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| A trio of cocktails from Ela in Philadelphia |
Ela, the Philadelphia restaurant owned by chefs Jason Cichonski (seen this year on Bravo TV's Top Chef ) and Chip Roman is already known for innovative, elegant dishes. Now, mixologists Maria Polise and Zachary Svoboda have designed a cocktail program to equal Ela's creative cuisine.
The cocktails at Ela are off the charts, literally; each drink on the current menu is named with a song title from the band Brand New. On the milder end of the scale there was Tautou, a tall, pink potion of vodka, raspberry-thyme shrub, lemon and soda with a perfect sweet-tart balance and a subtle herb finish. For those who prefer slightly stiffer sips, there's the fragrant Secondary with bourbon, lime, mint and house-made falernum (a sweet syrup similar to orgeat), and the smoky Millstone with mezcal, reposado tequila, dried fruit and a brandied cherry.
We also sampled several of Polise and Svoboda's as-yet-unnamed winter cocktails (Svoboda explained that Brand New only had three albums, so they're moving on to another theme). My favorite was a concoction of white rum, lime and falernum served in a martini glass and tinted pale orange with the addition of raw egg; my husband A.D. preferred one made with Calvados apple brandy and smoky lapsang souchong tea.
To accompany the updated bar list, there are also new bar bites including house-made pickles with daikon and asparagus, bacon-caramel popcorn, and a whipped chicken liver mousse served with caramelized onion and crostini; all three were out of this world.
Ela is open seven days a week, with varying hours for the kitchen, bar, brunch and happy hour – for details check ElaPhilly.com
ELA
627 S 3rd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147
267.687.8512
Photos ©Glamorosi 2013
Posted on Wednesday, November 27, 2013
