Adam Fournier

As the legendary flagship of Wolfgang Puck’s fine-dining group, Spago sets a high bar for flavor-forward ingenuity across its menus. Take The Banana Dance, which was designed to be a low-ABV, Manhattan-style cocktail that is food friendly and meets the brand’s imperative for sophisticated complexity. “It has layers of flavor and body that are traditionally associated with bigger whiskey-forward drinks yet is light enough, with a lot of delicate flavors, that it can pair with almost any part of the meal,” says Adam Fournier, bar director.

To begin, ripe bananas are infused, via centrifuge, into oloroso sherry. “This gives all of the banana flavor without added sugar or pulp,” says Fournier. “The natural nuttiness of the oloroso gives a whiskey-esque flavor platform to build on. This is combined with Irish whiskey to bolster those banana, caramel and oak notes, as well as a brown butter-infused falernum for body and texture; blanc vermouth and nocino bolster the nuttiness, and a hint of verjus balances the acid.” A swath of chocolate is painted on the glass for a complementary sweet note. “The drink is very well received by guests, once they understand that it is not a dessert cocktail,” he notes. “How it pairs with the meal really helps drive the conversation and guest reception.”

Read more Best of Flavor 2024