaken and poured into a martini glass, Joe singed and orange peel with a match to give this sip a smokey flavor. The finishing touch? Topping the whole thing off with some bubbly cava. Salut!