Challenged with okra by Johnny Costello Jr. of GT Fish & Oyster, Vie bartender Mike Page adapted one of the techniques the restaurant and its chef, Paul Virant, are known for, pickling the vegetable to make a shrub, a vinegar-based syrup used since colonial times to preserve produce. The resulting cocktail is named after Ghostbusters, the 80s movie that brought us not just the Ectomobile but Ecto Cooler, a green Hi-C fruit punch named for the Ghostbusters’ mascot, Slimer.
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Page has challenged Ronnie Higgins of Bangers & Lace and Bar DeVille with canned tuna: “Sorry Charlie!! Lol.”
The Ecto Shrub
2 oz Knickerbocker gin 1 oz Combier Pamplemousse grapefruit liqueur 2 oz pureed okra aigre-doux* 10 sprigs mint Dash of Fee Brothers mint bitters
Vie’s Mike Page makes the Ecto Shrub
Challenged with okra, Vie bartender Mike Page pickles it, then uses it as the base of a green cocktail named for the Ghostbusters’ mascot, Slimer.
Muddle mint in the bottom of a shaker. Add gin, Combier Pamplemousse, the pureed okra aigre-doux, and mint bitters. Add ice, cap, and shake. Strain into an ice-filled collins glass and garnish with mint and a half slice of lemon.
