How to make the English Garden cocktail martini, a recipe inspired by Gordon Ramsay Steak

Web Watch was in Las Vegas recently, where we had the pleasure of dining at GORDON RAMSAY STEAK at the Paris Las Vegas casino.

Needless to say, famed celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay wasn’t there that night, but we’ll just offer a quick review of the place: in one word, “fantastic”.

Of course, it didn’t help that having Chef Ramsay’s name on the marquee led to a constant parade of tacky tourists with their camera phones, t-shirts, and flip-flops barging into the main dining area to take a photo or two of a place that they’re not spending a nickle in.  It was a bit disruptive to those of us with our own camera phones who were diving in to our own 2-hour dining spectactular.

But regardless of the lack of control the hosting staff had in preventing the riff-raff from interfering with our fine dining, Web Watch highly recommends Gordon Ramsay Steak for your next Las Vegas dining experience.

What?  You’re not planning on heading out to Vegas anytime soon?  Well – let Web Watch bring you a little bit of Gordon Ramsay to your kitchen…

Hendrick’s Gin

Celery Bitters

Anyone can make a good steak dinner at home.

But it takes a careful hand to be able to mimic a great cocktail.  There’s a reason why one should always tip their bartenders, especially when ordering a complicated mixed drink.

Cocktail making is an art form, and when done right – it can really show off your culinary skills.

At Gordon Ramsay Steak, their cocktail menu is comprised of the following “Perfect Ten Specialty Cocktails” (each available for $14):

• HK Antioxidant – Veev Acai Liquer, lemon, blueberries
• The Drifter – Knob Creek Barrel #77, ginger liqueur, falernum, lemon, bitters
• Southside – Plymouth Gin, lime, mint, Perrier Jouet Champagne
• Pimm’s Cup – Pimm’s No 1, sparkling lemonade
• English Garden – Hendricks Gin, lemon, basil, cucumber, basil-infused rock candy, celery bitters
• Strawberry Martini – Bombay gin, lemon, strawberries
• The Vesper – Tanqueray 10, Ketal One Vodka, lillet  (shaken, not stirred)
• Extra Dry Steakhouse Martini – Plymouth gin, dry vermouth spritz
• English Side Car – Hennessey VSOP, orange curacao, apricot jam, bitter, lemon
• Red Lion – Tanqueray gin, Grand Marnier, lemon juice, orange bitters

Web Watch’s favorites were the Vesper, the Strawberry Martini, and the English Garden.

And while the Vesper and the Strawberry Martini are something a reasonable home bartender amateur could mimic on their own, it’s the English Garden that brought its own intrigue to our party.

So we have spent months trying to perfect the home version of the Gordon Ramsay’s English Garden cocktail, and we think we’ve come pretty darn close.  Close enough to share our recipe with you, today: