Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Drinking Sudden Death on All Saint’s Day in Quixote’s church-themed interior

Seeking solace, spiritual and otherwise

The Vernita Green
The Vernita Green

There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will.” — Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 2

When a man reaches a certain age, he’s liable to have favorite Simpsons jokes. One of mine comes from The Simpsons Movie. The apocalypse is coming: a shadow falls over Springfield. A wide shot shows us the church and Moe’s Bar, separated by an alley. The congregants rush out of the church; the patrons pour out of the bar. Each group looks up at the threatening sky, then the churchgoers run into the bar while the barflies run into the church. Here comes death; how will you prepare for the end?

The bar at Quixote in the Lafayette hotel felt like a gorgeous riff on that joke, seeing as how it was decorated with elements from a decommissioned Catholic Church in Mexico. A statue of the Virgin Mary kept vigil over a banquet room. (I lacked the guts to ask what they kept in the tabernacle behind the bar.) I didn’t mean to come here; my wife just asked the doorman which bar we should visit, and when he mentioned tequila, down the red hallway we went.

“What should I get?” I asked Anthony the bartender.

“What do you like?”

“I like tequila.”

“Not mezcal?”

Some mezcal.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

“The Vernita Green.”

Right he was. First impression: I felt like I was drinking a lightly spicy puree of cactus leaf, with some tomatillo tossed in for zip. Though I was sure it was more complicated than that. (It always is.)

But the wife was drawn to some of the other offerings: “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow” and “Sudden Death.” She chose the latter, then said, “So my friend Jen texted me two days ago asking for prayers because a friend of hers died in a car accident with two of her children. Hit by a semi, on their way home from Mass. She worked at a birth center as a midwife. Everyone who met her said she touched their lives. Jesus said, ‘That soul looks delicious.’ I want to cry. How dare I stay alive? It’s not fair. That’s why I’m getting Sudden Death. The finish is super cool and clean. Is that the absinthe? Your drink is rooty and earthy. Mine’s ethereal. In the core is life — that elderberry tonic — but the end is, ‘Better let go.’ I didn’t want to tell you before today.”

Why today? Because today was November 1: All Saints Day, the celebration of eternal life that gives us All Hallows’ Eve. And tomorrow would be All Souls, when we remember those who have gone before us. And because we were here in this bar, seeking solace, spiritual and otherwise. Like those poor souls in The Simpsons Movie. As I said, I didn’t mean to come here. But I guess maybe Shakespeare was right.

Behind the bar at Quixote.

Quixote’s

Vernita Green

  • 1.5 oz reposado tequila
  • .5 oz Raicilla
  • 1.5 oz Verdita
  • 1 oz mango syrup
  • .75 oz lime juice

The Verdita is a blend of red bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, Fresno chile, cilantro, mint, celery, salt, pineapple juice, and lime juice. Build ingredients in shaking tin, add 10 oz. crushed ice, shake, and empty into tumbler filled with more crushed ice. Garnish with mint and taijin-dipped pineapple.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Birdwatching bonanza, earliest sunset of the year, bulb planting time

Venus shines its brightest
The Vernita Green
The Vernita Green

There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will.” — Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 2

When a man reaches a certain age, he’s liable to have favorite Simpsons jokes. One of mine comes from The Simpsons Movie. The apocalypse is coming: a shadow falls over Springfield. A wide shot shows us the church and Moe’s Bar, separated by an alley. The congregants rush out of the church; the patrons pour out of the bar. Each group looks up at the threatening sky, then the churchgoers run into the bar while the barflies run into the church. Here comes death; how will you prepare for the end?

The bar at Quixote in the Lafayette hotel felt like a gorgeous riff on that joke, seeing as how it was decorated with elements from a decommissioned Catholic Church in Mexico. A statue of the Virgin Mary kept vigil over a banquet room. (I lacked the guts to ask what they kept in the tabernacle behind the bar.) I didn’t mean to come here; my wife just asked the doorman which bar we should visit, and when he mentioned tequila, down the red hallway we went.

“What should I get?” I asked Anthony the bartender.

“What do you like?”

“I like tequila.”

“Not mezcal?”

Some mezcal.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

“The Vernita Green.”

Right he was. First impression: I felt like I was drinking a lightly spicy puree of cactus leaf, with some tomatillo tossed in for zip. Though I was sure it was more complicated than that. (It always is.)

But the wife was drawn to some of the other offerings: “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow” and “Sudden Death.” She chose the latter, then said, “So my friend Jen texted me two days ago asking for prayers because a friend of hers died in a car accident with two of her children. Hit by a semi, on their way home from Mass. She worked at a birth center as a midwife. Everyone who met her said she touched their lives. Jesus said, ‘That soul looks delicious.’ I want to cry. How dare I stay alive? It’s not fair. That’s why I’m getting Sudden Death. The finish is super cool and clean. Is that the absinthe? Your drink is rooty and earthy. Mine’s ethereal. In the core is life — that elderberry tonic — but the end is, ‘Better let go.’ I didn’t want to tell you before today.”

Why today? Because today was November 1: All Saints Day, the celebration of eternal life that gives us All Hallows’ Eve. And tomorrow would be All Souls, when we remember those who have gone before us. And because we were here in this bar, seeking solace, spiritual and otherwise. Like those poor souls in The Simpsons Movie. As I said, I didn’t mean to come here. But I guess maybe Shakespeare was right.

Behind the bar at Quixote.

Quixote’s

Vernita Green

  • 1.5 oz reposado tequila
  • .5 oz Raicilla
  • 1.5 oz Verdita
  • 1 oz mango syrup
  • .75 oz lime juice

The Verdita is a blend of red bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, Fresno chile, cilantro, mint, celery, salt, pineapple juice, and lime juice. Build ingredients in shaking tin, add 10 oz. crushed ice, shake, and empty into tumbler filled with more crushed ice. Garnish with mint and taijin-dipped pineapple.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tuna within 3-day range Back in the Counts

Mind the rockfish regulations
Next Article

Aaron Bleiweiss: has guitar, has traveled

Seattle native takes Twists and Turns to assemble local all-stars
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader