Giori Lemoncillo & D Ring Belt
The D Ring at the Vesper Boat Club 1985
Nice gloveShortly after Mario Batali opened Babbo -- a client who knew Mario scored a reservation. I remember being blown away by the beef cheek ravioli, suckling pig and an obscure red wine from Umbria. We wound up closing the restaurant and on our way out we saw Mario at the bar having a Lemoncillo and a cigarette. I was in a hurry to light up a La Gloria Cubana Wavell (back when they were still made in Miami) and while the client and his wife chatted with Mario I headed outside, took a seat on a fire plug and fired up -- clueless as to who Mario was other than a guy who nailed my corporate Amex for $600. I do remember wishing I had something to drink with that cigar and a cold Lemoncillo would've hit the spot.
I've had all kinds of Lemoncillo (and Limoncello). Homemade and store bought. And like Danny DeVito - - I've had too many. This stuff will give you one of nastiest hangovers you'll ever experience due to the large amount of sugar in it. Alain Sitbon of the charming, Le Petit Paris in Chicago, was the first to serve me Lemoncillo over crushed ice. A wonderful after dinner drink for the Summer.
The D Ring belt is a cheap way to hold up your trousers. A nautical look that fits right in at the Vesper Boat Club on Boathouse Row in Philadelphia. I don't wear it much anymore (I don't drink Lemoncillo much anymore). They seem to be everywhere or their poor imitation -- the Ribbon Belt which, like the word, "awesome" I detest. Which reminds me of my last visit to Babbo where the Golf Foxtrot and I had a mediocre dinner at the bar, were charged twice for a bottle of wine and had to endure Mario's Ipod -- a collection of some of the most God awful music I've ever heard. Not as good as it was -- Better than it will be.
It's also remarkably easy to make yourself. I tried a recipe that produces decent limoncello in two weeks, sublime quaff in two months.
ReplyDeleteBut skip the vodka; go for the incendiary: Everclear. As if the hangover isn't bad already.
yeah the ribbon d ring...i have one from j press, looks nice but completely non functional and always slides out and hands right down in front of my groin. Charming.
ReplyDeleteYes, what ever happened to the proper d-ring belt? The real thing was nice and heavy and capable of holding up your drawers...
ReplyDeleteI saw some heavy weight D rings at the lands End Inlet yesterday.
ReplyDeleteWhy didn't I buy one?
Love the La Gloria Cubana line, especially in 50+
ReplyDeletewow -- what is limoncillo? I've never even heard of that. It's not italian, is it?
ReplyDeleteDo you have a successful lemoncello method? I've been quite a failure in that department.
A vendor of mine told me when i first went to work in Italy - one limoncello, only ever one - I followed his guideline and went on to wonder why he had not issued the same caution with regard to his grappa as well...
ReplyDeleteI want to make homemade lemoncello, but I don't want to use Everclear, rather just use vodka.
ReplyDeleteThat's a pretty cool belt; I've never seen that ribbon pattern before. I would have thought that Leather Man Ltd. or someone would have kept it around.
ReplyDelete