Fire Drill
During my first and only summer in Providence, while I attended culinary school, I lived on the second floor of a three-unit house a block off busy Atwells Ave., the heartbeat of Federal Hill, also known as Little Italy. My tiny room had two windows that, without air conditioning, let in the tarmac-laced, rippling hot air from the adjacent parking lot. I sweated through my pillowcase nightly, despite a fan blowing 8 inches from my head. And the noise! Having lived on a quiet street in Maine for many years before this move, it was difficult to adjust to the nightly firecrackers in the streets, the honking, the cars peeling out and away. I loved the energy of my new neighborhood – just not when trying to sleep.
With overnight street parking forbidden in Providence, my new roommate told me to go halfway down Atwells on the left to the parking lot with an attendant booth– I’d know it when I saw it. There I met Fat Louie (as he insisted I call him), a squat man with a bald head, gold chains, and stubby cigar who ran a few of the parking lots on the Hill. For a mere $30 a month, cash only, handed over to this gentleman in person, I could abide by the city’s rule and safely park my car in the lot next to my apartment. What could go wrong?
About halfway through the summer, I woke suddenly in the middle of the night to an explosion. A car was on fire at the far end of the parking lot. A car. Was on fire. A mere 150 feet away from my bedroom. Firefighters showed up quickly. A fireman hollered up to all of us in the surrounding buildings looking out our windows with wide eyes that we were safer inside. I watched the scene unravel with concern and awe, but eventually, the flames subsided, and the trucks drove away, leaving behind a smoking hulk of metal. I’m not sure I slept much the rest of the night. But it wasn’t long before I found another apartment – one with its own driveway.
Makes 1 drink
- 2 sugar plums
- 1 sprig fresh tarragon, plus sprigs for garnish
- 2 ounces gin
- ¾ ounce Cocchi Rosa
- ½ ounce orgeat
- ¼ ounce fresh lemon juice
- 2 dashes lavender bitters
- Ice
Muddle the plums (pits and all – they will get strained out) and tarragon in a shaker. Add the gin, Cocchi Rosa, orgeat, lemon, and bitters. Add ice and shake to chill. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass. Garnish with tarragon.
Gorgeous glass gifted from a dear friend.
