On The Town

Cocktails at The Fork & Wrench

New Canton bar/restaurant has creative craft cocktail program.

I got to check out newly opened bar/restaurant The Fork & Wrench in Canton on Friday night. So many people have been buzzing about this farm-to-table restaurant that has a vintage, speakeasy vibe and features local ingredients in all of their their food and drink items.

The space, once housed by Good Love Bar and more recently Pur Lounge, has great potential and F&W’s staff really seemed to embrace it. The decor consists of a lot of rustic-chic items like birdcages, distressed side boards, and old bookshelves. The bar area (packed on Friday night) is really cool, too, with infusion jars behind the bar and beautiful handcrafted, upholstered booths lining the walls, pictured.

We sat in the lofted dining area and, along with dinner, tried all of the drinks on the cocktail menu (don’t worry, there were only four). My two favorites were the Brass Tacks and the Aviation. Both clocking in at $7, Brass Tacks was a spicy-sweet combo of Pikesville Rye, ginger simple syrup, house-brandied black cherries, and a splash of soda over ice. Aviation was also a great balance of flavors, albiet a bit more light and refreshing with gin, lemon, maraschino liqueur, and creme de violet served up. A nice touch was that it was served in an undersized coupe glass.

It’s interesting to note that none of their specialty cocktails featured vodka and were more focused on the vintage liquors of whiskey and gin. This is a trend I’ve seen popping up more and more, especially with the recent surge of cocktail clubs in the area. The menu also had a great selection of local beer with Heavy Seas Peg Leg, Stillwater Cellar Door, and Stillwater Existent all on tap.

Look out for a full review, food and all, of The Fork & Wrench in our forthcoming June issue.