While we were back east last week, we were fortunate to have dinner with our nephew and his family. Time flies… one day they’re toddlers and the next day they have toddlers of their own and are hosting fantastic dinners.

Lucky us.

One thing their generation has perfected is the reemergence of the cocktail.

Victor and I were both bartenders at some point in our lives. My experience was mainly at a neighborhood restaurant in San Francisco where I was also a cook. In my hotel days, I would occasionally work a banquet bar or service bar to help out. Victor worked in some of the finest restaurants in Philadelphia, owned his own restaurant, and made the rounds at some of the better Atlantic City Hotels and Casinos.

But neither of us are big cocktail drinkers. My go-to at a nice restaurant will be a Gin martini. bone dry, straight up, with an olive. Victor is the same – except he’s a top shelf Vodka martini guy. Since we tend to frequent brew pubs and local joints over fine dining establishments, more often than not, we’ll have a whiskey or reposado tequila neat, with a local craft beer.

That was then This is now. Nick made us a cocktail called a Paper Plane that has us completely rethinking the cocktail genre!

The drink itself is quite simple.

Paper Plane

Equal parts:

  • Whiskey or Bourbon of choice
  • Aperol
  • Amaro Nonino
  • Fresh Lemon juice.

Add ingredients to cocktail shaker with a bit of ice. Do a quick stir and strain into cocktail glasses.

You don’t want the alcohol to dilute too much, so mix quickly.

It is the perfect summertime drink!

It’s a fairly recent (2007) upgrade of a prohibition-era cocktail called The Last Word. That drink consists of equal parts of Gin, Green Chartreuse, Maraschino Liqueur and freshly squeezed Lime Juice, I may have to try one of those, one of these days!

Retirement is treating us well.