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Photo via Netflix

Photo courtesy Timothy Nguyen

Photo courtesy Our City Tonight

Our City Tonight

By Jim Gordon

Published 2:32 PDT, Thu March 28, 2024

Spotlight On Home Viewing, Gifted Musician & A Spring Cocktail

The Home View #1 – Ripley

The tagline for Ripley says it all: “He’s a liar. It’s his profession.” Premiering on Netflix starting April 4, this eight episode series follows the life of Tom Ripley (played by the always superb actor, Andrew Scott), a grifter who is trying to carve out an existence in New York of the 1960’s. But his luck changes when he’s hired by a wealthy businessman to travel to Italy to convince the man’s “trust fund” son to return home. This is where Ripley’s talents come to very good use in the form of deceit, fraud and murder. The strong supporting cast includes Dakota Fanning, Johnny Flynn and John Malkovich. The drama series is written and directed by Academy Award winner Steven Zaillian (Schindler’s List, Gangs of New York, The Irishman) and is based on Patricia Highsmith’s bestselling Tom Ripley novels. netflix.com/ca/

The Musician – Lenny Pallerstein

Recently, while filming Our City Tonight at an event, we were introduced to the musical talents of Lenny Pallerstein, a gifted “fingerstyle” guitarist who spent the better part of the evening wandering around the event, wowing the guests (including our group) with his re-imagining of popular songs. It was the perfect fit for the evening, and we can see why that perfect fit is in demand at events, weddings, and restaurants in the lower mainland. It’s remarkable that Pallerstein only took up the guitar at age twelve out of boredom. “As I got older, I felt more and more drawn to the instrument until suddenly I was practicing four hours a day,” he tells us, “and that’s when I knew it was more than a passion and that I wanted it to be my career.” Five years ago he began to challenge himself with “fingerstyle” guitar, which is what first caught our attention and he reminded us of Our City Tonight guest, legendary guitarist, Tommy Emmanuel—who, we’re happy to say, Pallerstein worships. lennypallersteinguitar.com

The Sip – Bourbon Cherry Lemonade

You can feel spring in the air (well, some of the time), and with that our interest in cocktails for the upcoming warmer weather. We ventured once again to one of Richmond’s culinary gems—Free Bird Table and Bar. General Manager Steve Lobsinger had the perfect suggestion for the first of hopefully many cocktails for upcoming spring and summer. “I chose the Bourbon Cherry Lemonade,” Lobsinger tells us, “because it’s not too sweet, not too sour and who doesn’t love a good lemonade.” He also tells us that it’s the smokiness of the bourbon which really adds to the experience. Our thoughts? Delicious and we can see why this is one of their most popular cocktails.
If you are trying this at home:

.5oz Cointreau

1.0oz Fresh Lemon Juice

1.0oz Cherry Syrup

.5oz simple Syrup

1.5oz Evan Williams Bourbon

Then shake with ice and strain into ice filled Mason Jar—top with soda or sparkling water. Garnish with fresh lemon wheel, fresh orange wheel and cherries.

Free Bird Table and Bar is at 5991 Alderbridge Way thefreebird.ca