"And I'll never pass up a French 75; gin works especially well with Champagne," Day says, noting gin's floral qualities.
"French vermouth, no gin"..
The only thing was, she says, sipping an early afternoon "gin and French", to react to the moment.
The most prominent botanical, of course, is the juniper berry – in French, genièvre – from which gin takes its name.
As irresistible as such name-laden anecdotes may sound (and there are many, awash in bathtub gin and French perfume), they belong largely to the book's less satisfying second half, which is a sort of jeweled grab bag of anecdotes.
Or try a French 75, which combines gin, sparkling wine, lemon, and sugar.
Try the Beaver (1192 Queen Street West; 416-537-2768; beavertonlyto.ca), ifornly for the French 75 cocktails (cucumber, lemon, gin and prosecco, 6.75 dollars), the Bloody Caesar (like a bloody mary, but with clam juice) and the mustachioed waiter out of "Portlandia".
The eighty-sixth floor of the Empire State Building had an Art Moderne observation lounge containing a panelled "writing room," for addressing postcards, a tearoom, and a "sunset lounge," whose Belgian-marble bar served five kinds of champagne, along with a house cocktail, the Empire State, made with Amstel bitters, orange bitters, French vermouth, Scotch, and dry gin.
"In Corisco Island, for example, there are Spanish missionary ruins, French architecture and bottles of German gin from the 1800s untouched on the sand," Scafidi said.
