Maggie Savarino's New Book Is All About Cocktail Projects

Maggie Savarino, the former Seattle Weekly food and spirits writer now tending to both bar and front-of-house at Madison Park Conservatory, has a book due out from local publisher Sasquatch this fall.

Nancy Leson once wrote that should Savarino ever write a memoir, it "would go immediately to the top of my reading list." Sadly, The Seasonal Cocktail Companion is not a scandalous tell-all volume. But on the plus side, it is a do-it-yourself guide for projects of the alcoholic persuasion. Savarino has been tending bar for years, and in addition to cocktail recipes, the book contains DIY projects, including root beer bitters, booze-soaked cherries, and make-your-own 'cellos beyond the standard lemon variety. As the title suggests, the book is organized by season, with at least one drink recipe for each project.

Savarino's upstairs bar menu at MPC is a testament to the success of many projects included in the book; consider it a bit of a preview before The Seasonal Cocktail Companion's release in November.