Helping Out Old Friends
There are some things I promised not to talk about until June. And I’m going to keep my vow. But doing so may make today’s post seem a little cryptic. My apologies in advance, but I am a man of my word.
About two years ago, I shared with you all a story about a great cocktail blog I stumbled upon. It was the 12 Bottle Bar. And if you missed my little love letter to David Solmonson back then, I encourage you to go and check it out now. Not just my post, but also his blog. Because as awesome as it was in the early days, it proceeded to get even better, scoring interviews with luminaries ranging from Gary Regan to Lloyd Kaufman.
If you clicked on one of the links to the 12 Bottle Bar, you probably already guessed at what’s coming next.
Turns out that I’m not the only one who loves them. So does Saveur Magazine. I have also been a longtime admirer of Saveur. It’s a great feeling when two things that you love discover each other.
Yes, the 12 Bottle Bar is a finalist in The Saveur 3rd Annual Best Food Blog Awards.
Well, I hate to do this to you, coming off of our recent escapades. But this Saveur thing is being put to a vote. And it’s not quite as easy as voting for a poll in your local paper. To vote you have to register as a user on Saveur.com. So, it’s a multi-step process.
Really, I would have asked you to start voting for these friends of ours a while back. But we were otherwise engaged. And I do this, not because I know they would do the same thing for me, but because they are awesome. Plus, in this contest they are the underdog.
Who doesn’t root for the underdog?
Regardless, I haven’t been writing too much about cocktails recently. There’s not much to say when one’s winter repertoire boils down to whiskey with a bit of something added for flavor. But I do hope to change things up a bit in the spring and summer. However, if you are feeling the need for inspiring writing about great classic cocktails that don’t require countless bottles of rare and hard-to-find spirits, the 12 Bottle Bar is the place for you.
And even if they don’t win, they are still a personal favorite of mine. Even though it’s sheer madness to include vermouth and bitters among the 12 bottles. Madness. But hey, it’s David’s blog, and if he can do it, more power to him.
Voting goes through April 26, so there’s not much time. As always, please tell your friends too. And I promise to have fresh actual content tomorrow. It’s a post full of inner conflict and turmoil about a place I love that seems to have lost its way. While part of me wants to shower them with praise, I just can’t do it.
FUSSYlittleBLOG 
Daniel, thank you for the way too kind post and the support — all of the support you’ve shown our site since the beginning. It would certainly be cool to win the Saveur thing, but it’s even better to wake up in the morning and find a post like this.
When we finally have the opportunity to sit down for a drink, I’ll sway you to my way of thinking about the bitters and vermouths.
More importantly, let’s hear it for Joy the Baker’s doughnuts in Best Single Recipe wooooooo. Also not sure why the Pioneer Woman is under “Best Celebrity Blog”. She is famous for having a blog. She is no Gwyneth Paltrow. Also, under food humor, Bon Appetempt is very good. I just have the problem where sometimes these ultra-glossy professional looking food blogs don’t feel like they have any soul, and it all feels very staged. However, this is not the case with Joy the Baker, that’s my girl – and she shows a bit of vulnerability and personality that keeps it interesting. That being said, I do have to admit to caring more about food photography than I did a year ago. Once you figure out how to turn the flash off it is all downhill from there – all of a sudden you are crumpling up parchment paper and searching for beautiful linens as a back drop – so I can’t make fun too much…