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You know it’s spring when ramps start showing up on every menu. And you know ramp mania has reached overdrive when the garlicky greens start making their way into cocktails.
Beginning Thursday, BLT Steak will introduce the “Lady & the Ramp,” a $14 cocktail with gin, dry vermouth, and maraschino and angostura bitters, garnished with a ramp poached in housemade sweet “vermouth.” (The sweet vermouth is made of pinot grigio, brandy, sherry, and madeira with wormwood, cardamom, cinnamon, and sugar.)
“It makes it really herbaceous in a way that balances really well with the gin,” says mixologist Steve Oshana, who created the take on the Martinez cocktail. He adds that the poaching gets the garlicky flavor out of the ramps.
The cocktail is just beginning of BLT’s ramp craze. Chef Jon Mathieson will also prepare a four-course ramp tasting menu for $70 through the end of ramp season. Check out the dish descriptions below.
Spring Pea Soup / mini crab cake / ramp gribiche
Pan Seared Hamachi / hakurei turnips / green onions / grilled ramps
Kobe Flat Iron / maitake mushroom ficasse / ramps and fingerling potatoes
Chef’s Selection of Cheese with Ramp Chutney
Photo by Phoebe Connelly