Celebrating National Tequila Day Early!

I'm rooting for you, Jacqueline, from toys now to tequila. National Tequila Day is tomorrow, but we're gonna kick things off early. I think we always kick things off early here on Good Day. Here now with a preview on how you plan to celebrate at Del Mar is bar manager, Eric Vincent. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you, Marissa, for having me. Well, you know, I told you off air that the margarita is my favorite drink. Always like that. So I think that's one reason I'm on this segment today. But you all are doing something really, really special there. So tell me about what you all offer and how you're commemorating the day. Exactly, so it is tequila day, not necessarily margarita day, even though you love margaritas. So at Del Mar, we are Spanish coastal cuisine. We try to always have the cocktails really enhance the food. We're not a cocktail bar. We wanna make sure that the drinks marry well with the food and not really overpower anything. So today I wanna make us the ole ole. Oh. So it's gonna be a base of Codigo Blanco tequila. This part kind of throws people sometimes. We have Jamaican rum. Now, wait a minute. How, why did you come up with this pairing? The whole point was to do not a margarita. Okay. Whenever you see a cocktail on a menu and you see tequila and it has lime juice, you think, you think margarita. So we have the bright vegetal agave notes tequila. The Jamaican rum puts a little body into the drink. It also helps cut through some of the sweetness because we are putting a lot of tropical fruit into this. So we try to also stay seasonal as much as we can at Del Mar. In Spain, summertime, melons, watermelons, juicy tart melons. So we have a French melon liqueur, I wish it was Spanish. Spain doesn't have a melon liqueur that I'm aware of. So art tonic melon liqueur and just a little bit of smoke to enhance everything. And again, cut through the sweetness, put a little salmonella, smoke. We have Dominique Puebla Vida, mezcal. Okay, well, I'll let you get to work to start making it. Now, what do you call this one again? The ole, ole. And what would you ordinarily pair it with when it comes to what's on the menu at Del Mar? Thinking seasonally right now, we have a cherry gazpacho on the menu. So that with a pan con tomate and just keep it light and refreshing. So we're gonna start off with fashionola. Fashionola. You know what I thought you said, fashionova. I tend to start my day sometimes with fashionova. So fashionola. There's a couple of different ways you can make it. Very simply, if you take some cherry juice, pomegranate, add a little bit of sugar from some sweetness. Oh my. Perfect. Tart, juicy. Do you find that these two, these drinks are really taking off at the bar? I mean, is this what people are asking for? Yes, we wanna rotate cocktails. What we found, this one has been on the menu since last year. We have kept it on. This is always in our top three. The other two being sangria. It's a Spanish restaurant. We can't get away from that. We don't want to. So ole, ole has always been top three. And then we have the apple tin Jamaican rum. And will you have that, Any, I know you said it's important to be seasonal. Is that one that you just keep on year round because it's so popular or? Exactly, yep. Gotta have it. So describe to me what it's like hanging out at Del Mar. What are the vibes? I see the drinks. I can smell them too. It smells fantastic. What does it feel and sound like? It feels like you're on the Spanish coastline. I was literally there for lunch yesterday. Just popped in to say hello. I'm actually at one of our sister restaurants right now at Fiola Mari in Georgetown. I love that. So stopped in, say hello to the team. And so again, coastal cuisine. I'm doing just a little quarter ounce. All right, I'm glad that you're making it and not me because we will probably have more than we need there. And of course, I'll let you mix it up, shake it up as well. Garnishing, that's crucially important. I mean, that can make or break the drink. Yes, so for this one, we do want to keep it simple as far as the garnish goes. So we have our big rock here, beautiful, clear ice. Shake it up. You even make that look so debonair. You're like do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. You have to find the rhythm. Otherwise, your shoulders, you will throw them out. Oh, I'm sure form is certainly important. It looks like your fruit is also very fresh. Every day. Gotta wash it, cut it, every day, fresh. La, la. Beautiful. Now what are these two? Are these the finished products out front? These are the other finished cocktails that we have. Again, not a margarita. So the first one here is, Fabio needs a margarita. Chef Fabio loves Spanish wine, Italian wine. Every once in a while, we'll have a margarita. So on this one, this is essentially the same tequila, the Codigo. Yes. And then we have a clarified lime leaf cordial. All right, well, thank you so much for coming. You all can go and check out Del Mar, not just the summer, but all year round. And also you all are participating in DC Summer Restaurant Week, too. So that'll be another prime time to check them out and get these lovely drinks and more. We'll be right back with more Good Day DC after this quick break.