Friday, September 24, 2021

What We're Writing--Debs Conjures Cocktails

DEBORAH CROMBIE: You can tell it has been a long almost-two-years since I have been out and about from what I'm writing these days. I sort of vaguely remember what it was like to get dressed up and go out for dinner and drinks with a friend, so I am living very vicariously through my characters! 

In this snippet, it's Saturday evening and  Gemma and Detective Inspector Jasmine Sidana are doing a bit of undercover sleuthing at a fancy cocktail bar in Soho. The place is entirely fictional, but, oh, did I have fun trolling through London cocktail bars and their menus on the Internet. The fictional bar is called Bottle, and the menu is a mashup of several different highly recommended London cocktail bars.


“Ladies. Welcome.” The greeting seemed oddly formal from a man wearing a simple white shirt with the cuffs rolled back. “If you’ll give me your name, I’ll see if your table is ready.”

Sidana looked taken aback. “Our table?”

He frowned. “You do have a booking?”

“I rang earlier,” said Sidana. “The young woman I spoke to said we didn’t need to book, that you wouldn’t be busy this early.”

The idea of eight o’clock as early gave Gemma pause. For her, eight o’clock meant getting the younger children into bed and starting to wind down for the evening, maybe having a glass of wine in front of the telly. She really was out of practice on the night-life front.

Their host, whom she assumed to be Jonathan Gibbs, cast an aggravated glance towards the bar, where a young dark-skinned woman with hair in elaborate coils was energetically shaking a cocktail. “That will have been Trudy,” he said. “She thinks reservations are an elitist tool.”

Gemma laughed, as she was meant to. “And what do you think?” she asked.

“I think I don’t like disappointed patrons. I’m Jon, by the way,” he added, holding out a hand to Gemma, then Sidana. “And while disappointed patrons will be inevitable later on, I think I can find you a spot now. Do you mind sitting in the window?” He gestured to a small table at the very front of the room, which offered a clear view of the foyer and to Gemma’s relief, her coat. It would also get a draft every time the front door was opened, and that no doubt explained why it wasn’t filled.

They accepted readily, and when they were seated he left to fetch menus. “Well, he’s interesting,” Sidana said quietly. “Strictly in a professional information-gathering sense, of course,” she added, completely deadpan.

But Gemma was beginning to get a hint of an unexpectedly mischievous side to Detective Inspector Jasmine Sidana. “Absolutely,” she agreed, putting on her most serious face. “Nothing to do with the cheekbones. It’s essential that we investigate thoroughly.”

Menus in hand, Jon Gibbs stopped for a whispered word with the young woman behind the bar, but if he was berating her she merely rolled her eyes and went on with her precisely executed pour.

“Take your time, ladies,” Gibbs told them when he returned with the menus. “If you have any questions, either Marie or I will be happy to answer them.” His gesture indicated the only staff member Gemma had seen other than the bartender, a tiny blond who was serving elaborate-looking cocktails to a table of four young women who didn’t look much above drinking age. Most of the other patrons were young as well, closer to twenty than thirty, in her estimate. “I’m starting to think I should have brought my Zimmer frame,” she muttered to Sidana. “This bunch should be out at a rave, not sipping cocktails.”

“It’s early, as Mr. Gibbs said. Who knows what they’ll get up to later?”

Gemma looked down at her menu and gasped. “Bloody hell. I could feed my entire family for the price of one of these drinks. How can they”—she flapped a hand in the general direction of the other tables—“possibly afford this stuff?”

“City jobs. Trust funds,” hazarded Sidana. “Or maybe they just still live at home.” Her tone was oddly mocking, but after checking Jon Gibbs’ progress around the tables, Gemma focused on the menu.

“We’d better order.” Charming line drawings of cocktails were sprinkled among the menu items, and after a moment’s perusal Gemma thought that the drawings made more sense than the print. “What on earth is forced carrot?” she asked. “And why is it in a drink?”

Sidana was frowning over her own menu. “That sounds more appealing than falernum, whatever that is. Look, here’s one with vodka and English tea, which doesn’t sound too bad until they add cream and prosecco. And is there really such a thing as Parmigiano liqueur?”

I have to admit that some of these drinks may be more fun to read about than to actually drink.  (I think you could call this "armchair drinking." I did find out what falernum was, however, and it sounds much nicer than you would think. 

What do you think, REDS and readers? Are Gemma and Sidana cut out for undercover?  Will they manage to get through the evening unscathed? (And relatively sober.) And what sort of weird vicarious details are you enjoying in books these days?

(A bit of Soho in the evening, along with the taxi Gemma and Jasmine will need to get home...)
 



 

61 comments:

  1. Oh, I think Gemma and Sidana will manage to get through the evening . . . not so certain about the relatively sober, though --- those drinks sound downright dangerous! But they’re good at what they do, so . . . .

    But now I’m wondering why they’re undercover in Bottle and just what they’re hoping to discover [looking forward to reading the book] . . . .

    As for enjoying vicarious details in books, that’s definitely true for traveling to other countries, for big weddings with lots of family, and for space-exploring . . . .

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    1. I love that you read space-exploring books, Joan. That's REALLY vicarious!

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  2. I love this, of course! (At least after I looked up Zimmer frame, which for Americans is a walker.) I hope they are suited for undercover. It wouldn't be safe to be tipsy and have their cover blown.

    I just finished Wait for It and learned all kinds of details about Phoenix from Jenn, a city I've never visited - thank you, Jenn - and about anxiety attacks (and no, I didn't mean the details of the sex scenes...).

    Is this from the next book to release (and do we really have to wait until next June for it)?

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    1. I think Jasmine is better at it than Gemma!

      And yes, it's June, and I think we have a cover but they haven't released that yet. Can't wait until I can share!

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  3. I love this! Cracked me up. And the cost of cocktails is often astonishing... the best way to keep the cost of a restaurant meal own is to ask for water.

    Wondering how you did your research for this? Did it involve any taste testing?

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    1. We have a couple of places right here on the square in McKinney that do very creative cocktails but I haven't actually tried any of them since before the pandemic. (Very glad these restaurants have stayed in business!) I just read loads of London cocktail menus.

      What I've actually daydreamed about has not been one of these fancy drinks, but the absolutely perfect martini (with gin!) they make at the Grand Central Oyster Bar in NYC. I had those just weeks before Covid hit.

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    2. The perfect gin martini. I just almost burs into tears. The first sip of one of those is incredible.

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  4. I was very surprised to see Gemma going undercover with Sidana. Looking forward to discover why and how it goes.
    Discovering every places I never went, like cocktail bar, and everything I never did, like going undercover, help me enjoying a book because I’m very curious.

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    1. Me, too, Danielle. I love learning about things I haven't done and places I haven't been.

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  5. I love it that Gemma and the previously prickly DI Jasmine Sidana are undercover together. What type of case could possibly have paired them up? They certainly seem to have excellent rapport and it's a really good teaser. Like Edith, I don't want to wait months to get my hands on this book!

    Edith, thanks for looking op Zimmer frame. I couldn't imagine!

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    1. The Zimmer frame always tickles me, but that is absolutely what it's called in the UK.

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  6. Love, love, love all those crazy cocktail ingredients you mentioned. If I were there with you (or Gemma) I would sample them all! Sample, I said, not drink.

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    1. Most of these exorbitantly priced drinks don't come to much more than a sample, I'm afraid!

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  7. Enjoyed this and I think they'll stay sober enough--the price alone might ensure that! And may I say that I love the name of the place: Bottle--so simple and yet pretentious at the same time :-) I also love how you slip in questions about character that keep us thinking after the scene ends: why that perhaps mocking tone in Sidana's voice? Opening up the plot there to enrich our understanding of who these characters are.

    And I really enjoy anything these days that takes me out of our present circumstances--

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    1. Good catch, Flora. Jasmine Sidana is turning out to be one of my favorite characters, with more to be revealed!

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  8. I'm not sure I could drink these cocktails, but I enjoy reading about them. I think Jasmine and Gemma are at risk of showing their age, if not their employment. LOL

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  9. One of the books I read last year featured a "care home", aka a nursing home, in the UK, with loads of Zimmer frame references, so that one I'd already learned. From a book, natch.

    My family is taking me out for dinner tonight, an early birthday present. I was looking at the menu online, including the cocktail menu. The costs for craft cocktails seems to be in line with the (terrible) Argentinian place we went to last Friday night. Their cocktail list was too precious for the four of us, including our friends who were chef and waitstaff in a former life. We opted for wine. (Tonight I will order a jalapeno pineapple margarita, though. I've been fantasizing about this for months. Keep your fingers crossed that it meets expectations.)

    But honestly, some menu item ingredients are just as bad: potato foam? Fennel "salad" that turns out to be three slim shavings of fennel arranged artfully on the salmon. I'm astonished that restaurants, which have had such struggles these last months, are still trying to foist this nonsense on their patrons. It's no wonder the dining room last week was virtually empty.

    How's this for a drink?

    littlE rEd
    CorvEttE (FrozEn)
    13 (rEg) | 21 (EPiC sizE) | 39 (PitChEr)
    House Silver Tequila, Grand Marnier,
    Fresh Lime Juice, Sugar Water,
    Splash OJ, Secrets, Strawberry
    Swirl, Edible Rose


    What are "Secrets", one wonders?

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    1. I quite liked this until I got past the first three ingredients:-)

      Happy birthday dinner, Karen! I do hope the jalepeno pineapple margarita lives up to expectations. You'll have to let us know tomorrow!

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    2. Thank you, Debs! We chose the restaurant as much for their outdoor dining space as for their menu. Hoping it isn't too chilly this evening.

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  10. There's more to Jon than meets the eye. So odd they shook hands with him. Are we back to shaking hands or fist bumps? Gemma and Sidana will carry it off in fine style.

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    1. Yes, there is definitely more to Jon--as well as the cheekbones! I wondered about the handshakes, too, although the books are still in a pre-Covid timeline. Or maybe a no-Covid timeline. We shall see.

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  11. This excerpt is such a treat! Poor Duncan -- I feel like it will be dangerous for him if Gemma and Sidana really become friends. (Only in the lighthearted sense of the word, of course.)

    For most of our lives, my husband and I were strictly beer and wine drinkers. Just in the past few years we have begun occasionally sampling cocktails. Many restaurants offer such unique offerings it really makes it fun, though ALWAYS expensive. But I, too, steer clear of those with ostentatiously adventurous ingredients.

    As to living vicariously, right now it is all about travel. I notice that practically everywhere I read about or see in scenes of our British TV watching calls my name. Places I never used to think about visiting all sound appealing now, just because I can't go anywhere.

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    1. Yes, dangerous for Duncan, and slightly awkward for Gemma, as she now knows things about Sidana that she's sworn not to share with Duncan.

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    2. I'm reading Jenny Colgan's books set in Scotland, near Loch Ness, and they make me wish I could teleport there!

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  12. Just the other day I looked to see when your new book would be available and I was so disappointed with what I found out. I need it now! But at least I had this little snippet which wasn't more than a tease, but thank you anyway. I did know what a Zimmer frame was because Brenda Blethyn supposedly said she might end up with Vera in one and I had to look it up at that point. I love leaning new British words and trying to figure out what we would call something. 'Flapjacks' were not at all what I expected and it was ages before I figured out that a paddling pool is what we would call a wading pool. From what I have read at least, people in Britain go paddling as often as swimming or bathing.

    So yes, I am definitely traveling in the books!

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    1. Judi, I didn't know that my publisher had put up the title and the release date!!! I would have shouted it from the rooftops--or at least from the top of the post!

      A KILLING OF INNOCENTS, June 7, 2022

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    2. I had to scroll through all the ones I’ve already read to find the new one on the Barnes & Noble site. It’s still got a plain grey cover.

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  13. Now I want a fancy cocktail! I have noticed that sometimes I have to choose between alcohol and food. I’m doing lots of book travel. Thank you for this teaser. I’ve finished rereading the series and am so ready for the next one. Long leisurely zoom calls are fun but being in a restaurant with someone else doing the food and drink is something I really miss.

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    1. Ann, at least in the summer I had a few lovely lunches out with my daughter, but I never went out for drinks or dinner and now I wish I'd taken more advantage of the somewhat safer circumstances...

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  14. Had to laugh at your great excerpt, Deborah! As evidence that great minds think alike, here's a bit from my upcoming An Eggnog to Die For: “There’s a lot of science that goes into cocktails like this,” Martin explained as he prepared the bar’s signature drink, the Ginger Man, as his finale.
    “First,” he said, “I grate some fresh ginger.” So saying, he took a knob of ginger from a wire basket and grated it with a microplane—which I knew from experience was fine enough and sharp enough take the tip of your finger right off if you’re not careful—into a cocktail shaker. “Then, we add liquid nitrogen. . . .” Martin took up what looked like a sleek black thermos with a spout on it and, pressing a lever, shot a white cloud of liquid nitrogen into the shaker with a whoosh that almost made me fall off my bar stool.
    “Jeez,” I said, regaining my composure. “You could’ve warned me.”
    Martin just laughed and began what he called nitro-muddling the ginger, then, lightning fast, added acidless grapefruit juice (“that process alone takes an entire day”),aquavit, saline solution (I am not making this up), and crystalized simple syrup.
    I took a sip and pronounced it ambrosia. Because it was.

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    1. Amy, I LOVE this! Did you get to try this one, or just read about it? I can't wait for this book!

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    2. I wish! I only read about it, as when I was writing the book the pandemic was in full force , so all cocktails were via research only. And the bar where I read about this one didn't make it through the shutdown, sadly.

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    3. Amy, great scene!! I look forward to reading An Eggnog to Die For.

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  15. Falernum, by the way, is a tropical syrup made from rum, lime, almonds, sugar cane syrup, and cloves. The ingredients sound much more appealing than the name.

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    1. A la Wiki--"Falernum (pronounced fə-LUR-nəm) is either an 11% ABV syrup liqueur or a nonalcoholic syrup from the Caribbean. It is best known for its use in tropical drinks. It contains flavors of ginger, lime, and almond, and most often also of cloves or allspice. It may be thought of as a spicier version of orgeat syrup."

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    2. I had to look up orgeat syrup too when I was researching these drinks.

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  16. One of my favorite restaurants only opens for dinner, since alcohol sales pay the bills, and lunchers don't drink much. I don't much, either, especially if I'm driving; a sample size of wine is enough for me. Those sound fun, though . . . I've been known to ask for a "light" pour on the alcohol, just to enjoy the flavors. I can't wait for more of this book!
    I first read of zimmer frames in the hysterically funny THE LITTLE OLD LADY WHO BROKE ALL THE RULES. Felonious senior citizens, enjoying life. ;-)

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    1. Putting that on my reading list, Mary. It sounds like a hoot.

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  17. So happy to look forward to a new book from our Debs!

    Because I watch so much British TV, I think I've always known what Zimmer frames were. Thinking of that episode in Britta's Empire when a whole line of old dears (like me) are toppled over by Mr. Britta. Think domino effect.

    And cocktails! What fun to go out and try something new. Yes, they are pricy, but I can make one last for hours, particularly the very strong in alcohol ones. Just this morning my friend, Daniel Mendelson, posted a recipe on FB, and here it is:

    1.5 oz Mezcal
    1 oz Cointreau
    1 oz Ancho Reyes
    1 oz fresh lime juice
    0.5 oz jalapeño simple syrup
    Shake with ice. Strain into cocktail glass garnished with candied jalapeño. Enjoy.

    Talk about having a kick!

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    1. I had to look up Ancho Reyes. Oh, wow! That would make some drink! I actually love putting a big slice of jalapeno in my margaritas, but that takes it up a whole other level.

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  18. I worked undercover for almost ten years, and unless it was an illegal substance, you almost always had to embrace your role. I think G and S will embrace their role and their night, in celebration of the the life they truly lead. (Sadly I worked in rural KS and MS, and was more apt to attend a catfish fry than a visit to a high end lounge.)

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    1. I could see a story in "undercover at a catfish fry."

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  19. Debs, Gemma's reaction reminds me of mine when I was in New York for Thrillerfest in '19. My eyes nearly fell out of my sockets at $18 cocktails.

    I laughed out loud at "reservations are an elitist tool!"

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    1. The prices on the London cocktail bar menus hovered around 15 pounds. Ouch!

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  20. I think Gemma and Jasmine will have a good time making snarky remarks about the cost of the drinks, the young trendy clientele, and Jon. And I think Duncan is going to get the benefit of a slightly snockered Gemma.

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  21. I thought Jasmine was too straight laced to enter a drinking establishment?

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  22. I loved this scene with Gemma and Jasmine, Debs. They seem to be quite compatible, an easy-going rapport. The dash of humor between them is especially nice. As Gemma noted, she "was beginning to get a hint of an unexpectedly mischievous side to Detective Inspector Jasmine Sidana." Jasmine seemed so straight-laced before, so I'm going to enjoy seeing her loosen up. I am so looking forward to this book!

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    1. I am having a lot of fun with Jasmine. I've always liked writing her prickliness, but love seeing her loosen up a bit.

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  23. I love this, Debs, and am quite ready to drink with Gemma and Jasmine, yes, even forced carrot, whatever that it. Maybe armchair drinking is the wisest sort. LOL.

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  24. Deborah,

    Sounds wonderful! Did I miss the introduction of Sidana in an earlier novel? I look forward to reading your next Gemma and Duncan novel.

    Rhys,

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY!


    Diana

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  25. As much as I enjoy reading about Gemma and Jasmine going undercover to drink, I get an extra kick out of imagining Duncan handling the kiddos at dinner and bedtime for once, and worrying about what Gemma and Jasmine are getting up to. I hope nobody steals Gemma's coat.

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  26. Sort of hoping Sidana does NOT make it through the evening unattached. Picturing those cheekbones and rolled up shirt sleeves …

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  27. SO late! But this is fantastic. You are SO perfect at what you do--ONLY YOU could have written this, it just sings with your voice. xxx

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