BOTTOMS UP
I shall return to the classics (like a MacArthur at Parkview)

“A woman drove me to drink, and I never had the courtesy to thank her.” W.C. Fields

Take a little trip back in time to when W.C. Fields had a quip a mini4te about his favorite pastime or Humphrey Bogart de-cried “of all the gin joints .. .“ and check out the Parkview Nite Club on a Thursday night. That’s when the Cleveland club at 1261 West 58th St. has its weekly Classic Cocktail Nite.

When cleaning out the bar’s basement, owner Norm Plouski found tattered copies of the 1943 book “Cocktail & Wine Digest Encyclopedia Guide For Home and Bar” and “Sloppy Joe’s Bar in Havana” drink book. Plouski thought it would be a great idea to serve up the wild assortment of drinks that were once a staple of every bar in the country. And a good idea it was.

Though Manhattans and Old-~Fashioneds are among the most popular drinks sold on Thursdays, there also are calls for many others. There are brandy, gin or whiskey smashes; gin rickeys; a brandy sling or a Pimm’s Cup sling; and a Side Car.

Two other good ones are a Bacardi cocktail (2 ounces of rum, the juice of half a lime and four dashes of grenadine shaken and strained into a martini glass) and a MacArthur (2 ounces of rum, four dashes of Jamaican rum, a half ounce of triple sec, the juice of half a lime and a dollop of frothy egg white). A couple of MacArthurs — named for the general, obviously —and you, too, will feel like you could command and rally the troops.

-John S. Long