An Edible Education

This story originally appeared on Grub Street.

Environmental lawyer Mayur Subbarao is a partner in Mayahuel and a bartender at Dram Bar, but he’s encouraging cocktail enthusiasts to get out of the bar and go home. “There’s a pretty big conceptual gap between going and having a well-made cocktail in a well-curated setting and learning how to do it at home,” he tells Grub Street. So Subarrao launched Evoe, a cocktail “society” aimed at teaching laymen about the cocktail’s “history, philosophy, and technique” — and how to stock a home bar. “People used to make cocktails at home regularly before Prohibition — they can do it again,” he says.

Look for Evoe (“the rallying cry of the Bacchanals” in ancient Rome) next on April 16 from 7 to 9 p.m. in a soon-to-open Nolita French restaurant. (When you reserve a seat for $30, you’ll get the location of the event.) The theme is Parisian cocktails of the twenties — things Hemingway and his Lost Generation cohorts might have tipped back. By focusing on liqueurs, cordials, syrups, and eaux-de-vie, Subbarao wants to show guests that “the key thing to making a wide range of cocktails is not having a wide range of spirits, it’s having a wide range of modifiers. If you have a bunch of stuff sitting around, it’s very simple to make a good cocktail. It’s cheaper and less of a commitment than opening a bottle of wine. ” E-mail Evoe to reserve a space.

Read the original story on Grub Street.