Happy Hour: Trendy dishes and a big name in cocktailing

Happy Hour |

Andrew Bohrer's name pops up a lot lately. On blogs. On Twitter. And around bars, especially. The cocktail geeks can't get enough of him, or rather, his cocktails at Mistral Kitchen.

Bohrer serves some of the city's best cocktails these days. One minute he's throwing out some esoteric drinks from the 1800s, and the next he's playing tricks with your palate.

Bohrer made Naga Cocktail Lounge in Bellevue the most exciting cocktail bar on the Eastside last year, and he's on the verge of doing the same now for Mistral Kitchen on Westlake Avenue.

The ice carving and the flaming drinks remain part of his repertoire. But the razzmatazz with the fire and ice overshadows the obvious: Bohrer makes a mean cocktail.

A cocktail that's smoky and spirit-forward to the nose gets more floral, juicy and feminine notes to the palate.

He also makes the best Fernet Old Fashioned in Seattle, one of the hottest drinks in the area now. It's dry and bitter, more for the double IPA man.

For the rest of you, a tamer version, with a blood-orange reduction to round out the bitterness. Tasted like a tangy version of the sugarcane juice served in a plastic bag with a straw, as you find on the streets of Vietnam.

The happy-hour food menu reads like a list of all things trendy in pub grub. A pork-belly steamed bun, a plate of charcuterie, Harissa sauce, wood-fired pizzas (usually margherita) and popcorn, the best being the lamb meatballs in Harissa sauce, a little heat balanced with the sweetness of sauteed onions.

Mistral Kitchen, 2020 Westlake Ave., offers happy hour 5-6:30 p.m. daily with bar snacks ($1-$5), wine and sparkling wine by the glass ($5), beer (half off), selected cocktails ($6) and $4 off specialty cocktails (206-623-1922 or www.mistral-kitchen.com).

Tan Vinh: 206-515-5656 or tvinh@seattletimes.com