HEAT UP YOUR SIPPING GAME THIS HOLIDAY SEASON WITH A WINTERTIME CLASSIC: THE HALLOWED HOT TODDY (PLUS A FEW ZESTY OPTIONS TO SPICE THINGS UP)

BY CHEF DAVID BURKE

As a chef, I rarely spend winter holidays at home. We don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves, and the restaurant staff is in it together. The holiday rush demands we work at breakneck speed, and that means sometimes crazy, unexpected stuff happens. When it does, we have to think quickly on our feet.

One memory still makes me laugh to this day. But at the time it was a serious matter. It was 1993, and I owned Park Avenue Café on the Upper East Side. We had a full house at lunch with 250 guests holding tickets for the afternoon matinee’s Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall.

At that time, before Uber, Gen Xers walked more when out on the town, bundled up in their best fur and leather coats. Our coat room was much larger then, with coat check girls keeping track of hundreds of coats. It was also a time when it was popular for thieves to eye an expensive fur and hand a $20 bill to the attendant claiming it was his wife’s. Today, my coat rooms are much smaller. Millennials are not wearing coats as much. An Uber drops them at the door and they run in.

At the Café, we had a long board with two rows of hooks with coat numbers. On that freezing cold day, it was loaded with checked coats, and people were leaving around the same time. A coat check girl came running into the kitchen saying she needed help in the coat room. I couldn’t believe what I saw! The coat rack had pulled off the wall, leaving a pile of coats three-feet deep, their numbers strewn everywhere! People started yelling for their coats; we asked them to identify something in the coat pocket to claim it. That was taking too long. People were getting angry and impatient and started stomping over the coats to get at theirs.

I went back into the kitchen and asked

the chefs to back me up. We came out together in our white uniforms, holding knives. We told people to go to the show and when they came back, we’d have a comped drink for them and all the coats sorted.

It all worked out; everyone got their coats and most were happy. It was super stressful, but at the end of the night we had a good laugh together. Just another holiday in our restaurant world!

Cheers to a busy holiday season and here’s a batch cocktail recipe, super easy to make and serve. It not only warms you up, it makes your home smell deliciously seasonal. It sets a holiday vibe for the night. I heat mine up on my XO outdoor kitchen and as my guests arrive, they are served one right away. For a festive garnish you can use a candy cane.

Red Horse by David Burke

26 Ridge Road, Rumson / 732.576.3400 27

Mine Brk Road, Bernardsville / 908.766.0002

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