“Flat white guy” writes the book on cocktails

By Julie Zapoli

Sun contributor

For the longest time, we called him “flat white guy” because we didn’t know his name.

Steve would frequent our Glen Arbor business, the Inn and Trail Gourmet, almost every day and order a flat white—an espresso coffee drink—and talk to us for a few minutes about whatever was going on in town. He’d leave with his flat white and we’d see him again the next day, or maybe the day after that.

During one of his visits last fall, Steve asked if we had received the cocktail book he sent us. We hadn’t. He left the shop and we said, “How nice. Steve sent us a cocktail book.” What we didn’t realize, and what Steve so modestly did not mention, is that when the book finally arrived it wasn’t just a cocktail book—it was The New York Times Essential Book of Cocktails, edited by Steve Reddicliffe—flat white guy.

The book is a spirited tome of recipes, stories, and reflections written by quaffing legends like Rosie Schaap, New York Times (NYT) Magazine’s “Drink” columnist and author of a new memoir, Drinking with Men. Steve himself is also no neophyte to the rocks glass; he wrote the NYT column “A Quiet Drink” for years before he was approached by the Times editorial staff to edit this book.

A fan of bitters, Steve’s favorite recipes tend toward Rye and Bourbons. “I personally like a lot of Manhattan variations,” he said. “I love the Boulevardier. In the book there are recipes for The Deathbed Manhattan and a Reverse Manhattan. All exceptional drinks.” Although alcoholic concoctions have been around since the 1800s, Steve and Robert Simonson, who has written about cocktails for the NYT since 2000, credit the recent cocktail craze to COVID and quarantine when “people had to be home.” According to Simonson, they “learned to make better cocktails,” and the cocktail hour, “became a solace in a dark time, a thing you could control, a small pleasure.”

On Thursday, June 1, from 5-6:30 p.m., you can find your own bit of solace at The Inn and Trail Gourmet where Steve will sign copies of The New York Times Essential Book of Cocktails. While you sample a couple of special drinks Steve has created for the event, you may purchase a book to be signed by our very own flat white guy. Books will be provided and sold by The Cottage Bookstore and also available for purchase after the event. In true Cocktail Hour fashion, a few appetizers will be provided by The Inn and Trail Gourmet to complete our evening as well.

Whatever your preferred libation, whether it shaken, stirred, or sipped from a snifter, whether you’re a budding mixologist or seasoned alchemist, there’s a recipe or an anecdote or a new skill to learn from this book. As Steve says, “Who, after all, can resist the call of a cocktail known as The Appendicitis de Luxe?” Cheers!