Dante unveils new seasonal cocktails

US-based aperitivo bar and restaurant Dante has marked the change in temperature with a new menu of seasonal cocktails that highlight autumnal and wintry flavours.

Designed by beverage training director at Dante NYC, Renato Tonelli, and his mixology team, the menu features ingredients such as figs, pears, toffee apple and cinnamon.

Dante has two sites in New York City, including the original Caffe Dante in Greenwich Village, which won World’s Best Bar title at Spirited Award in 2019, as well as a new Beverly Hills branch that opened in Los Angeles earlier this year.

On the menu, drinkers will find creations such a Gingerbread Negroni, made with Spiced Butter Bacardi 8, cardamaro, red vermouth, Campari and Buck Spice Ginger Bitters; and a Plum Sazerac made with Great Jones Rye, Remy Martin, Dante plum liqueur, roasted plum, clarified plum, plum bitters and Sazerac spray, among other creations.

Of the Negroni, Tonelli said: “Gingerbread is generally enjoyed during Christmas time, so we wanted to recreate those flavours with a combination of different ingredients.

“A dark rum as the base, Cardamaro as our ‘vermouth’ that gives the cocktail some spiced notes, Campari, and finally some ginger bitters. The resulting product is our twist on a Kingston Negroni that fits the colder months and holidays.’’

Capturing seasonal flavours

Apples also feature prominently through three cocktails: Beeswax Appletini, Toffee Apple Manhattan, and Tequila and Apples.

For the Appletini, the team decided to take it in the direction of their other signature martinis that “tend to be more aperitif-focused while still keeping those essential notes of fresh sweet and sour granny smith apple”.

Meanwhile, the Toffee Apple Manhattan is described by Tonelli as “sweeter not just from the apple, but from the fortified wines and the rum”.

The Honey Bee comprises Patrón Silver infused with cinnamon, Mancino Chinato, Mr Black, Licor 43, Amaro Sfumato, ginger bitters, and topped with salted honey cream branded with the Dante name and the Statue of Liberty.

To create this, the team “blended Tequila with coffee liqueur and a combination of sherries or different liqueurs”. Tonelli added that the salted honey cream was made by “dissolving salt with honey and eventually mixing that with heavy cream until it’s fully incorporated”.

In addition to the seasonal menu, Dante is also offering a selection of hot alcoholic tipples – a Spiced Pumpkin Latte, a Caffe Dante Coffee (made with Irish whiskey and agave nectar), and a mulled cider, which is exclusive to Dante West Village.

Tonelli said these “capture the seasonal flavours that are grown in the northeast” and that the team would roll out more as it gets colder.

The menu will run through winter before being refreshed in the spring.