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When Sable Kitchen & Bar opened in 2010, it was lauded as one of the quintessential cocktail bars in the county—a pioneer in the modern mixology movement. Since then, Applebee's has added a "Mixology" section to its menu, and the once revolutionary cocktail bar has become a bit dated. So, for the first time in six years, Sable has revamped its cocktail menu, adding a transit-themed pullout with 19 new cocktails at the beginning of its book of beverages.
This boozy version of a retro CTA map is divided between four "lines." Adventurous drinkers should take the Metropolitan Line, which stops at experimental cocktails such as the Neverland Triangle—a trio of mojito, Aviation, and strawberry pisco sour gelatin shots—and Playa Azul—a color-changing rum cocktail. The Brew Line features four beer cocktails, including the Radler Square using Kimpton's proprietary overproof Aviation gin, grapefruit, tarragon syrup, absinthe, and non-alcoholic Becks. Guest can take a ride on the Local Line to sip on cocktail featuring locally make spirits or the Greater American Line to try ingredients from across the Americas.
"We felt like it was time to make a shift, and do something a little bit more creative and engaging," says head bartender John Stanton. Cocktail descriptions themselves also get more playful too with each drink coinciding with a fictitious neighborhood they represent. Take the Ricochet Roundabout, a rye cocktail with Letherbee Best, BroVo's Boomerang cherry liquor, and Demerara sugar, that is described as, "Local here wear cowboy boots and spurs, and chew bitter roots with gritty smirks. They tend to abstain from most things foreign, preferring down home ingredients instead."
The final new addition to the menu is a culinary element. "Another thing we really waned to highlight was a little more collaboration between the kitchen and the bar," Stanton says. This means shrubs and booze-infused sauces accompany more items, in addition to suggested pairings, such as shishito pepper poppers with a vegetal sotol cocktail or Pancit Lug Lug noodles with a tea-based drink. Peruse the full menu below. In addition to these cocktails, Sable continues to offers its house favorites as well as Spanish-style gin and tonic program.