A Bar Regular: The Creative Muse

The creative dynamos practicing their art behind the bar in The Four Seasons Grill Room continuously reaffirm that necessity is the mother of invention. “I’d like something with gin,” says a visitor. Another volunteers that she loved a drink in Seattle last month but recalls only a couple of ingredients. So, as often as not, the bartenders find themselves inventing drinks on the spot. That the cocktails typically draw rave reviews is a tribute to the expertise of Greg Connolly, Charles Corpion, and John Varriano.

Of course, every new invention needs a name. Some of the drinks are named after Four Seasons regulars who have particular tastes, while others are named for customers who have requested a certain variation on a cocktail. A Mr. Hoerdemann ordered the Sidecar “his way” for so long that the Hoerdemann Howl is now on the bar menu.

Other names come straight from the bartenders’ fertile minds:

• Greg Connolly drives to and from The Four Seasons over the Queensboro Bridge, where traffic is notorious for slowing to a crawl. What better to call his sloe gin–based cocktail than the logjam magnet’s colloquial name: The 59th Street Bridge?

• Charles Corpion works wonders with rum, tequila, and other spirits, and he has a practical side as well—as the hot ginger-and-rum concoction named Dr. Corpion’s Cold Chaser attests.

• John Varriano, who has a background in art, not only paints but also appreciates the works of Pablo Picasso—hence the name for his cocktail laced with blue curaçao and, “for elegance,” a splash of Pernod: The Blue Period.