Get more recipes, food news, and stories by signing up for our Deep Dish newsletter.

Things get wild at Esmé, the exuberantly creative fine dining restaurant in Lincoln Park. The bar menu includes a Flamin' Hot Cheeto; the tasting menu has paired caviar with sweet potato ice cream, miso caramel, and celery root hot sauce. Tia Barrett, the beverage director and operations manager for the Michelin-starred restaurant, comes up with drinks and pairings to go along with these inventive dishes, championing beverage producers who have a charitable component or are people of color along the way.

She shared a recipe for a riff on a Kir Royale with us. The drink is utterly simple in its classic form: crème de cassis and champagne. Barrett replaces the cassis with a mix of blueberry pomegranate juice, vanila liqueur, and elderflower liqueur, adding a splash of vodka for an extra kick to the sweet, floral notes.

Tia Barrett's Riff on a Kir Royale

Ingredients

1 oz. Pom blueberry pomegranate juice
0.5 oz. vodka
0.5 oz. Giffard Vanille de Madagascar
0.25 oz St-Germain 
4 oz. Champagne

Directions

Mix blueberry pomegranate juice, vodka, Giffard, and St-Germain. Top with champagne. Garnish with a lemon twist

Barrett talked to us about her career for a profile.