Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/78062
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDY RYAN (OAK BAR); COURTESY OF THE FAIRMONT COPLEY PLAZA (MERRY-GO-ROUND BAR) SO MANY LUNCHES... SO LITTLE TIME MIXING IT UP A modern perspective breathes new life into old cocktails. Merry-Go-Round Bar circa 1930. The hotel has hosted presidents, potentates, and personalities from Babe Ruth to Pavarotti to Tom Cruise. continued from page 76 Elizabeth Taylor on their second honeymoon. Richard Burton and Look closely, and you will see three sections of the carousel's original track, outlined in copper, embedded in the Oak Long Bar + Kitchen floor. But don't expect to order Merry-Go-Round classic cocktails like a Pink Lady or a Gin Fizz. General manager Michael Letterman's craft cocktail list features thoroughly modern libations like the Basil Cucumber Collins, the Watermelon Margarita, and the Lychee Caipirinha. Nor does executive chef Stefan Jarausch's cooking bear any resemblance to the heavier fare once consumed here. Instead, you will feast on impossibly fresh sea scallop crudo, locally made burrata, hand-cut tagliatelle tossed with Maine lobster and braised short rib, and sautéed Georges Bank sole with browned lemon butter and popped capers. They also serve a juicy eight-ounce burger with maple-smoked cheddar and charred onion aioli on a brioche bun, an extensive selection of house-cured charcuterie, and pizzas and roasts from the open wood stone hearth oven that sits at one end of the bar. Jarausch sources many ingredients from the farms that participate in the Copley Square Farmers Market across from the hotel. These fresh, local ingredients are part of the reason The Fairmont Copley Plaza's reputation has been reinstated as a power-breakfast destination, with menu items like the decadent corned beef hash, topped with both a poached egg and Hollandaise sauce, or the decidedly more healthful whole-wheat crust pizza topped with scrambled egg whites, spinach, bell pepper, and a sprinkling of Vermont goat cheese. Thoughtful touches such as electrical outlets are thoughtfully situated every few feet under the bar to allow guests to plug in a laptop or recharge a phone, making it a convenient place to work over a drink. And dress as you'd like now, since the "Proper Attire Required" plaque that used to hang by the Oak Bar door is gone. The "Grande Dame of Boston" has traded in her mink stole and pearls for jeans and Manolos. BC 78 BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM PAINT AND PANELING Restoring the Oak Bar's beauty by stripping away years of cover-up. Habitués of the Oak Bar and Oak Room will find elements of the past throughout the new Oak Long Bar. The eight chandeliers, commissioned from Waterford, are miniature versions of the two chandeliers that once hung in the Oak Room. The old chandeliers are currently being cleaned and will be installed by the front desk in the lobby early next year. The original Beaux-Arts ceilings have been repaired and repainted—along with the three Baroque plaster ships' prows along the Dartmouth Street wall. Stripped of paint, the Palladian windows around the room turn out to have been made of copper. And there's more oak than ever before. The old "oak" paneling wasn't oak at all—it was painted plaster. It's now been replaced with the real McCoy. The former What to drink at the Oak Long Bar? Martini lovers will appreciate the blue cheese, anchovy, California garlic, and goat cheese stuffed- olive options. Mojito aficionados will want to try the Passion Mojito, mixed with passion fruit juice. Old Fashioned fans will be curious about the Oak "New" Fashion of muddled orange, cherries, and cane sugar, topped with Gran Centenario Añejo Tequila and Original Combier. But for a delicious change of pace, try The Bardstown, a high-test blend of Maker's 46, the Italian aperitif Aperol, and fresh-squeezed lime and pink grapefruit juices, shaken with ice and poured into a double Old Fashioned glass with a single over-sized ice cube. It's citrusy, smoky, and bittersweet, and packs a quiet wallop. The Bardstown is a joint creation of German- born executive chef Stefan Jarausch and his wife Alice Fay, a native of Bardstown, Kentucky, the self-proclaimed Bourbon Capital of the World. "The Aperol, the slight bitterness of the grapefruit, and the brightness of the lime goes surprisingly well with the smokiness of the bourbon," says Jarausch. Agreed. Refreshing Passion Mojito. Real oak on the walls and a refurbished ceiling