Manhattan done the Bucharest way

When I was a teenager, my parents ran the Prince Rupert, a pub in Bolton, a somewhat industrial town close to Manchester in the northwest of England. I was just 12 years old when they took the pub over, and they made me wait almost two years before they allowed me to work behind the bar, but by the time I was 14 I was pumping pints two or three nights a week.

My father was a bit of a showman, and in order to boost business at the pub he hired a piano player and a drummer to play on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights. They called themselves Styx and Tones. He hired an emcee, too. Jacko Diamonds. You can't make this stuff up.

Regulars at the pub entertained each other by performing their party pieces. They'd sing songs made popular by the Beatles and Gerry and the Pacemakers, Tony Bennett, the Everly Brothers, Tom Jones and the like. And they loved to sing Sinatra songs. "My Way" was belted out at least three times a week at the Prince Rupert.

I'm a fan of Frank Sinatra, and I think I appreciate him more now than I ever did when I was behind the bar at my parents' pub, but I must admit that Sinatra didn't do justice to "My Way" quite as much as Sid Vicious. Sid really nailed that song.

It took Daniel-Grigore Mostenaru, a bartender from Bucharest, Romania, to really nail a drink called the My Way Manhattan, so I sort of think of him as being the Sid Vicious of classic cocktails. I do hope that he approves.

It took me a little while to translate the recipe that Mostenaru sent to me, but that had nothing to do with English not being his native tongue. It was his units of measurement.

He didn't use fluid ounces, of course. We're the last nation on the face of the earth to use that system, I think. (Are you listening, Mr. President?) But he didn't use the metric system, either. Instead, Mostenaru presented his ingredients in terms of time.

He called for "60 minutes of Four Roses bourbon, 30 minutes of Dubonnet Rouge, 1 second of orange curacao, 1 second of Branca Menta." And he went on to instruct, "First mist your mixing glass with seconds, then add the minutes, the ice and stir for about 23 to 24 seconds." Daniel-Grigore Mostenaru has a way with words.

I'll let this Bucharest bartender have the last word on this drink. He described it as a "beautiful variation of a never-die cocktail with subtle flavors of bitters, fruit, and spices. It's an underground drink for people who enjoy a nice measure of bourbon." Well said, Daniel-Grigore Mostenaru. Well said.

My Way Manhattan

Makes 1 drink

Adapted from a recipe by Daniel-Grigore Mostenaru of the Lente Cafe in Bucharest, Romania.

• 1/4 ounce orange curacao
• 1/4 ounce Branca Menta
• 2 ounces Four Roses bourbon
• 1 ounce Dubonnet Rouge
• 1 lemon twist, for garnish

Instructions: Pour the curacao and the Branca Menta into an empty mixing glass, and swirl the liquids around to coat the interior. Add ice and the remaining ingredients, stir well, and strain into a chilled champagne coupe. Add the garnish.