March Centerfold: Bone Luge

The Aviation

(The Aviation. Ingredients pictured right.)

The Aviation made its official debut in print around 1916 in a little book called Recipes for Mixed Drinks by Hugo Ensslin. The original recipe contained an ingredient called creme de violette. This liqueur gave the drink its pale gray and slight lavender hue. Due to its  discontinuation around the 1930's barkeeps began to alter the recipe. Harry Craddock, the legendary American bartender who left Prohibition in the States to tend bar at the Savoy in London where he created and popularized some of the most famous cocktails to date, printed a revised version of the Aviation in his Savoy Cocktail Book. Craddock's version called for 2/3 dry gin, 1/3 lemon juice and two dashes of maraschino, ditching the now defunct creme de violette; a recipe most bartenders would follow from then on. That is until the recent cocktail resurgence in the 1990's when creme de violette made its grand (although limited) return to the market.

The original Aviation recipe as seen in
"Recipes For Mixed Drinks.

One thing 320 Main is all about is serving up the best cockatails out there, which means Jason Schiffer and the gang are constantly changing and honing in their recipes, either via their own trial and error, or by taking cues from fellow members of the craft. Recently some friends introduced Jason to a version of the Aviation cooked up by fellow spirits blogger Jason Wilson of Boozehound. It was love at first sip. Wilson, refines the original recipe down to a tighter formula with more proportional ingredient measurements making it brighter and more well balanced. It was immediately apparent that 320 Main had to adopt Wilson's version.

The Aviation
As Perfected By Jason Wilson

1 1/2 oz Beefeater Gin

3/4 oz Lemon Juice

1/2 oz Luxardo Maraschino

1/4 oz Creme de Violette

"What's great about this cocktail is it is a perfect aperitif. The fresh lemon juice stimulates the appetite with its citric acid while the Maraschino Liqueur dries the back palette." 
- Jason Schiffer

Jason Schiffer @ Good Food/OC Weekly Happy Hour

The Michigander: A Jason Schiffer Original

Don't miss 320 Main's Jason Schiffer and Matt Robold at the upcoming KCRW Good Food/OC Weekly Happy Hour. It's all going down on March 13 at 7:00pm at Memphis At the Santora in downtown Santa Ana. Never heard of this fine event? Well all you need to know is that it involves free giveaways, raffles, and food and drink specials highlighting the fine fare at Memphis AND the fine cocktails of five of Orange County's best bartenders guest bartending too! It's a veritable Taste of OC for cocktail enthusiasts. Leading the festivities will be OC Weekly's Gustavo Arellano and Evan Kleiman of KCRW's Good Food! We know - it sounds too good to be true, but just wait till you hear the real kicker: it's FREE.


In order to keep things as orderly as possible, each Happy Hour attendee in the door will get five tickets, each good for a sample drink from one of the five guest bartenders. The drinks won't be full size, but the portions will be more than enough to give you a taste of the genius of these talented bartenders. Speaking of the drink-slingers, let's run down the night's lineup:


Ricky Yarnall of Broadway By Amar Santana and Memphis
Gabrielle Dion of Broadway By Amar Santana
Our own Jason Schiffer of 320 Main
Matt "RumDood" Robold - another of our finest 320 Main bartenders and SoCal rum expert
and Felicia Chavez of Two 40 South


Jason will be serving up his legendary original cocktail, The Michigander. Grab your favorite guy or gal and head over! It'll be a Happy Hour for the centuries. 


KCRW Good Food/OC Weekly Happy Hour
@Memphis At the Santora
March 13th, 7:00pm