Safe Passage

Safe Passage by Kenaniah Bystrom

It's safe to say that the toast to this safe is a safe bet. Kenaniah Bystrom is the creative mind behind Seattle’s Delancey restaurant’s sister bar, The Essex. With almost no prior bar knowledge, he helped prepare and open the bar in 2012. And very quickly rose to become its manager. He spent many hours simply watching other bartenders, listening to them, reading, and sampling spirits on his own. Rather than trying to describe the taste of something to others with his own words, he now seeks to invite them into the story by creating drinks that do just that. The sentiment resonates with me as someone who appreciates the stories of these creations that I love.

playing it safe

His Safe Passage is a very tasty take on the amaro spritz. Perhaps you have heard of or tried the extremely popular Aperol Spritz? Bystrom adds significant complexity to that cocktail by dialing down the Aperol to a whisper, and adding a very different amaro as the starring ingredient. Nardini is described as a gently bitter amaro, with notable flavors of chocolate and bitter orange on the palate. It sounds delicious but has been challenging for me to source, and I often make an homage version using Ramazotti amaro with added chocolate and bitter orange accents from other spirits. That worked extremely well here, and the olive brine is simply wonderful in bringing intensity to the drink without ending up tasting like a dirty martini. It’s a winning combination – cheers!

time to get cracking

Safe Passage by Kenaniah Bystrom

1 oz Amaro Nardini

¼ Aperol

¼ oz lemon

¼ brine from Castelvetrano olives

2 ½ oz prosecco (or other sparkling wine)

Shake ingredients except prosecco with ice and strain into a coup. Top with the sparkling wine and garnish with olives.

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