When the Marie Antoinette approaches a table at French bistro Le Veau d’Or, it instantly grabs guests’ attention with its shapely tower of pebble ice and playful raspberry perched on top. And while its three-layer ombré that cascades from fuchsia to Barbie pink to white is unmissable, what’s not apparent to the naked eye is the cocktail’s equally layered history. The mountainous drink is actually a riff on a riff with some serious cocktail cred. To dive into the inspiration of this eye-catching concoction, VinePair tapped Sarah Morrissey, bar manager at the newly revived Upper East Side institution.
Morrissey shares that the drink’s roots can actually be traced back to a classic Bramble, traditionally made with gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, crème de mûre, and blackberries. She was first introduced to the build by her mentor and late cocktail legend Sasha Petraske at Long Island City’s Dutch Kills.
“His version was much more simple with just gin, muddled blackberries, and crushed ice,” Morrissey says. “Basically like a Daiquiri spec, but with gin. He would whip-shake it really quick, pour over crushed ice, then place a blackberry on top with a straw. To me, that’s what a Bramble is.”
This spin on the original Bramble served as Morrissey’s inspiration for her new creation at Le Veau d’Or. Though that build’s ingredients barely resemble those included in the Marie Antoinette, its overall concept remains intact: lots of berries and lots of ice. So, why swap gin out for agave spirits?
Morrissey says
