Hell, I’ll stake you, Kid.
Liked the Molly Arlington even before learning it was inspired by the Goodman’s production of Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh, starring Brian Dennehy and Nathan Lane:
The front office of the Goodman got wind of the burgeoning tradition and approached what could easily be called Chicago’s most original cocktail lounge, The Aviary, to create an Iceman-inspired potion to serve to the cast and crew after one of their final rehearsals.
Craig Schoettler, the executive chef at The Aviary, loved the idea. He created the Molly Arlington, a punch featuring Seville orange shrub, Paul Beau VS Cognac, Henriot Blanc de Blanc, and grated nutmeg.
Schoettler chose it not only because punches were popular around the turn of the century but also because they can be made in a large bowl and shared.
“It was a big group, a cast, a big family and this had the communal feeling of sharing something, a bringing-people-together kind of thing,” Schoettler says. “Also, in a punch bowl there’s a large block of ice.”
Can’t wait to see the play. (Ahab’s already had the cocktail it inspired.)
If money’s to be the measurer, man, and the accountants have computed their great counting-house the globe, by girdling it with guineas, one to every three parts of an inch; then, let me tell thee, that my vengeance will fetch a great premium here!
