The spirits lifter
When other Toronto bars shutter for Christmas, the doors to the Drake Hotel will remain open.
Inside, you might find bar patrons decked out in Santa and elf hats, or a cheerful bartender wearing a name tag that reads “Miss. Elle. Towe.”
That’s Tabytha Towe. Originally from British Columbia, she’s worked the past several Christmases at the bar in the Queen St. W. hotel.
Referring to her cheeky name tag, Towe recalls, “When I stood over tables or the bar to talk to people, I made everybody kiss. You do fun things . . . and just be in the Christmas spirit.”
Towe calls working on Christmas “pretty hectic,” but adds that it’s always fun. “We just work as a team and then we all hang out and have drinks after and celebrate ourselves.”
People spending Christmas at the Drake are “either people, like me, who travelled to other cities and don’t have families here, or it’s too far, or they couldn’t get time off,” Towe says. “I think they just want to be somewhere with people.”
During the holidays, the Drake throws its Festivus Dinner, and it will ring in 2018 with a New Year’s Eve celebration.
“We usually do a Christmas special with a rum flip or mulled wine or straight spirit drink, a lot of wine during the season,” Towe says.
The Drake’s Christmas menu includes Towe’s own eggnog recipe.
It includes six large eggs, a half-cup of sugar, a quarter-teaspoon of salt, four cups whole milk, one tablespoon of vanilla extract and a halfteaspoon of grated nutmeg. Mix the ingredients in a pan, whisking slowly as you pour in the milk. Heat the mixture to160 C, then put the burner on low and wait for it to thicken. Allow to cool for 45 minutes and strain. The mix will keep in the fridge for a few days. Pour each serving over ice, and add two ounces of cognac or brandy and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
“It’s just nice and thick and creamy and Christmasy with all the nutmeg and spices,” Towe says.