Savoring New York: The Evolution of New York’s Bloody Mary
The Bloody Mary is as good of an excuse as any to sit down with friends and have a drink in the morning. Whether it be a recovery cocktail or the drink that is just getting you started, Brian Bartels, recent author of The Blood Mary: The Lore and Legend of The Cocktail Classic, said the Bloody Mary is indisputably the “most social cocktail.” He said people are more likely to take a look to their left and right with the savory drink in-hand, checking for fellow, sometimes elusive, tomato juice and vodka admirers.
The Bloody Mary isn’t for everyone. It is a unique concoction of ingredients, including: tomato juice, vodka, lemon, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, salt, and pepper. A whole community has sprung up around those who love the drink. Yunna and Evan Weiss co-founded The Bloody Mary Festival in Brooklyn in 2014, and have since taken the festival across the United States to San Francisco, Portland, Denver, and Austin.
The festival brings together appreciators, connoisseurs and bartenders alike to celebrate the drink in its classic as well as more extravagant incarnations.
Today, it is not uncommon to find brunch menus that flaunt creative Bloody Mary garnishes and recipes. Bartels said some cocktails have become more than just a brunch drink; some also serve as the appetizer and the meal. Many of the most indulgent examples come out of the Midwest, particularly Wisconsin, where Bartels said Bloody Marys have been topped with whole pizzas and three pound fried chickens as garnishes.
Yet, before it was a brunch staple, an appetizer or even a monikered cocktail, the Bloody Mary was an idea. French bartender Fernand Pietot first started mixing tomato juice and Russian vodka in Harry’s New York Bar in Paris, before he came to New York and mixed the first Bloody Mary at the St. Regis’ King Cole Bar in Midtown Manhattan. According to The St. Regis’ website, the drink was originally christened the “Bloody Mary,” but was renamed the “Red Snapper” so as not to, “offend the hotel’s refined clientele.” The Bloody Mary (and Red Snapper) has since remained the signature drink of the St. Regis.
While most defer to the St. Regis’ claim to the invention of the cocktail, other stories and characters have challenged that claim. Vaudeville star Geroge Jessel claimed to have invented the cocktail after a particularly dionysian night. He recounts throwing together drink with whatever he had behind the bar: tomato juice, vodka, and spice. Bartels said he just can't get behind Jessel’s story – the theatrics of the story are just too fantastical.
Many can agree though: the Bloody Mary has come a long way from a happy accident of simple tomato juice and vodka. The ingredients and garnishes have grown more sophisticated, wacky, and theatrical over time. In that time, the Bloody Mary has also established itself as a brunch-time staple. In New York City, the savory cocktail has become synonymous for many with the weekend and a good time.
