The first cold front of the season always sends Dallas looking for something warm in a glass. This year a few of the city’s busiest bars are ready for it, with holiday menus that lean on bourbon, pear, cinnamon and a surprising amount of marshmallow.
Three of them come from the same family. Ida Claire, Sixty Vines and Mexican Sugar are all part of FB Society, the Dallas restaurant group behind Velvet Taco and Whiskey Cake, and each one took the assignment in a different direction.
Ida Claire, the Southern spot on Belt Line Road in Addison, went the furthest. Its holiday list runs four drinks deep, and two of them are built on house-infused New Amsterdam vodka. The Mule-Tide Carol starts with vodka infused with Granny Smith apple, then gets lime, apple cider syrup and ginger beer. The Partridge in a Pear Tree uses a rosemary and pear infusion with clove syrup, spiced pear, lemon and black walnut bitters.
The Sweater Weather is the one for serious drinkers. It stacks Camarena reposado with Ancho Reyes, spiced pear liqueur and clove, then finishes with orange and Angostura bitters, so there is a slow chile warmth under all that fruit.
Then there is the Campfire Hot Chocolate, which is exactly what it sounds like. Four Roses bourbon goes into Ida’s hot chocolate with Nutella, graham crackers and toasted marshmallows on top. It is a s’more you can drink on the patio.
Ida Claire is also running a holiday version of girl dinner through January 3. The Very Merry Girl Dinner is $25 and brings a bucket of fried chicken bites and spiced rosemary fries with a caviar-topped ranch crème fraîche and harissa ketchup for dipping. It comes with your choice of the Mule-Tide Carol or the Partridge in a Pear Tree, which makes it one of the better deals in Addison this season.
Sixty Vines rolls out its holiday menu on November 17 at its Uptown restaurant in The Crescent and in Plano. The Holiday Spritz mixes pomegranate and citrus with Prosecco. The Mistletoe Margarita blends coconut with white cranberry and lime, and the Cabin Fever pairs reposado tequila with maple, lemon and cinnamon.
The house Frosted Espresso Martini also gets a seasonal update with a touch of spearmint along with vanilla and chocolate. Order it before the gift exchange, not after.
Mexican Sugar went for theater. Its Spiked Sugar Skull Cocoa Bomb is a hand-painted sugar skull cocoa bomb that comes with Licor 43 Horchata, shade-grown Mexican coffee and toasted marshmallow. It is $16 and available through December 31.
Ida Claire takes reservations through its website, and Sixty Vines and Mexican Sugar do the same for each of their Dallas-area locations.
