Northshore Magazine

Northshore December 2018

Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.

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103 Short & Main GLOUCESTER At Gloucester's Short & Main, I sip the season in a glass—a delicate, curvy vintage glass at that. is is a frothy, tasty, copper-colored concoction made with rye, maraschino liqueur, lemon, ginger, and sage. e name for this award-winning drink? e New Rider. Bar man- ager Christa Manalo says with a laugh, "I hate naming cocktails. It's a major shortcoming." But Manalo doesn't seem to come up short on anything else. She is part of the California crew who have descended on Gloucester in the last decade from Chez Panisse in Berkeley to open both e Market at Lobster Cove in Annisquam and Short & Main in downtown Gloucester. Manalo has been managing the bar at Short & Main since 2013. Since her start at "a loud bar on the Jersey Shore," her career as a serious mixologist has taken her to a jazz bar in Philly, a cocktail bar in the Mission in San Francisco, and a brief stint in Brooklyn before coming to Gloucester. Today, through her other job on a flower farm in Essex, she is the one behind the stun- ning 6-foot-tall flower arrangements at both e Market and Short & Main. When she can't find what she wants for the bar in official ways, she forages. For the exceptional glassware at Short & Main, she goes to thrift stores and pays about a dollar per glass. "We're not ordering something from a restaurant supplier who is going to send us something in bubble wrap," explains Manalo, who is dedicated to keeping her sustainability values. "ere's a like-mindedness to all of us who decided to work here or live here," she says of the staff at the two restaurants. "It's being re- bar with dollar oysters and a 900-degree pizza oven. On Monday evenings, customers can bring their own vinyl for the bartender to play. ere's a creative spin on Sunday brunch, with avocado toast and baked eggs coming out of the hot pizza oven. But cocktails are never far from her mind, says Manalo, adding that they begin with a syrup, a fruit, or an in-season herb. Short & Main has several bottles of amero, an Italian liqueur flavored with things like artichoke or rhubarb, with a distinct herbal, bark-like flavor. "I have that one ingredient and know that would go well with this or that," she says. "It's all about the layering of the flavors and bring- ing that into balance." THE NEW RIDER I N G R E D I E N T S 3-4 Sage leaves 4 dashes Angostura bitters 2 oz. Rye whiskey 1 oz. Fresh lemon juice 1/2 oz. Fresh ginger syrup 1/2 oz. Luxardo maraschino liqueur 1/4 oz. Raw cane simple syrup D I R E C T I O N S Combine all ingredients in a mixing tin, shake, and fine- strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a sage leaf. THE ACADIAN I N G R E D I E N T S 1 full Stem rosemary 2 oz. Rye whiskey 1 oz. Lemon juice 1 oz. Honey solution (1:1 honey + water) 3/4 oz. Plymouth sloe gin 4 dashes Absinthe D I R E C T I O N S Strip 2/3 of the rosemary stem and drop the leaves into a mixing tin; reserve the remaining sprig. Combine all other ingredients in the tin, shake, and fine-strain over 3-4 ice cubes in a Collins glass. Garnish with the rosemary sprig. SHORT & MAIN 36 Main St, Gloucester 978-281-0044 shortandmain.com Right, Christa Manalo of Short & Main; left, house- made mixers. ally interested in what you're serving, the farm it comes from, the seasonality of it. Whether it's important to health and lifestyle. It goes beyond this or that farm-to-table trend. It's the way we live. We all go to the farmers' market and we know the farms." As we're talking, a woman runs up to greet Manalo, and says that upon first tasting her margarita, she knew a real cocktail bar had come to Gloucester. (e message being that margarita mix is truly evil.) e atmosphere here is relaxed at the handmade oyster shell

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