Poo Driver

Poo Driver by Shaina Loew-Banayan

The Poo Driver is the delightfully deranged invention of Shaina Loew-Banyan, chef and owner of Cafe Mutton in Hudson, New York, one of Bon Appetite’s top ten new restaurants of the 2022. Loew-Banyan is also the author of “Elegy for an Appetite”, which chronicles a fifteen year journey as a chef with an eating disorder in a madcap stream of consciousness of many bite-sized chapters.

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For Cafe Mutton’s new brunch menu, Loew-Banyan wanted to offer an interesting cocktail. The epiphany for what is now an incredibly popular cult hit at the restaurant occurred this way: “What happens, say, when you are just bored and possibly a little constipated? Which is to say: American?” What, exactly, was not clear, but it was certainly not going to be the hackneyed mimosa. That combination of orange and champagne brought to mind another such mixture, orange juice and vodka, the “screwdriver”. “And then, from the depraved depths of my being, came a quiet but clear whisper: Poo Driver.” Loew-Banyan’s drink is a “banger”, mixing naturally sweet prune juice (“laxative god-nectar”) with bright lemon and bracingly bitter Fernet-Branca. There’s vodka in there too, as homage to the inspiration and, let’s be honest, to make it all worthwhile. The drink is very tasty, a testament to the inventor’s skill and its popularity, balancing and altering the prominent prune into something rather delicious. But I wouldn’t advise ordering more than one per meal – there’s a long line at the loo. Cheers!

This pair will move you

Poo Driver by Shaina Loew-Banayan

2 ½ oz prune juice (I used 2 oz)

1 ½ oz lemon (I used 1oz)

1 oz vodka

1 tsp Fernet Branca (I used ¼ oz)

Pinch of kosher salt

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a favorite glass. Lemon twist garnish. Loew-Banayan offers some advice for imbibing the cocktail as well: “Do not be afraid”.

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