Chef Galen Zamarra stresses the use of fresh and local ingredients for the French and American cuisine of Mas (farmhouse) in New York. In the same way, bar manager Tom Wilson creates a beverage menu that focuses on using fresh, quality ingredients for the cocktails at Mas.
Keeping with the feel of classic cocktails, juices are freshly squeezed and vodka infused in house with Tahitian vanilla.
For The New Amsterdam, priced at $12, rye whisky, Italian vermouth and house-made orange bitters are stirred with ice. The drink then is strained into a martini glass and is garnished with Griottine brandy. An essence from an orange peel is singed into the drink as a final touch.
The organic orange bitters are made by soaking orange peel in high-proof alcohol with a mixture of spices that is Wilson's own recipe.
"We don't cook the bitters like they do in other places; we let the alcohol infuse it naturally," says David Yepez, bartender and mixologist for Mas. The Griottine brandy is also made in-house by soaking organic cherries in brandy, Yepez adds, and the cherries are used to garnish the Mas Manhattan.