The origin of the
Bloody Mary is as murky as tomato juice. It was created in 1921 or 1926 by
Fernand “Pete” Petiot at Harry’s New York Bar in Paris. Harry’s was a famous
ex-pat watering hole frequented by Ernest Hemmingway and other luminaries of
the era. Originally the drink was simply equal parts vodka and tomato juice.
But Petiot wasn’t satisfied with his simple two-part cocktail. Soon
he was starting with four dashes of salt, two dashes each of black and cayenne
pepper, and a splash of Worcestershire sauce in the bottom of his cocktail
shaker. Next he’d add lemon juice and cracked ice. This was followed
by the vodka and tomato juice - two ounces each. Once assembled, he would
shake, strain, and pour.
This new concoction became a popular
morning, early afternoon or brunch refresher. Some people even proclaimed the
drink as a "hair of the dog"
hangover cure. Cure? Maybe not, but the alcohol might
just numb some of your discomfort.
In 1934, the drink crossed the
Atlantic and Petiot first served it at the King Cole Bar in Manhattan’s St.
Regis Hotel. To suit American sensibilities, it was temporarily renamed the Red
Snapper. The first printed reference to the drink came in 1939 when Lucius Beebe mentioned it in his syndicated gossip column “This New York” in the New York Herald
Tribune.
Why Bloody Mary? Here
again things are murky. It may have been named for actress Mary Pickford. It may
have been named by one of Harry’s patrons from Chicago for a girl he missed
back home. It may have been named for Mary, a waitress, at Chicago’s Bucket of
Blood Saloon. Take your pick.
As the drink spread across the country, Petiot’s recipe changed and
evolved as bartenders added their own inspiration and ingredients
including horseradish, celery salt, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, beef consomme or
even bouillon. The drink
is usually served in a tall glass over ice with a celery stalk garnish.
To prepare for a HEAD
Rush, your crack research team surfed the interweb seeking every possible “Best
Blood Mary in San Francisco” list, article or blog. There turns out to be a lot
of them – too many booze hounds with a computer and a lot of time on their
hands. Anyway, the data was compiled, numbers crunched and cross-checked. Four
bars came up over and over again.
As luck, or fate,
would have it the bars (The Elixir, Thieves Tavern, 500 Club and Zeitgist) are
all within 6/10ths of a mile of each other.
Our plan is to eat
and visit the top three Bloody Mary bars on Saturday, November 23, 2013. From the 16th &
Mission BART station, walk 2½ blocks to Little Star Pizza (400 Valencia St.). to
meet at 1:00pm at for lunch.
From pizza we plan to
wander over to the Elixir - 3rd oldest bar in San Francisco (3200 16th
St. at Guerrero St. This place had a special garnish bar for your Bloody Mary
enjoyment. From the Elixir it’s only a short two blocks down Guerrero Street to
the Thieves Tavern (496 14th St.). In true dive bar style, this
place is “cash only”.
Two down, one to go.
We’ll make our way a couple more blocks over to Zeitgeist (199 Valencia St.).
This place is a pure form kind of place. Imagine a dive bar crossed with a beer
garden and you’ll be pretty close. Again, it’s cash only.
Join us and help us
crown San Francisco’s best Bloody Mary!
