1. Alligator Butter
A spiced butter with ghee, green Chartreuse, and seared alligator meat goes into the Cajun-inspired Gator Wrestlin’ & Paddle-Backs cocktail at Dram & Grain (2007 18th St., NW).
2. Trash Cordial
At Columbia Room (124 Blagden Alley, NW), refuse—mint stems, citrus peels, pineapple trimmings—is turned into a herbaceous liqueur.
3. Sashimi
Creator Gina Chersevani recommends dipping the slices of fish that adorn the flaming Wandering Samurai cocktail at Sakerum (2204 14th St., NW) into the rum drink for “a crazy form of alcoholic ceviche.”
4. Foie Gras Bitters
The house old fashioned at Le DeSales (1725 DeSales St., NW) is a mix of bourbon, white port, and bitters infused with luxury liver.
5. Dom Pérignon
Vintage Champagne isn’t that unusual—unless it’s merely adding fizz to a $1,000 margarita at MGM National Harbor’s Blossom Cocktail Lounge (101 MGM National Ave., Oxon Hill).
This article appears in the June 2017 issue of Washingtonian.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
