First Call: West 5 in the Afternoon
A weekly Voracious feature in which we walk into a bar unannounced and ask the bartender to make us his or her favorite drink.
Locale: West 5, 4539 California Ave. S.W. Dark and cozy, with a little vintage bowling alley flare, ten steps in to this bar and you can’t tell the time of day. West 5 serves as a neighborhood meet up with a stellar booze selection, and their happy hour is full most every day of the week.
Bartender: JoAnn is the day bartender at West 5, and has been a beloved bar maven in these parts for many years. Barkeeps take note: I asked JoAnn for her favorite drink, and without any further questioning or qualification, she went straight into action. “OK, well, my favorite thing to drink is amaretto & soda; so I’ll make it exactly how I like to drink it,” she says.
The drink: A healthy pour of DiSaronno in a pint glass full of ice, topped with soda. The verdict: It’s the adult version of an almond/hazelnut Italian soda. It’s rainy and clammy outside, and the mood is just right for this. It would never occur to me to order amaretto, but I will buy whatever JoAnn’s selling.
JoAnn says, “I never liked whiskey. About 10 years ago I started drinking this because I need a little of that sweet. You know what else is good? A blueberry tea, with amaretto, Grand Marnier, and hot black tea.”
The West 5 has it’s share of after work regulars that start to roll in around 3pm, and JoAnn knows them all. She gets them started, then makes the rounds to say her goodbyes after she does her books. When JoAnn finishes her shift, she relaxes on my side of the bar with a snifter of the above. I love a bartender who practices what they preach.
So, also I cheated. I went for my first call as JoAnn was giving her last call and the night bartender Mike was starting his shift. First call perfecta! When I ask Mike for his favorite drink, he answers, “Are you sure?” “Yep, you can’t hurt me,” I say, wondering why so many bartenders answer our question with another question. You’re choosing my drink, not my health care plan. (Are people really that uptight? Oh, wait…yes.) Then he asks me if I like gin and Chartreuse. Yes and hell yes.
The drink: gin and lime juice on the rocks with a splash of Chartreuse. The verdict: This drink is the imaginary intersection of a Venn diagram containing the subsets: gin & tonic, rickey, and mojito. Mike tells me someone from the Weekly came in a while back but didn’t care for a similar drink that he made. Well Mike, you got a do-over and I declare your drink simple and effing delicious.
**Next time you’re in West 5, check out the bottom shelf, far right, where the Chartreuse lives. It’s a bitters and aquavit chorus line.
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