- On September 5 the trailer poured a fortieth birthday by the pool in Manasquan, our third event in town after the house crawl and the block party.
- The custom menu ran a New York Sour with a red wine floater, a Fig Old Fashioned with a torched fig garnish, and a Cucumber Collins.
- Milestone birthdays are becoming a specialty, and fall dates are wide open. Book yours: (908) 481-5819.
Manasquan, Part Three
Some towns you market to. Manasquan just keeps calling. After the house crawl in May and the block party in July, the trailer rolled back into town on September 5 for booking number three: a fortieth birthday by the pool, with giant 40 balloons zip tied to the serving shelf and a warning sticker on the trailer that read it's my 40th birthday.
Three events in one town in one summer is not an accident. It is what happens when the neighbors at one party become the hosts of the next one, which has quietly become the Manasquan business model.
A Menu That Turned Forty
The board said Happy 40th Birthday Josh, and the three drinks under it took the assignment seriously. A milestone birthday menu should drink like a grown up, and this one did:
- New York Sour: housemade sour mix, whiskey, and a red wine floater layered on top, so every cup came out in two shades.
- Fig Old Fashioned: fig liquor, whiskey, simple syrup, and black walnut bitters, finished with a torched fig on a pick.
- Cucumber Collins: gin, housemade cucumber syrup, fresh lemon juice, and club soda with a cucumber ribbon over the rim.
And the Cucumber Collins held down the fresh end of the board: gin and housemade cucumber syrup under a ribbon of cucumber, the drink for the guest who planned on staying in the pool.
The Fig Says Fall
The sleeper hit was the Fig Old Fashioned. Fig and black walnut is a September flavor in a glass, and torching the fig garnish gave every pour a little brûléed drama on the pick. It is also a preview: as the calendar tips toward fall, the syrups and garnishes on our boards tip with it, and this drink is exactly the direction autumn menus are heading.
Parked On The Pavers
The trailer leveled up on the paver patio a few steps from the pool, jack pads down to protect the surface, with the serving windows facing the yard. A patio pour is one of the best setups going: guests drift between the water and the bar, the house stays closed, and the party has a centerpiece that is not a folding table. If your patio can fit a small car, it can fit the bar.
Milestones Deserve A Bar
A fortieth only happens once, and the difference between a cooler on the patio and a bartender torching figs is the difference between a Saturday and a story. This was our second milestone birthday of the summer after the Howell fire hall party, and the Manasquan page keeps getting easier to write. Planning a decade birthday anywhere in Monmouth County or beyond? The private parties page covers how it works.