FOOD & WINE

Mocktail of the Month

ENJOY THESE ‘DRYNUARY’ TREATS

BY JODY KURASH

“Drynuary” or “Dry January” is the practice of not drinking alcoholic beverages during the month of January. For some it’s a way to make a “clean start” to the new year. For others it’s a way to atone for over-indulgence during the December holidays. The term was coined by writer John Ore in 2006 in Slate magazine when he penned an essay about his six years of practicing 30-day abstinence.

Also known as “Janopause” and “Damp January” (for those partially abstaining), the movement has gradually grown in popularity. Even the millennials are joining in. According to a YouGov Poll of 22,760 people, 20 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds are participating in Dry January.

Tito’s Vodka just launched a nationwide campaign starring Martha Stewart declaring it “DIY January” and extolling alternative uses for their spirit, including adding it to pasta sauce, using it as a deodorizer for musty boots and watering fresh cut flowers to extend their blooms.

Bars across the District are promoting the event with non-alcoholic cocktails. Georgetown’s Lutèce offers a mock whiskey cocktail called Spirited Away, a New York Sour with beetroot, tamari and bay leaf and the Petite Gourgée, forged from nutmeg, lime and honey. They also offer a de-alcoholized pinot noir.

The Fountain Inn at 1659 Wisconsin Ave. NW offers the D.C. Tea Party tipple, a combination of Earl Grey tea and tamarind shrub. Patrons at Donahue at 1338 Wisconsin Ave. NW can sip on the Sangria Like punch of hibiscus, orange, raisins, and pomegranate or the Mexican-influenced By the Way -- a mixture of grapefruit, agave, lime and soda. Even the venerable 1789 at 1226 36th Street NW offers a choice of the soothing Chamomile Sour, tinged with fruit, honey and cardamom and the lively Dancer, a combination of pineapple, pomegranate and apple shrub.

As our culture is becoming more aligned with people who want to drink less, having non-alcoholic choices on a cocktail menu is becoming just as important as the boozy selections. With the opening of Binge Bar at 506 H St NE, D.C. has its first no-alcohol bar.

THE SHIRLEY TEMPLE

½ oz. grenadine ¼ oz. freshly squeezed lime juice 5 oz. ginger ale Garnish with a maraschino cherry or two.

Their motto is, “Come as you are and leave as you are!”

But if we’re talking about the history of nonalcoholic cocktails or “mocktails,” probably the most famous one of all is the Shirley Temple. Originally a mixture of ginger ale, a splash of grenadine and garnished with a maraschino cherry, the moniker has come to describe any type of sweet non-alcoholic drinks targeted toward young ladies. It is rumored that the drink was invented at Chasen’s restaurant in Hollywood to serve the young actress Shirley Temple. The starlet was underage at that time and could not drink alcohol with her folks. Other stories claim it was invented at the Brown Derby or the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

I remember having Shirley Temples when I was a child. Every few months my mother, grandmother and I would drive to visit my great Uncle Joe in Pittsburgh. He was an entertaining man with fruit trees and grape vines in his yard from which he would craft his own wine. His hobby was making homemade wooden puzzles and his basement featured a full bar and working slot machine which I would happily fill with a jar of nickels he provided.

But the highlight of our visit would be the trip to his swanky country club for Sunday dinner. While Uncle Joe would imbibe on his 7 & 7, he would slyly order me a Shirley Temple. I felt sophisticated and refined joining the adults with my fancy glass and garnish, even though I never ate the cherry. It was an early glimpse into adult life of going out and socializing.

Despite its overly sweet flavor, the Shirley Temple cocktail endures to this day. The drink can be easily tweaked to make it less cloying. The ginger ale can be substituted with ginger syrup and soda or switched out with lemon soda. Fresh lime can be added for some twang. Also, be sure to use quality grenadine made from pomegranate. And, as it’s Drynuary, it’s not just for children anymore.

Chef Maziar and brother Shahab Farivar

BREAKFAST EVERYDAY UNTIL 4:00

Reservations for birthday celebrations, lunch and dinner Call 202-625-2740

Auction Block

BY KATE OCZYPOK

A new year full of new items auctioned from Doyle, Christie’s, Weschler’s, Sotheby’s and Potomack Auctions. This month, a Tiffany flatware set sold for well over asking price, a baby grand piano sold for over $3,000 and more.

HINDMAN

ALEXANDER CALDER PAINTING This Alexander Calder (1898-1976) painting sold for well over the asking price. “Butterfly and Shore Bird” was exhibited in Flint, Michigan at the Flint Institute of Art for “Alexander Calder: Mobiles, Stabiles, Gouaches and Drawings from the Michigan

CHRISTIE’S

BOB THOMPSON’S “TREES AND RIVER” Artist Bob Thompson’s (1936-1966) “Trees and River” signed and dated “B Thompson ’60.” The oil on canvas sold for almost three times its estimated value.

Estimate: $20,000-$30,000 SOLD FOR: $88,200

PETROF BABY GRAND PIANO A Petrof ebonized baby grand piano sold for over $3,000. The piano comes with a builtin humidifier. Petrof is currently the largest producer of acoustic grand and upright pianos in Europe.

Estimate: $1,000-$2,000 SOLD FOR: $3,200

POTOMACK AUCTIONS

DOYLE

TIFFANY STERLING SILVER OLYMPIAN FLATWARE From the Daniel and Joanna S. Rose Collection, the Tiffany flatware set is comprised of dinner and lunch forks, fruit spoons, dessert spoons, gumbo soup spoons, a carving fork and more. The set sold for well over asking price. Estimate: $7,000-$10,000 SOLD FOR: $15,120 On the same day in Las Vegas when sixteen-year-old Levi Presley jumped from the observation deck of the 1,149-foot tower of the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino, lap dancing was temporarily banned in the city’s thirty-four licensed strip clubs, archaeologists unearthed parts of the world’s oldest bottle of Tabasco-brand sauce from beneath a bar called Buckets of Blood, and a woman from Mississippi beat a chicken named Ginger in a thirty-five-minute long game of tic-tac-toe. On that day in Las Vegas when Levi Presley died, five others died from two types of cancer, four from heart attacks, three because of strokes. It was a day of two suicides by gunshot as well as a suicide from hanging. THE KEEGAN THEATRE in good company JAN 28–FEB 25 NEAR DUPONT CIRCLE AT 1742 CHURCH ST NW, WASHINGTON DC TICKETS AND INFO AT WWW.KEEGANTHEATRE.COM a riveting seriocomedy about a battle between truth and fact by Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell, & Gordon Farrell THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT DC PREMIERE Estimate: $40,000-$60,000 SOLD FOR: $93,750

HILDA SHAPIRO THORPE, AMERICAN 1920-2000, UNTITLED, OIL ON CANVAS The estimate for this painting by artist Hilda Shapiro Thorpe was estimated at just $500$700. It ended up selling for $24,000, setting a record for the artist and reflecting the resurgence of interest overall in her work and the Washington Color School. The movement got its start in the 1950s when a group of Washington artists got together, influenced by the “Color Field Painting” in New York. Estimate: $500-$700

SOLD FOR: $24,000 (ACCORDING TO POTOMACK)

Collections.” It ran February 20 through March 27, 1983.

SOTHEBY’S

A PAIR OF SILVER-GILT AND SHADED ENAMEL CANDLESTICKS The candlesticks in Russian style with varicolor foliate strapwork, shoulders applied with cockerels on chicken feet, hung with enameled bellflowers. The candlesticks bear a pseudo-Russian mark AT in oval. Estimate: $4,000-$6,000

SOLD FOR: $10,710