I’ve been enjoying writing monthly Drink & a Movie posts a lot. So much so, in fact, that I’m going to try to keep the series going for four full years, since I’ll have then just about programmed a year-long weekly film series. To get me all the way there, I’ll need to throw in four bonus posts. There’s no time like the present, and I figured that a good place to begin would be with the drink that started it all, a Manhattan from The Simpsons Season 3, Episode 4 “Bart the Murderer.” No, not this flat, flavorless one that gets Fat Tony the kiss of death from a fellow mob boss:
But this “superb” one that Bart makes earlier in the episode:
It’s so good that it gets him a part-time job working in Fat Tony’s Legitimate Businessman’s Social Club. The episode contains any number of hilarious jokes based on this premise, as well as a cameo from Neil Patrick Harris and two of my favorite Simpsons lines to randomly quote, “well observed!” and “I don’t have an appointment with any large men!” The funniest thing about it to me now, though, might be this drink. First, the Manhattan is of course a stirred (containing as it does only spirits and bitters) drink, but Bart shakes it, which: if you want flat, this is a great way to start! Then he drops the maraschino cherry (the ice cream sundae kind, not these treasures) garnish into it from a downright reckless height. I’d never, ever do either of these things. And yet: the “plop!” sound that the cherry makes somehow still sounds inviting to me even now!
I watched the first ten seasons of The Simpsons front to back at least four times in the years surrounding my completion of graduate school. Here’s a picture of my trusty season three box set, which is still going strong even after all that usage:
You can also stream “Bart the Murderer” via Disney+ with a subscription or via Amazon Prime for a rental fee. This is probably as good a place as any to address the Stampy in the room: yes, I know that many people wouldn’t consider an episode of a television show to be a “movie.” I’m the programmer here, though, and in the immortal words of Sir Robert Eversley, I’ll do what I like! Anyway:
At some point during this era in my life I visited my best friend Anthony in Chicago, and he took me to legendary cocktail lounge The Violet Hour. It was only natural that with memories of Bart the Mixologist bouncing around in my brain, I would order the Woolworth Manhattan created by Michael Rubel circa 2008 on my first visit. The rest, as they say, is history. I was delighted to see this drink included in the recently published The Bartender’s Manifesto by Toby Maloney and the Violet Hour’s other bartenders, and even more so by the note that “if you’re using a vermouth that doesn’t have as much body (and soul) as Carpano, you might need to add a little Demerara syrup to boost the Textural qualities.” The reason being that I clearly remember asking the person who served it to us what gave the drink its body and being served a small amount of Carpano Antica in response, which I thought was just about the coolest thing ever. We also definitely got the whole spiel about how the drink was inspired by Proustian recollections of lunch counter cheeseburgers and fountain root beers! Here’s how you make it:
2 oz. Buffalo Trace Bourbon (Four Roses Small Batch)
3/4 oz. Carpano Antica Vermouth
1/4 oz. Cynar (Cynar 70)
9 drops Angostura Bitters
Stir with ice and strain into a chilled coupe (Nick and Nora) glass. Garnish with a cherry and 12 drops of Bittercube Root Beer Bitters.
I’d make it with Buffalo Trace now for authenticity’s sake if I could, but I can’t ever seem to find it anymore. If you, like me, live a place where Carpano Antica costs nearly twice as much as other quality vermouths, do consider playing around with Demerara syrup! A 2:1 ratio of sugar and water is recommended elsewhere in The Bartender’s Manifesto. This might be one cocktail worth splurging on, though: I’m happy to report that even after more than ten years, it still strikes me as just about perfect. As does season three of The Simpsons, for that matter!
Cheers!
All original photographs in this post are by Marion Penning, aka My Loving Wife. Other entries in this series can be found here.
1/18/23 Update:
It has always nagged at me that I didn’t pick a feature film to go along with The Simpsons episode for the “& a Movie” half of this pairing. Luckily Mark Mylod’s The Menu came along and bailed me out! The Woolworth Manhattan was inspired by bartender Michael Rubel’s memory of fountain root beer served alongside “an expertly griddled double cheeseburger with endlessly caramelized edges” served atop a toasted sesame bun. Behold this masterpiece by chef Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes):
The fact that it looks gorgeous is hardly a surprise, considering it’s clearly one of the food shots contributed by Chef’s Table creator David Gelb. Slowik’s application of thinly-sliced onions to the top of the patty immediately before it’s flipped is a nice touch as well, as is the way he presses down on the top of the bun when he plates it–perhaps those were contributions from chief technical consultant Dominique Crenn? Anyway, this photograph that our hero Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy) finds in Slowik’s cottage even establishes this “well-made cheeseburger” as something of an origin story:
What better film could I therefore choose to flesh this out into a proper screening?
The Prodigal Cinephile 