It all started with a Napoleon. And a desire for a cocktail after dinner. The Napoleon, uneaten, and so taken away in a box from a late lunch at Petit Trois was the itch, scratching my brain. It’s eggy vanilla aroma permeates the car on the way home and a bottle of newly purchased Bulleit Rye clinks next to me. I get the vision of a vanilla driven rye cocktail sipped along with that Napoleon.
Ludo’s Napoleons aren’t delicate fine things with a slick of sweet white icing across the top. No, they’re robust and sturdy finished off with a perfect shard of bruléed confectioner’s sugar. They are so thick that I’ve never eaten one by cutting down a bite with my fork. Instead I pluck off the top layer of crunchy puff paste and the clinging pastry cream, which leaves another layer of the same to munch later open-face sandwich style. This is the life of the food obsessed. Upon googling rye and vanilla I found Brandon at Kitchen Konfidence and a recipe for an Old-Fashioned made with vanilla sugar. I always keep a jar of sugar studded with vanilla beans in the pantry, so his recipe was quick to put together. Here’s my version. I’m making some vanilla syrup to keep in the fridge for the next one.
The other day I took a walk through Wally's, my local wine emporium's
autumn sale and was bottle shocked by the number of kosher wine choices
on display—Ninety-seven Jewtique labels. From Israel to Australia to
the Valley of Napa, there are rabbis rendering grapes right for Jewish
tables the world over. 
You have about a month to make these before Clementine season is officially over. Don't miss it. 
Handcrafted sips of any kind are my cup of tea. There is a true art behind signature tea blends and craft cocktails that make my taste buds sing. But maybe I'm biased...
“So, Gary, what was your favorite wine of the night?”