The Cocktail:

The Fresh Basil Smash

Who Makes It:

When we asked Rick Hickman of The Green Table, the fabulously seasonal sliver of a restaurant in the Chelsea Market, to shake us up some end-of-summer drinks we hit the cocktail jackpot with the Basil Smash. Hickman, as the beverage manager at an eatery known for sustainable food, specializes in all things drinkable, seasonal, local and refreshing.  What more could we ask for in the days leading up to our seasonal food fest Eat Drink Local Week next month, a time when that window-box basil patch (if it made through the “Tornado” of 2010) needs to be used up before the first really chilly evening zaps it all.

Why We Love It:

The Fresh Basil Smash is a thirst-quenching combination of Farmer’s Organic Gin (a small-batch, American-made spirit, as well as one of our Eat Drink Local Week sponsors), fresh basil from Satur Farms, agave simple syrup and fresh lime juice.  We loved the way the muddled basil played with the fragrant gin–Farmer’s is infused with a variety of botanicals, including juniper, elderflower, lemon grass, coriander, and angelica root–and added a mellow green hue to the cocktail.  Check out the video to see how you, too, can whip up herbaceous, late summer cocktails like a pro.

Where to Get It:

The Green Table is inside the Chelsea Market, which is located at 75 9th Avenue between 15th and 15th Streets.  It’s open for lunch and dinner (or drinks and dessert), plus Sunday brunch, and the menu changes daily to reflect what’s in season and at the market.  Stay tuned for more great drinks from The Green Table, and be sure to check out their handiwork at our Festival of the 11 Ingredients on October 4th.

From September 26th to October 6th Edible Manhattan, Edible East End and Edible Brooklyn — in conjunction with Edibles statewide and GrowNYC — present Eat Drink Local week, our celebration of the local food chain through heirloom vegetable auctions, wine tastings, DIY challenges, lectures, garden tours, farm to table dinners and countless other events. Over the next few weeks we’re highlighting a few of the restaurants, wine shops and wineries, breweries and beer bars, farms and food artisans and cultural institutions that the week is meant to celebrate.