The morning after

<p>As with most things in life, when it comes to drinking, it's best to plan ahead. And no morning quite like the one that hammers in the New Year calls out as achingly for a Bloody Mary.</p><p>An arranged marriage between vodka and tomato juice, infinitely customizable with an assortment of stalk-like accoutrements, the Bloody Mary is thought to have been created after World War I, the handiwork of an American bartender in Paris who creatively availed himself of some of the first imported tins of tomato juice from the States. As master barman and historian Dale DeGroff tells it, the original recipe was booze-less. It took a colleague over at Harry's American Bar, Ferdinand "Pete" Petiot, to add vodka and come up with the name.</p><p>"The name, according to Duncan McElhone, son of Andy McElhone, the original storyteller and owner of Harry's, came into being because of the continued appearance at the bar of a woman named Mary, who was regularly left waiting for her man, nursing one of Pete's tomato cocktails," DeGroff explained. "A comparison was made between Mary Queen of Scots and young Mary's long, solitary hours at the bar."</p><p>Petiot left Paris in 1936 to man the King Cole Bar in New York. Since vodka hadn't yet made its way to the States, he improvised a new version of the Bloody Mary with gin and called it a Red Snapper. It wasn't until the 1960s, when Smirnoff Vodka hit America, that the Bloody Mary embedded itself into our national culinary lexicon.</p><p>"Friday, Saturday and Sunday between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. is Bloody Mary central around here," says Healdsburg Bar &amp; Grill general manager Kelly Sullivan. "We occasionally get someone wanting one at 5 p.m. in the afternoon, but they usually look like they've just gotten up."</p><p>With its epic reputation as a hangover remedy, the question to Sullivan is, why is a Bloody Mary so abidingly good after a big night out?</p><p>"You can't really taste the booze in it," she says. "The tomato juice gives it some nice acid, it's spicy. If they've had too much to drink, the next morning people always want a greasy fry-up. The Bloody Mary has that. It's rich but not really rich."</p><p>The Healdsburg Bar &amp; Grill makes its Bloody Mary in a fairly traditional style (vodka, tomato juice, celery salt, lemon juice, salt and Worcestershire sauce) with one major twist: Instead of Tabasco, which Sullivan doesn't like, they use Louisiana's Pure Crystal Hot Sauce and fresh horseradish. The garnish is a handful of pickled green beans from Anderson Valley, which give it a satisfying crunch.</p><p>Given the ups and downs of 2008, a year most will be ready to leave behind, Sullivan assures that on New Year's Day -- they'll be open starting at 11:30 a.m. -- "we will have jugs and jugs of Bloody Marys ready."</p><p>Variations on the classic Bloody Mary abound. The Bloody Elixir is a particularly exotic take, created by Joseph Ehrmann, owner of Elixir bar in San Francisco. Ehrmann is also a brand ambassador for Square One Organic Vodka, the basis for this drink, named this year one of GQ Magazine's "Top 20 Cocktails in America."</p><p>The Bloody Elixir is featured each Sunday at the Bar Drake inside the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, which has a make-your-own Bloody Mary bar, with the usual celery, cherry tomatoes and the like but also such head-turning fare as crab claw, bacon, Guinness beer and wasabi.</p><p>Other unusual takes on the classic drink include Girl and the Fig's Balsamic Bloody Mary, a popular item at brunch at the Sonoma restaurant. It mixes vodka with Mary Mix and balsamic vinegar, with a garnish of celery, caperberry and twist of lemon.</p><p>At the Martini House in St. Helena, they keep their mix a secret -- it's said to include chipotle peppers and a dash of housemade celery salt but no horseradish. It has a smoky, subtle spicy flavor and is served with a beer back.</p><p>In his book "Craft of the Cocktail," author and barmeister Dale DeGroff notes that a dash of celery salt is a nice touch and that New Yorkers traditionally add horseradish to this basic recipe.</p><p>Bloody Mary</p><p>Makes 1 serving</p><p>1½ ounces vodka</p><p>2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce</p><p>4 dashes of Tabasco sauce</p><p>-- Pinch of salt and pepper</p><p>¼ ounce fresh lemon juice</p><p>4 ounces tomato juice</p><p>Combine all the ingredients in a mixing glass and roll back and forth to mix. Strain into a large goblet or pint glass three-quarters filled with ice. Garnish with lemon and lime wedges on a side plate.</p><p>Healdsburg Bar &amp; Grill general manager Kelly Sullivan says this makes a big pitcher of Bloody Mary mix, but if you buy a gallon of tomato juice, you could always empty a quarter of it out and make the mix right in the gallon container. From the Healdsburg Bar &amp; Grill</p><p>HBG's Pitcher</p><p>of Bloodys</p><p>Makes many servings</p><p>¾ gallon tomato juice</p><p>¼ cup Worcestershire sauce</p><p>¼ cup Louisiana Pure Crystal Hot Sauce</p><p>½ cup fresh lemon juice</p><p>½ tablespoon celery salt</p><p>1½ tablespoons ground black pepper</p><p>2 tablespoons prepared horseradish</p><p>Put 1½ ounces of your favorite vodka in a double old-fashioned glass (harder to knock over) or a pint glass, add ice, and pour the Bloody Mary mix over it. Garnish with pickled green beans from Anderson Valley Pickle Co.</p><p>Stir up a batch of The Girl and the Fig's version for your next brunch gathering.</p><p>Balsamic Bloody Mary</p><p>Makes one serving</p><p>6 ounces Bloody Mary mix (recipe follows)</p><p>2 ounces vodka</p><p>1 teaspoon Balsamic vinegar</p><p>For garnish: celery salt, celery stalk, caperberry and lemon twist</p><p>Combine the Bloody Mary mix, vodka and vinegar in a cocktail shaker and shake well. Pour into a celery salt-rimmed Collins glass filled with ice and garnish with a celery stalk, a caperberry and a lemon twist.</p><p>Bloody Mary Mix</p><p>6 small cans tomato juice</p><p>1 bar spoon horseradish (about a teaspoon)</p><p>6 dashes Tabasco</p><p>6 dashes Worcestershire</p><p>½ tablespoon celery salt</p><p>-- Salt and pepper to taste</p><p>Combine ingredients in a large pitcher and stir thoroughly.</p><p>And finally, for the adventuresome, this exotic variation concocted by Joseph Ehrmann, owner of Elixir bar in San Francisco.</p><p>The Bloody Elixir</p><p>Makes one serving</p><p>To a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add:</p><p>1½ ounces Square One Organic Vodka</p><p>4 shakes each of dill, white pepper and celery salt</p><p>2 shakes each of Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco sauce</p><p>½ ounce Elixir Juice (equal parts olive brine, dill pickle juice and pepperoncini pickling juice)</p><p>-- Squeeze of one fresh lemon wedge</p><p>» teaspoon horseradish</p><p>Fill with tomato juice. Cover and shake lightly. Pour the Bloody Mary into a pint glass or Collins glass and garnish with a slice of bacon and a dill pickle.</p><p>Virginie Boone is a freelance wine writer based in Sonoma County. She can be reached at virginieboone@yahoo.com or visit wineabout.pressdemocrat.com.</p>