The Fresh cocktail

The place: Boka Kitchen + Bar, 1010 First Ave., Seattle, 206-357-9000, www.bokaseattle.com

Quote: "It is the cleanest one with the freshness of the flavor and really being simple. It's something I like to drink in the summertime."

— Executive Chef Seis Kamimura.

The scene : Boka Kitchen + Bar's location in the posh new Hotel 1000 downtown made it the perfect choice for a cocktailing reunion with Pam. The surprise appearance of a familiar bartender — an Anderson Cooper look-alike from BalMar — boded well for our evening.

Coop was his usual charming self, but we would have liked the bar even without him. You can sit at low tables around a cloudy glass bamboo sculpture in the center of the room or be engulfed by ocean-blue walls at the back of the bar.

The happy hour menu is suitably ritzy, with choices like duck and waffles or Thai-spiced chicken lollipops. Same goes for the cocktail menu, with palate teasers including a smoky hibiscus margarita and a plum lotus cocktail.

But sometimes, and we're going way Zen here, simplicity is the answer.

We probably would have given the Fresh cocktail ($8) a nod on name alone. It starts with Plymouth gin, which is layered with cucumber, mint and lime juice. The lively mint and cool cucumber gave it a breezy feel, and it smelled and tasted delicious.

Classic food flavors were reinterpreted into cocktails for Boka's menu, said executive chef Seis Kamimura. The Fresh cocktail's ingredients are seen in Thai salads, and gin adds an herbal note.

For those who don't want the booze, try the nonalcoholic Spa Splash, which relies on the same juicy ingredients (minus the gin) but with an added dose of passion fruit.

The Fresh cocktail

5 slices cucumber, 1/8 inch thick

2 sprigs fresh mint

2 ounces gin

1.5 ounces fresh lime sour (equal proportions lime juice and simple syrup)

Splash of club soda

Cucumber garnish

Muddle cucumber slices and mint in a pint glass. Add gin and the lime sour. Fill glass with ice, shake. Strain into cocktail glass. Add splash of soda. Garnish with cucumber slice.

Nicole Tsong: ntsong@seattletimes.com