52 Weeks of Drink: Week 8 - Ecco

February 22, 2010

This week we ventured to one of our favorite Midtown spots for a nice meal at the bar of Ecco.  This was by far the most vibrant bar scene of all the places we have rated so far.  Sauced had lots of cool kids floating around for sure, but Ecco has a great mix of people that made for excellent people watching and mingling.  The scene this Saturday at 7ish was a combination of regulars mingling with the friendly staff, couples dressed up for a date night having dinner before heading to the Fox, conference attendees working their way out of downtown, and a few people venturing intown from just outside of the city.   If we lived closer and could afford it, we would be here every week just to see if the one bar fly with chest hair coming out of his shirt has better luck with the ladies next time.

Eric was our fabulous bartender (pictured with us) and recommended two signature cocktails - both of which were given rave reviews by Jerry, our wonderful new friend we met while dining at the bar.

I went with Long Live the Queen.  This cocktail has been on the menu the longest and during that time has won numerous (national) awards and contests.  It has Bombay Sapphire with hints of Elderflower, lemon, and peach and is served up with fresh mint.

Ashley opted for the GiGi Says - Eric’s own amazing contribution to the signature cocktail list- Hanger vodka, fresh ginger, and a squeeze of lime.  Served in a short glass on the rocks.

The great thing about all of the drinks at Ecco is the integration between the kitchen and the bar -  the chef mixes lots of the ingredients - such as the lavender simple syrup and guests get to taste them in the cocktails as well.  Yum.

Don’t forget our ratings scale is between 1 and 5 Olives.  One Olive = waste of my blogging time;  5 Olives = oh my goodness/yummmmm

My ratings for Long Live the Queen:

Presentation:  4.5 of 5 olives

Taste: 5 of 5 olives - very tasty, not too sweet, and very balanced.  Good stuff.

Creativity: 4 of 5 olives

Overall: 4.5 of 5 olives

Ashley’s ratings for GiGi Says:

Presentation:  4 of 5 olives

Taste: 5 of 5 olives - We both agreed this was one of our favorites so far.  Ashley does not like ginger, but it was such a nice mix that the ginger was very subtle.

Creativity: 4 of 5 olives

Overall: 5 of 5 olives - I realize this does not add up - but we needed more points for taste.  It was just sooo good.

You must go to Ecco for not just the cocktails.  The food is delicious and the staff is incredible.  We have enjoyed every dinner there thus far!   Oh, by the way, we saw Avatar after visit to Ecco and loved loved loved it.

Technorati Tags: Ecco, Sauced, Long Live the Queen, GiGi Says

Posted in 52 Weeks of Drinks by alison