To call shrimp cocktail a trend seems a bit ridiculous, but the steakhouse classic is alive in the city’s oldest establishments and spreading its opulence to progressive restaurants across town.
Potluck iterations might conjure images of plastic Costco trays and cream cheese-laden dips, but when dining out, the dish feels grand.
Its ancestor is the oyster cocktail, a popular drink in the early 1900s of raw oysters and absinthe spiked with horseradish and ketchup .
The details are immaculate—down to the sprig of curly parsley and lemon wedge suspended on a cocktail fork that juts out of the crushed ice.
Similar to Jake’s, Ringside’s prawns are perched on a stainless steel vessel over crushed ice, nestled with a few pimento-stuffed olives, a flourish of lettuce, and the obligatory lemon wedge.
Historically, Ringside has been a preamble to the theatre or symphony, but Geoffrey Rich, the restaurant’s general manager, notes a trend of pandemic diners making a night out of dinner, a respite in these uncertain times.
Though the classics are tough to contend with, Andrew Mace feels confident serving a close-to-traditional shrimp cocktail at his two-year-old Montavilla restaurant, Lazy Susan .
He has an affinity for what he calls “steakhousey” and “fishhousey” recipes, but finds classic dishes to be most successful on his menu when tweaked to the restaurant’s progressive style.