{"product_id":"op-the-aviary-cocktail-book","title":"OP: The Aviary Cocktail Book","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Alinea Group, Chicago, 2018. Hardcover. Very Good. First printing.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Once you’ve had a great cocktail, it’s almost impossible to go back to drinking lousy ones.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt’s a perfectly true line from Nick Kokonas of The Alinea Group, but it reads as wry understatement if you know the bar (or food) programs across the group’s portfolio. “Great” hardly covers the whimsy, technique, and sophistication the team brings to its craft.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 2018 The Aviary, their bar designed to function like a restaurant kitchen with a 5-course cocktail tasting menu and a brigade-like team behind the brass rail, published a cookbook documenting their monumental efforts at reimagining the libationary experience. The recipes are not for the timid but will reward anyone with the time, means, and creative exuberance to commit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTake the first recipe: the gin and tonic. Any expectation of simplicity is quickly destroyed by the headnote, which explains the drink never made it onto the bar’s menu because of its unsustainability in a high volume environment. A glass full of cucumber alginate spheres will do that.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Year in Kyoto, as another example, is a flight of four drinks developed to compliment the seasonal kaiseki menu at the bar’s sister restaurant Next. Each variation is astonishingly successful in representing its season visually before you even consider the expert flavor combinations which drive the point home.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDaunting for amateurs but great fun for serious professionals or armchair mixologists happy with some daydream fodder. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur copy is in excellent condition, clean and unmarked inside. Issued without jacket, the case shows minor wear and bumping to the corners. Stated\u003cstrong\u003e first printing\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"KNOP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41514387275909,"sku":"Allen and Sarah Hemberger, Micah Melton, Nick Kokanas, and Grant Achatz","price":125.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0297\/5046\/0549\/files\/hemberger_aviary4.jpg?v=1770314685","url":"https:\/\/www.kitchenartsandletters.com\/products\/op-the-aviary-cocktail-book","provider":"Kitchen Arts \u0026 Letters","version":"1.0","type":"link"}