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NORTHSHOREMAG.COM 20 JULY 2019 ZENZERO COURTESY OF L'ANDANA, BURLINGTON D I R E C T I O N S 1. Use a reverse shake technique, and then pour into a chilled coupe glass 2. Garnish with grated nutmeg. I N G R E D I E N T S 2 oz Gunpowder Gin ½ oz Fee Brothers Falernum Syrup ½ oz Barrow's Ginger Liqueur ¼ oz Simple syrup ¾ oz Lemon juice ⊲ Egg white ⊲ Dash of saffron bitters ⊲ Fresh grated nutmeg CONTACT landanagrill.com around pineapple-infused vodka, combine refinement with easy, pleasing drinking, while others take what drinkers expect of cocktails— indulgence and decadence—and run with it. A drink on L'Andana's slate best exemplify- ing the latter approach is the Zenzero (Italian for "ginger"), a beverage bartender Camilo Gallego describes as "for gin lovers." Massin- issa Ouyahia, the restaurant's drink czar, takes that characterization a step further. "The idea when building this cocktail was to emphasize the flavor of ginger," says Ouyahia, "but since it has a prominent taste, gin made sense to use as the base liqueur." That's all to say that any- one with a taste for this spirit will find in the Zenzero the promise of gin—a clean, earthy flavor profile defined by aromatics—married with the heat and the sweet of ginger. Putting two such intense flavors together sounds like a recipe for too much competition for the taste buds, but a couple of clever additions create true estival harmony. The Zenzero uses egg white as a binder for its star ingredients, essentially provid- ing a stage for toning down an otherwise overwhelming pairing. The egg mellows out ginger's explosive pop and gin's sting; it gives the drink some much-appreciated texture, too. A touch of lemon adds a dash of acidity, and the finishing touches of saffron bitters and nutmeg increase the Zenzero's complex- ity—to such an extent that the cocktail drinks differently after the first few sips. To the eye, this cocktail pours thick and welcoming; to the palate, it feels like an em- brace. The Zenzero wraps the gums and the tongue with a surprisingly reviving embrace— the beverage's viscosity suggests a heaviness that never actually presents in consumption. It's downright lively, but that makes sense: Citrus notes in any drink tend to add a layer of playfulness. Coupling that quality with bursts of ginger results in a cocktail that will rejuve- nate New Englanders shaking off their annual hibernation. The drink, like the drinker, wakes up more the more time it's given to breathe; as cocktails go, the Zenzero is quite poetic. It's a perfect cocktail for meeting summer's advent. E AT + D R I N K William Terrington, the 19th-century author of one of the very first cocktail recipe books, once described cocktails as "compounds very much used by 'early birds' to fortify the inner man." While this is both poetic and true, in New England's summer months cocktail implies refreshment; it means toasting the season with a concoction that's light, invigorating, and most of all a reflection of the moment. A good cocktail should capture summer in a glass, and that's exactly what Burlington's L'Andana serves on its menu every night of the week throughout Massachusetts's precious period of warmth. Some of their drinks, like the Blush, a martini riff designed L'Andana shakes up the season with tasty tipples. BY ANDREW CRUMP SUMMER IN A GLASS E AT + D R I N K PHOTOGRAPH BY DOUG LEVY RECIPE L'Andana's Zenzero