A Literary Feast: Recreating 10 Fictional Meals in Brooklyn
I began to open cabinet and refrigerator doors, looking for Tom Collins ingredients. There were all there, except for lemons instead of limes, and in a few minutes I had a somewhat sugary pitcherful of Collinses made. I took down five glasses and then looked around for a tray. It was just hard enough to find a tray, and it took me just long enough, so that by the time I did find one, I was giving out small, faintly audible whimpers as I open and shut cabinet doors.
In what is probably Salinger’s least read book, Raise High the Roof Beams, Carpenters and Seymour: an Introduction, there is a scene that remains one of my worst nightmares: having to be among a group of semi-hostile people on a blazingly hot New York day, and doing it sober. But that’s the burden of Buddy Glass, and he semi-manages to deal with it by whipping up a pitcher of overly sweet Tom Collinses (and also by taking a few healthy slugs of whiskey on his own). Ever since reading this, and then entering adulthood and experiencing more than one uncomfortable social situation that can best be ameliorated by alcohol, I’ve been partial to drinking one form of sweet and sour gin drink or another, especially in the summer. Well, if you head over to Miles in Bushwick, you can get a classic Tom Collins to help you get through the summer and its endless social pressures, or even try a Juan Collins, which has a smoky tequila kick. Just make sure to get a shot of Bulleit on the side. And raise your glass to Buddy and Seymour.
Miles; 101 Wilson Avenue, Bushwick
