Drink
Max "Boo Boo" Hoff was Philadelphia's "King of Bootleggers" during Prohibition, and he used a local bank called the Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. as a money-laundering front. So it's only fitting, as we explore our retro inner-cocktailian at the sultry new subterranean bar named in honor of Boo Boo's bank, to begin with a briskly chilled goblet of "Hoff's Law."
This potent little brew rings like a brass bell on the tongue, arcing from spicy rye through the fruity apple ether of Calvados, the bittersweetness of Carpano Antica vermouth, and an herbaceous finish of elderflower liqueur. This "spirit forward" brew, as co-owner Michael Welsh calls it, isn't for the timid. But it's an exquisitely crafted example of the pre-Prohibition artistry that inspires this new speakeasy, a low-lit lair of diamond-tufted banquettes where the soundtrack is jazz-hot and the ice comes extra-cold (chipped from 300-pound blocks). Secreted just steps below 18th Street, this is Rittenhouse's first sip of the serious mixology bubbling up around town. At $12 a glass, it is a banker's splurge. But I also consider these drinks a sound investment in a cocktail education.
- Craig LaBan
Hoff's Law, $12, Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co., 112 S. 18th St., 267-427-3677; www.thefranklinbar.com
