A Matcha-Dusted Cocktail Inspired by a Classic 80s Film
The Desperately Seeking Suze is a study in contrasts.

Pearl & Ash, a New York restaurant renowned for its wine selection, also has a an excellent (and cheekily named) cocktail list. Among creative drinks like the Prom Night (rosé, cranberry, rosewater) and Rosetta’s Stoned (Cocchi Rosa, strawberry shrub, Ommegang Rosetta), the Desperately Seeking Suze is a tiki-inspired nod to a cult 80s film.

Inspired by Desperately Seeking Susan—which, if you need reminding, is a comedy/drama that follows a bored suburban housewife (Rosanna Arquette) as she becomes fascinated and entangled with a drifter named Susan (Madonna) and her various personal-ad-fueled exploits—head bartender Lynlea Michaels brings together a variety of distinct flavors in one indulgent cocktail

Suze, a bitter French aperitif (and a bartender favorite), is offset by the rich sweetness of coconut milk and velvet Falernum. For a grassier kick, it’s blended and dusted with matcha (swiftly becoming the avocado toast of drink ingredients: ubiquitous, green, and highly Instagrammable) and garnished with a generous handful of mint.

"The Desperately Seeking Suze is all about contrast,” Michaels says. “I really loved the idea of blending this deep-rooted traditional Japanese flavor with the earthy, floral notes of French alpine botanicals, all while making it look like a tropical tiki drink."

Even if the classified ad has gone the way of the flip phone, the escapist fantasy lives on.

Desperately Seeking Suze
By Lynlea Michaels

1.5 oz. matcha tea powder
.75 oz. Suze
.75 oz. Cocchi Americano
.25 oz. lemon
.5 oz. Velvet Falernum
.5 oz. coconut milk
1 bunch mint

Combine matcha, Suze, cocchi, velvet, coconut milk, and lemon juice in a shaker with ice. Shake, then strain into snifter glass. Top with crushed ice and dust with matcha. Garnish with one bunch of mint leaves.

—Andrea Whittle (April 29, 2016)
vanityfair.com/culture/2016/04/cocktail-hour-pearl-ash-desperately-seeking-susan