Perrone’s Restaurant & Bar’s Clover Club will have you toasting their creative creations
Just walking into Perrone’s in Pawleys Island is a visual feast, an astonishing wonderment of pictorial delight that gives one hope for things to come in the form of creative libations and imaginative Mediterranean-inspired fare. From its nondescript exterior, you’d never suspect the interior color and complexity of this stand-alone restaurant/bar concept created by owner Steven Perrone and serving South Strand patrons since 2012.
A lounge/bar sits apart from the larger dining room (outside seating is also available), where the assortment of colors, textures and hip, jazzy art on the walls speaks volumes. It’s immediately clear that the bar’s emphasis is on sophisticated craft cocktails, high-end bourbons, scotch, whiskey, gin, wine, craft beers and other delectable spirits, including a popular drink from the pre-prohibition era, the Clover Club.
The 100-year-old Clover Club cocktail is named for an exclusive gentlemen’s society club that met in Philadelphia’s Bellevue-Stratford Hotel from 1896 through the 1920s. The drink, served straight up, is surprisingly pink, deliciously fresh, and perfect any time of the year. It’s made with muddled raspberries, gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and a little egg white for froth.
“We sell a lot of these,” said bartender Josh Keck, who’s been at his post for two-and-a-half years. Keck works every night Perrone’s is open and has developed a clientele that trusts his instincts. He moved to Socastee from the Philadelphia area nearly three years ago.
“As you can see, we’re serious about our bar program here,” added Perrone. “There’s nothing like it anywhere around.”
We strongly recommend you let mixologist Keck create a Clover Club for you, and stay for dinner while you’re at it, but if you want to try one at home, here’s how.
Ingredients/tools:
Ice shaker
Champagne coupe glass (a martini glass will work, too)
Muddler
Cocktail strainer
Mesh strainer
2 cups cracked ice
2 ounces Beefeater Gin
¾ ounce fresh-squeezed lemon juice
¾ ounce simple syrup (1:1, meaning one part water, one part sugar)
½ ounce Dry Vermouth
¼ ounce (half-tablespoon) egg white (only use pasteurized eggs for safety)
5 to 6 fresh raspberries
3 freeze-dried raspberries (ground to sugar consistency for garnish)
Begin by chilling the coupe glass with ice and water. Muddle the fresh raspberries in the shaker (frozen will work out of season). Add all remaining ingredients except ice. Shake vigorously. This first action is called a “dry shake” and helps to froth the egg white without diluting the drink. Add ice and give the mixture a second vigorous shake. Strain through mesh into empty coupe glass. Cover half the glass with a cocktail napkin and sift freeze-dried raspberry powder through mesh over the open half of cocktail for a striking garnish. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Perrone’s Restaurant & Bar
13302 Ocean Highway, Litchfield/Pawleys Island
Open Tuesday–Saturday, 5 p.m.–until.
Happy Hour each day from 5–7 p.m.
(843) 235-9193
perronesmarket.com
