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Christine Sismondo

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Sidecar

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By Christine Sismondo

I've been pretty harsh about the Toronto cocktail scene in the past. But the truth is that, in general, cocktails in this burg are terrible. I've been disappointed so often by rumors of real drinks, only to get out and be confronted with a Vodka Pom-tini (or worse). So I rarely bite anymore and, therefore, it takes me forever to get to the new bait.

I may be cranky, but I'm also fast to admit when I'm wrong. Last week, very late at night, my partner in drinking crime and two of his friends finally decided to give Sidecar a try. I was, of course, aware oof its presence but unwilling to have my spirits dashed again. Anyhow, after a raucous retirement party in a bad sports bar, we were lubricated enough to try something new. I'm glad we did. It was about the best Toronto bar experience I've ever had. I started with the Jiggy Jiggy to start (Jamaican rum, lime and ginger beer) and am happy to say that it was an excellent version of some drinks I love in the Mule/Buck family. Still, that's an easy one to master so I reserved final judgment until we'd tried a few of the offerings. Members of our party enjoyed the Tangerine Sidecar (a slight update on the classic drink), the Deconstructed Caesar (reminiscent of the tequila-sangrita combo I love in Mexico, only made with house cucumber infused vodka instead) and the Badass Mojito thoroughly.

We were on to the next round at an alarming rate. It was roughly at this point that barman and owner Bill Sweete started to suspect that we were pretty advanced drinkers, despite our slightly sloppy state. When I asked about his use of egg whites and identified a Mexican pepper in the Thai Ginger Lemonade, our cover was totally blown.

It takes a pro bartender to know a pro drinker and, I have to say, that's what impressed me more than anything about Sidecar. Sweete's execution is flawless, he takes obvious pride in his finely crafted cocktails and is incredibly knowledgeable, approachable, courteous and customer-service oriented. I have never seen this at this level before in Toronto. It's exactly the sort of service we've come to appreciate in Seattle, New York, San Francisco and the better bars of Boston.

There are a few other people working on this sort of thing here in Toronto. Brock Shepherd, of course, works with infusions and molecular mixology at Rice Bar and there are rumours of two new places on Queen. I'm sceptical of the latter two, of course, but now that I've been proved wrong once, I'm willing to experiment with the newcomers - eventually. I'll let you know the results, of course.

In the meantime, if you love a good cocktail and would like to be treated to some uncharacteristically professional service in Toronto, get to Sidecar (577 College) post haste.

Cheers.