photograph by bruce vanwyngarden
Nick Zorbino serves an “Ash Wednesday.”
After studying journalism at Ole Miss, Nick Zorbino decided a career chasing down news stories wasn’t for him, so he turned to what he knew — restaurant work.
“I didn’t really enjoy journalism,” he says, “and I’d worked in a lot of kitchens, so that was what was on my résumé, and that’s where I ended up after college.” After a short restaurant stint in Oxford, the CBHS grad returned to Memphis in 2012, and again found himself working in a restaurant.
Some real thought went into this cocktail, I think. It’s a flavor-balancing act in a glass. After a couple of minutes of pouring and shaking, Zorbino sets the drink on the black bar-top and it is indeed a thing of visual beauty.
“I discovered I liked being in kitchens and learning flavors and how they work together,” he says. “After a while, I got the opportunity to tend bar and found that I enjoyed that, too.”
Zorbino eventually left kitchen work behind and took a job behind the bar at Global Café. “I sold a lot of margaritas,” he says, with a smile. “After that, I poured at the Pumping Station, and I really enjoyed myself there. It opened my eyes to what the job could be and set a baseline for what was next.”
photograph by bruce vanwyngarden
The bar area at Dory.
What was next was Dory, Chef David Krog’s fine-dining restaurant on Brookhaven Circle in East Memphis. “I can’t say enough good things about David,” Zorbino says. “I’m so impressed with his cooking abilities and skills. He’s taught me a lot about how flavors work. And he has a thing about not wasting anything, which I admire. When he cuts onions, for example, he doesn’t throw away anything. He grinds the leftover pieces into a powder that he uses for seasoning.”
And Zorbino has taken Krog’s “no waste” mantra to heart. He noticed that the restaurant was using a lot of corn and that the husks were not being utilized. Cue internet search. “I was scrolling on my phone one night and I came across this Instagram where a guy was making syrup from charred corn husks. I had to try it.”
“Mmmm. Charred corn husk syrup,” I think. “This ought to be good.”
Zorbino hands me a small flat stick and urges me to dip it into a ramekin of dark liquid and have a taste. And it’s delicious! Syrupy and sweet and rich.
“How do you make this?” I ask. “It’s not just burned corn husks, right?”
“We take portions of husks and char them on a grill, then put them in water to make a stock,” he says. “After you add a small pinch of sugar, it eventually turns into a kind of molasses.”
photograph by bruce vanwyngarden
The “Ash Wednesday”
“So, what do you do with this molasses?” I ask.
“I use it in a cocktail that I’m going to make for you.”
The man displays excellent segue skills, one must admit.
“It’s on our summer/fall drink menu and it’s called ‘Ash Wednesday,’” says Zorbino. “It was also on our spring/summer menu, but we’re keeping it around for another couple of months.”
“So, what’s in the ‘Ash Wednesday’ besides ashes?”
“It starts with Curamia tequila,” he says. “Then we add Amaro Averna, some pineapple and Meyer lemon shrub, and, of course, the charred corn husk syrup. I coat the rim of a rocks glass with a mixture of salt and ground toasted sesame seeds. The idea being that it looks like a black-sand beach. It’s a tropical-tasting drink.”
Some real thought went into this cocktail, I think. It’s a flavor-balancing act in a glass. After a couple of minutes of pouring and shaking, Zorbino sets the drink on the black bar-top and it is indeed a thing of visual beauty. But how will it taste?
I needn’t have worried. The “Ash Wednesday” is at first tangy and sweet from the lemon and pineapple, but there’s a slight smokiness that comes into play, as well. And while I’m not usually a big salt-on-the-rim guy, this mixture really works and, yes, balances the cocktail perfectly.
Before I leave, Zorbino hastens to remind me that Dory has recently shifted from their chef-selected tasting menu to an à la carte approach. “We’re excited by the change,” he says. “It gives customers more flexibility in what they can order, and rather than being reservation-only, we’re also able to have walk-ins.”
Which is your cue, dear reader, to walk into Dory and ask Nick for an “Ash Wednesday” cocktail. It’s so tasty it’ll make you want to smudge your forehead.
Dory is located at 716 W. Brookhaven Circle.
