BEACH SIDE-TRIP: JERICOACOARA

The caipirinha is Brazil’s national cocktail, sort of like a mojito, a refreshing mixture of sugar, lime and booze. It tastes like a beach vacation. Bizarrely, it is thought to have been invented in Portugal in 1918 for patients with the Spanish Flu. Other stories peg it to the mid 1800s Brazil, when rich landowners in São Paulo enjoyed it as a fancy society party drink.

How to Make a Caipirinha

1. Cut one lime into eight pieces and muddle in a cocktail shaker with three teaspoons of icing sugar.
2. Add .5 oz. of simple syrup, 2 oz. cachaca and ice.
3. Shake and strain into glasses filled with even more ice.
4. Garnish with mint. (I sometimes even muddle the mint.)

SERVES 1

And umbrellas, of course. Keep the spent limes in the shaker and just add more to it for the next round. You can buy cachaca at the LCBO no problem.

When the cachaca ran out, we substituted vodka, and the drink became a caipiroska. Next time, I’m going to use Beirão, the official liquor of Portugal, and create the caipirão. This makes the cocktail more herb-y and we will probably skip the sugar or at least use less. Surf’s up!

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Start at the newly redone Zoe’s Lounge on the main floor of the Fairmont Château Laurier. The smart crowd here is choosing from the classics or from a collection of Old Fashioneds, also classic. Beautiful room.

READ THE REVIEW: CHÂTEAU LAURIER

We order a dozen oysters and a couple of craft cocktails at The Rabbit Hole on Sparks Street shaken up by a set of twin bartenders. It’s like they saw us coming. We then drink in the charm of its modernized 123-year-old digs. The intimate dining room downstairs is a good spot for a tête-à-tête—the pizza menu’s dozen red or white pies will hit the spot.

The nearby Riviera is the talk of the town for many delicious reasons. Start your experience with Acadian caviar or scallop crudo from the raw bar, then carry on to a creamy burrata or seafood chowder. Five pastas and five mains, including rabbit pappardelle and bacon-wrapped pheasant, round out the night.

On to the 16^th floor of the Andaz ByWard Market to Copper Spirits & Sights for a nightcap and a fuzzy (read: drunken), twinkly nighttime view of the whole city. You had me at fire pits. Bottoms up!

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Years ago, I used to work with bartender Jim Kita at Bamboo Club, who took a few seconds to shake his Caesars. The result was always the same: The customer always ordered a second one. While the best Caesar in the world is generally the one you make at home—it’s perfect, right?—I found two in BC that were well worth their salt.

The first at venerable brunch spot Provence Marinaside in Vancouver, where their Italian Caesar had me deconstructing the Caprese-salad style garnish with extreme care, licking my fingers and chasing each mouthful with a sip. I made it last as long as possible. The reduced balsamic glaze had me conjuring it up at home a few weeks later, a culinary-mixology take-home.

Then at Whistler’s La Bocca Italian eatery (seeing a theme here), my giant Bloody Caesar came with a couple of slices of salami on top of a sprig or six of arugula, weighed down with big, fat green olives. Another note to self. Hangover be gone. And it was.

WHERE TO STAY: IN WHISTLER

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