Last week, I hosted a party at The Ides at The Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg, with panoramic views of the city and one of the nicest balconies in Brooklyn. Yes, true to style, this was a Salad Party, but it was more importantly a celebration of my collaboration with Morris Kitchen. Morris Kitchen makes all natural cocktail syrups, and Kari Morris, the owner and namesake of the brand, was one of the first people to be featured on my blog.

As the MoMA PS1 Salad Garden peaked, I began to wrack my brain for projects that might use a significant volume of our herbs or vegetables, so as not to let our crop go to waste. Kari immediately came to mind, and we settled on a shiso-jalapeno syrup, two of the most productive plants at the garden. Shiso has been my favorite herb to grow this summer, as it is beautiful, hearty, incredibly fresh and delicious (think mint crossed with basil if you aren’t familiar with the flavor). So, I showed up at Kari’s studio in Bushwick with armfuls of herbs, and then next thing I knew, I was faced with 100 little brown bottles.

It was my task to design the label, which I did with the help of Luiza Dale of Imprint Projects (full disclosure, she works for my husband). Inspired by the food collages I see on every single bodega window in my neighborhood (basically just cut outs of burgers, fried chicken, sandwiches and sodas overlapping on another), I asked my friend Molly Schiot to draw me a shiso and a jalapeno, and Luiza went to work making an all over pattern for the label. I knew exactly who would be tasked with the paper-making and printing – none other than Shotwell Press in San Francisco. This is a papermill and printmaking studio in the mission run by my dear friend and artist, Pam Deluco. She lovingly letter-pressed our design onto her own handmade, 100% recycled, paper, and the package was complete.

The party featured cocktails made with Industry City Distillery’s Technical Reserve – a special high proof vodka perfect for infusions. I added some fresh shiso and the vodka turned neon green, like kryptonite, within in 20 minutes. Once diluted, this was added to the syrup with a splash of soda water and a slice of jalapeno. It was the perfect end of summer drink.

My new interns, Marie Williams and Nina Weithorn, served up salad made with a combination of Gotham Greens hydroponic mixed lettuces, and a host of herbs that I grew on the roof of the hotel, including large flats of fresh pea shoots. Just before the party, I did a massive harvest at the MoMA PS1 salad garden, and made a fresh pesto, served with bread.

I have to say, this was my first velvet rope salad party, and I got quite a kick out of hearing people declare to the bouncer, “I am here for the Salad Party!”

The syrup is now available on my online shop, check it out!

Special thanks to:

Ryan Collerd for photography

Gotham Greens for Salad

Zoe for donating Oil

Bambu for plates and forks

And The Wythe Hotel for hosting