The
Red Snapper

Made with gin, not vodka — the way Fernand Petiot served it at the St. Regis in 1934, when vodka was scarce and “Bloody Mary” was considered too vulgar a name for the Manhattan elite.

When Petiot brought his Paris recipe to the King Cole Bar in 1934, the hotel manager renamed it the Red Snapper. Vodka was hard to find in pre-war America, so gin did the work. The drink is genuinely better than people who’ve only had the vodka version expect — juniper, coriander, and citrus peel pair with tomato in ways that vodka can’t approach.

• Tomato juice5 oz
• London dry gin (Beefeater or Tanqueray)1.5 oz
• Fresh lemon juice½ oz
• Worcestershire sauce4 dashes
• Hot sauce (Tabasco)3 dashes
• Prepared horseradish½ tsp
• Celery salt¼ tsp
• Fresh cracked black pepperTo taste
• Celery salt (for the rim)1 tbsp
• Celery stalk1
• Lemon wheel1
• Castelvetrano olives, skewered3

1. 1Run a lemon wedge around the rim of a tall Collins glass and press into celery salt on a small plate until evenly coated.
2. 2Fill the glass two-thirds with ice — large cubes if you have them.
3. 3Add the gin, lemon juice, Worcestershire, hot sauce, horseradish, celery salt, and several cracks of black pepper directly to the glass.
4. 4Top with tomato juice. Stir gently with a long bar spoon — six or seven turns, no more. Over-stirring breaks the body.
5. 5Garnish with the celery stalk standing upright, the lemon wheel perched on the rim, and three Castelvetrano olives skewered on a wooden cocktail pick laid across the top.
6. 6Serve immediately. The first sip should hit celery salt rim, then bright lemon, then the juniper underneath the tomato.