The Inspiration - The Crye Baby

In November of 2008 my parents were visiting me in San Diego, CA for the first time since I moved from AZ a few months earlier. My family has always been culinarily adventurous and, being new to San Diego, we were provided the perfect opportunity to explore.

One night we tried George’s at the Cove: California Modern in La Jolla, CA. George’s is an upmarket restaurant overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Before perusing the dinner menu, I glanced at their cocktail menu and was surprised. They have a line of chef-driven specialty drinks whose descriptions were fascinating.

I decided to try the “Crye Baby.” The description: "red bell pepper-thyme infused Belvedere vodka, goats cheese stuffed black olive.”

The Crye Baby was delivered up in a martini glass with tiny flakes of ice floating throughout… just the way I like my martinis. I was, however, surprised by the perfectly clear color of the beverage. By looking at it I could not distinguish it from plain Belvedere vodka. I was expecting a reddish, savory drink but by looking at it I assumed it would be more like a Belvedere Martini with a touch of flavor.

I was wrong. The Crye Baby was exploding with flavor! And it wasn’t savory at all. The infusion brought out a very robust, sweet, red bell pepper flavor with a hint of thyme. I recognized the red bell pepper flavor but I never experienced a concentration of its flavor like this. To top it off, the goat’s cheese stuffed olive added a contrasting close of savory when it was eaten.

I wanted to learn more. The server explained that the chef steeps the Belvedere vodka with fresh red bell peppers and thyme for a period of time and then filters it. A vodka infusion. I had another. I was impressed with this novel concept of using fresh ingredients to dramatically change something as simple as vodka. I imagined the possibilities. This was something I had to try to make myself.