"They were really upset," he said of several women. For spring this year, Lampariello is offering a tequila rhubarb-a-rita at Lever House and the Spiked Arnold Palmer at Lure Fishbar, a vodka lemonade that makes you want to put on a daffodil-yellow acrylic cardigan, plaid trousers and cleats, and walk around smiling and swinging a stick.
"You keep them guessing, reinventing yourself, like anything else, to stay successful," Lampariello said.
Fashion pays a price. At Gramercy Tavern, drinkers are starting to sweat it out as to what, if anything, will return from spring last year. It's not as if your favorite mojito is going to come back from the dry cleaner, after you find the ticket. Juliette Pope, the beverage director, said there are now nervous inquiries about the Rickshaw, introduced last year. Barry Johnson, the bartender who created it, also has a new collection. It includes the Belle du Jour, a lavender gin drink.
Like a successful designer, Klemm at BR Guest is thinking ahead to 2006. He has his eye on kaffir lime leaves, a trend surfacing that he said would strengthen, and fennel pollen, a chef's ingredient, which he will try as a rim duster on cocktail glasses.
"Kaffir lime leaves will be next year's kumquats," he said with confidence.
At Cafe Gray, Alexander Adlgasser, the beverage director, has his sights set only on summer. With some impatience, he unveiled a sex-red strawberry cocktail this weekend called the Testarossa, as in Ferrari.
With a top speed of over 200kph, that's Manhattan to Gin Lane in about half an hour.
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