Enjoyed: Friday, April 30, 2021

Listed on the menu: No, but the rye I selected was listed.

Ingredients: Knob Creek rye, a dark cherry, and probably orange zest, a dash of simple syrup, and angostura bitters.

The occasion: Husband is two weeks out from his second vaccination, so now we are both fully protected! We decided to celebrate Mother’s Day early, so we drove the Mustang over the mountain to Staunton for the night. We returned to Zynodoa, in the historic downtown, where we had enjoyed a wonderful meal for our anniversary in October 2019. The chef did not disappoint (we dined well on several items, including oysters, NY strip steak, swordfish, bone-marrow mashed potatoes, and a hibiscus panna cotta) nor did the bartender. My Old-Fashioned was divine–just the right balance of rye and orange.

My rating: ***** out of 5.

Final thoughts: Ah, such a pleasure to sip such a drink! I would have been disappointed–given the restaurant’s soothing ambiance, attentive staff, and creative chef–if the bartender had not lived up to my expectations. The Old Fashioned seems deceptively easy to make, but it is not–it takes a skilled mixologist to make it delightful, and this one succeeded. And such a pleasure to be served a cocktail in a glass (versus a disposable cup) at a cozy table indoors!