A Better Boule

You were warned. I said there would be bars. I said there would be baked goods. So, no one should be particularly surprised that I recently showed up at Long Island Bar with cookies in tow.

This time it was Buckwheat Chocolate Chip-Walnut Cookies – specifically for Jocelyne – who accepted them graciously, as one does when confronted with unexpected, homemade baked goods. Toby Cecchini also tried one and declared them tasty, which I will absolutely be counting as an official endorsement. Credit where it’s due: thank you, David Lebovitz, for the recipe.

Now, these cookies were very deliberately not for Phil Ward. Not because Phil dislikes sweets exactly – he doesn’t necessarily have a sweet tooth – but because he tends to lean toward the odd. In fact, he once asked me to make him a cookie inspired by that Mexican snack of roasted peanuts tossed with spicy chilies and roasted garlic. I can’t say I fully delivered on that vision, but I did make a spicy peanut cookie that he seemed to enjoy. Still, after all that targeted effort, I decided it was time to bring something straightforwardly sweet for others at Long Island Bar.

Despite the cruel revelation that the cookies were for someone else, Phil curtly expressed his displeasure and then, ever the professional, still took care of me in liquid form.

Knowing my fondness for the Boulevardier, Phil made me a slightly less sweet variation based on his Cornwall Negroni. Rye replaces the gin, the balance tightens, and the result is something he calls A Better Boule. Yes, that is the name, and yes, it works.

You can see him above making it, and above that the drink itself, looking very composed and quietly confident. It was warm, bitter, and beautifully restrained – very Phil.

Still, as he was making it, I could tell he was disappointed there were no cookies for him this time.

Which is why I baked again.

Later tonight I’ll be heading back to Long Island Bar, this time with Caraway-Chopped Raisin Shortbread made expressly for Phil. What cocktail he comes up with in return remains to be seen. But experience suggests that baked goods inspire other good things – in this case, hopefully a good thing in a rocks glass or coupe.