Bar manager Drago Cvetkovic
Taking some serious cues from the golden age of Hollywood, Terry’s Lounge at the historic Cypress Inn in Carmel (owned in part by Doris Day) unveiled this past Friday an extensive new cocktail menu that channels the movers and shakers of Tinseltown’s past.
Peppered with quotes by everyone from James Cagney to Cary Grant to Humphrey Bogart to Mae West, the new menu is itself something to behold, divided into sections on whiskey, gin, brandy, and rum, with each drink getting a nice little anecdote on its origin and history.
Consider this: the Sazerac—Old Overholt Rye, Pernod, muddled sugar cube, a dash of bitters, and a lemon twist—was the brainchild of a Creole apothecary in New Orleans.
Then there’s the Orange Blossom, a concoction of gin, sweet vermouth, and fresh orange juice that gives a nod to Ronald Reagan and is served with a side of jelly beans.
And don’t miss the Mary Pickford, a sizzling combo of Leblon, rum, pineapple juice, maraschino liqueur, and grenadine created just for the ingénue in the 1920s when she was in Cuba filming a movie with husband Douglas Fairbanks and friend Charlie Chaplin.
No doubt one of the major highlights of the new menu lies with the guy stirring them up. Bar manager Drago Cvetkovic counts among his past customers Frank Sinatra and other Rat Packers, and his skill with a shaker leaves little doubt as to why he was among their favorite mixologists.
If the standing-room-only debut is any indication, Terry’s Lounge is poised to become one of Carmel’s go-to spots, so be sure to head in soon and grab a classic cocktail with a side of Silver Screen aura. After all, as the incomparable Cary Grant so famously quipped: “Stingers—and keep them coming.”
Cocktails at Terry’s start at $9, a pretty reasonable charge considering the location and the quality and rarity of some of the ingredients. Open 11:30am–11pm, Su–Th; 11:30am–midnight F and Sa. Happy hour: 15% off M–F.
—Pete Rerig
One of Cvetkovic’s creations
