Guilty Pleasures: Legal Sea Foods' 'Raising the Bar'

Guilty Pleasures:

Legal Sea Foods Raising the Bar Drinks Go Swimmingly with Seafood

It turns out that the name of the highly respected chain of seafood restaurants has nothing at all to do with the law. According to the company's website, the name came from “Legal Stamps,” which apparently were the forerunner to S & H green stamps.

In 1950, when company founder George Berkowitz opened a fish market next to his father’s grocery store in Cambridge he borrowed the name from his dad’s store, the “Legal Cash market.”

From this humble beginning, Legal Sea Foods has grown into a chain of more than 30 family-owned restaurants, and I’ve always associated the name with high-quality food. Yet, last year I started thinking about legal cocktails when about 20 bartenders and servers from Legal Sea Foods restaurants in the New York tri-state area attended my bartender worshops. We had a heck of a time together, and I found them to be a very passionate bunch when it came to mixing drinks.

I wasn’t surprised, then, when I heard recently that Legal Sea Foods has launched a new “Raising the Bar” cocktail menu of signature drinks and that customers were reacting positively. We think it’s the formula of fresh, unusual and creative combinations that can’t be duplicated anywhere else,” says Sandy Block, the company’s vice president of beverage operations. I’m sure that there are more than a couple of pear martinis in existence at various bars and restaurants in the country, but the reason that this particular formula came to mind is that it was hailed as being a perfect accompaniment to seafood by Anthony Giglio in his 2004 book, “Cocktails in New York. And he wrote: “Its sweet floral notes were perfectly balanced with acidity.  The acidity is both necessary and logical with crawfish, crabs, oysters, and clams.” Great minds think alike, it seems, and restaurateurs that serve seafood might want to bear in mind that pear flavors pair well with this type of fare.

Block, one of few Americans with a Master of Wine designation, is pretty sure that no one else will be able to recreate these drinks because the “fresh purees, mixes and flavor essences” used to make them were identified and concocted by a “Flavor Council,” headed by the company’s chief executive, Roger Berkowitz, along with Block, executive chef Rich Vellante, executive pastry chef David Topian and assistant director of bar operations Brent Hayes.

One of the new drinks, the Golden Pear “Belle” Margarita, is made with Herradura Silver 100-percent blue agave tequila, the cognac-based pear-flavored liqueur Belle de Brillet and Legal Sea Foods’ house-made sour mix, made with freshly squeezed lemons.

The Golden Pear “Belle” Margarita brings to mind another drink, the pear martini, that calls for Belle de Brillet, citrus vodka and fresh lime juice.

Legal Sea Foods seems to be taking the lead from small independent bars and restaurants that try to offer unique cocktails.  The “Raising the Bar” cocktail menu also includes such drinks as the Latin Guava Mai Tai, made with a South African guava puree and 23-year-old Ron Zacapa Rum; and the Cranberry Bog Lemon Martini, a mixture of fresh cranberry puree, Absolut Citron vodka, sour mix and bitters.  And if you want to sample them, you know exactly where you’ll have to go for lunch or dinner. Not a bad move by Legal Sea Foods, eh?