My garnish, that is.
I'd gone to Victory Bar to wish them a belated birthday (Daniel Victory's venue turned three earlier this month) and to meet up with the bar's new co-owner, Camille Whitworth.
I'd also heard stirrings of a new menu, which will likely include the Devil May Care, written by Laura Bellucci.
It starts with a sugar-coated blackberry dropped into green Chartreuse at the bottom of a martini glass. Laura flamed the berry until it started to roast.
Rather than muddling it raw, "cooking the blackberry releases enzymes you won't get any other way," she says. "It releases a berry cobbler flavor."
Separately, she shook together bourbon, port, cardamom simple syrup and whiskey barrel-aged bitters, adding them to the simmering blackberry. A Champagne float gave it all some bite.
Besides the light show, I loved the flavors: cardamom threaded through the juicy port, with a soft bourbon burn.
Fire figures into another drink here, too: the Gas Mask, a flaming shot of green Chartreuse and cherry liqueur that comes to you on a plate.
Put out the fire with a shaking tin, then capture the tin's fumes under a bar napkin. Down the shot, then stab through the napkin with a straw and inhale the fumes (surprisingly potent).
Our shots were expertly lit by barman Hayden Winkler. These might get you lit, as well.
Victory Bar, 339 Baronne, 522.8664
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