Top-Tier Cocktails at Ann Arbor's Peridot & The Last Word
Giancarlo Aversa heads up two drink programs that set the standard for the Michigan college town.
Welcome to the weekend! Today we continue our fall exploration of some of our favorite college towns. Here’s what you’ll find in this week’s newsletter:
Cover Story: If you’re seeking great cocktails in Ann Arbor, you’d do well to head to The Last Word or Peridot where Giancarlo Aversa and team serve memorable drinks.
October’s Featured Field Guide: Ready to plan your trip to Ann Arbor? Our full list of favorites is available in our Field Guide to Ann Arbor — a free download this month for our paid subscribers. This 29-page dining guide includes a curated three-day itinerary with more than a dozen vetted recommendations for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and drinks.
The Order: In Portland, Oregon, Nong’s Khao Man Gai serves a wonderful version of the Thai chicken and rice dish.
Weekend Reading:
visits Chicago’s Loaf Lounge, shares a favorite winter getaway in New England, and more!
ANN ARBOR, MICH. — On our recent visit to Ann Arbor, one of our favorite experiences was posting up at the bar at Peridot, snacking on ketchup fried rice and charred eggplant with fried shallots and scallion confit while drinking Asian-inspired cocktails made by Giancarlo Aversa and his team. A few days before, we had stopped in at The Last Word to grab a couple rounds of drinks before dinner. At each, we were struck by the quality of the program — the cocktails at both places push the boundaries of classics and incorporate unexpected flavors, but still maintain an impeccable balance. Aversa is a partner in both projects; they fall under Watershed Hospitality Group, which has several other concepts around town.
The Last Word opened in 2012, and Aversa was on the opening team (a few years in, he became a partner in the bar). This was early in the cocktail revival, particularly for a Midwestern college town. “The market went from waiting five seconds for a drink to five to seven minutes,” says Aversa, who got his start bartending at college bars and clubs. “We were pretty slow and charging double what they were used to paying. Drinks were priced according to each ingredient — we had a $14 drink on the menu in 2012. That didn’t compute.” But what Aversa calls “overshooting” also made the team realize exactly what they had to do, which has ensured its longevity to this day. “We listened to the market,” he says. “We offer cocktails for everyone.”
The Last Word has a strong whiskey program along with cocktails that read approachably but with an unusual ingredient or two. The Islay Sour is Scotch-based amaretto sour that pulls in allspice liqueur and lavender honey to add light floral and spice notes. The Pandanvardier is a bitter classic that takes a trip to the tropics — it’s a Boulevardier with pandan syrup and banana liqueur. Also tropic-coded is Tiki on the French Riviera, my favorite drink here, which is made with Cointreau, rum, lime, orange bitters, and turmeric-spiced coconut milk. Aversa created it for a 2016 Cointreau cocktail competition that had the brief to make a cocktail in which the largest component was Cointreau, with at least an ounce used (he won).
While the menu at The Last Word does change, it’s feeling like one of the rare spots where you can go back and have an old favorite again. “I know I’m in the minority of not wanting to change all the time,” Aversa says. “People find comfort in things they know will be there.” One crowd favorite is The Osborn, a gin mule with muddled pineapple and jalapeño that’s shaken with lime and topped with ginger beer. “We serve it with a cucumber on it since the jalapeño can be hot and it cools your palate.”
At Peridot, Aversa serves The Nod, which is The Osborn 2.0. “It’s how I’d make it now,” he says, and uses Hendrick’s Gin, Midori, Chareau aloe liqueur, manzanilla sherry, cantaloupe, cucumber, habañero, and lime. Peridot, which opened in October 2023, is a collaboration between The Last Word and pan-Asian restaurant Pacific Rim, which is located next door to Peridot. Pacific Rim chef Duc Tang was born in Vietnam and the food is Vietnamese in influence, with plates like chicken wings with caramelized fish sauce glaze, grilled sea bream lettuce wraps with ginger-citrus nuoc cham, and shaking beef with miso dipping sauce.
The food has bold flavors and the cocktails play nice by incorporating fruity and herby notes from ingredients like kiwi, Thai chile, bay leaf, and passionfruit. “I didn’t want to make a tiki menu, though tiki is represented,” Aversa says. “A lot of flavors we’re using blur lines and we’re attempting to present all these beautiful flavors in more refined ways. That’s not to say that tiki’s not refined, but the drinks are somewhere in the middle of not being over the top but just interesting enough that you’re happy to receive it.”
That ethos comes through in drinks like Ha Long Bay, a nutty crushed ice refresher that features Hamilton Jamaican pot still rum, Batavia Arrack, and Luxardo Maraschino with lime, pineapple, spiced pistachio orgeat, and nutmeg. The aromatic Viper is made with makrut lime-infused Tanqueray No. 10 gin, Suze, manzanilla sherry, lime, and Thai basil.
I also loved This Old House, a house old-fashioned made with Maker’s Mark bourbon, Michigan’s Norden Aquavit, and lemongrass-infused soju. Aversa was inspired by five-spice, but found that the Sichuan pepper that’s commonly present in a five-spice blend didn’t quite work in the drink (“it just takes over and the oils latch onto your palate”). He makes a three-spice demerara syrup with cinnamon, clove, and star anise as well as a tellicherry peppercorn tincture. The aquavit adds fennel notes to complete the five-spice flavor profile. The result is one of the more unusual and delicious old-fashioneds I’ve had lately.
While the drink programs are pushing the envelope and keeping things interesting for cocktail nerds like us, both places still deliver on the approachability that’s needed in a college town locale. “Our overall goal is to have these spaces where everyone feels welcome and comfortable to imbibe,” Aversa says. “It’s fun to have these spaces where good times are had.”
The Last Word 301 W Huron St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 | @thelastwordbar
Peridot 118 W Liberty St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 | @peridot_a2
Download all our Ann Arbor Recommendations!
Ready to plan your trip to Ann Arbor? Our full list of favorites is available in our Field Guide to Ann Arbor — free this month to paid subscribers! This 29-page dining guide includes a curated three-day itinerary with more than a dozen recommendations for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and drinks. It’s downloadable for offline reading, includes Google Maps and Instagram links, and is formatted for your phone — perfect for easy reference on your next trip. Paid subscribers to American Weekender can download this Field Guide for free using the discount code found in this month’s Weekend Getaway issue. They also receive 50% off any additional guides.
Khao Man Gai at Nong’s
PORTLAND, ORE. — So many people and places these days try to do too much, which is why a spot that does one thing — and one thing spectacularly — is always going to be on our recommendation list. In Portland, Oregon, that’s Nong’s Khao Man Gai, which serves khao man gai, the Thai chicken and rice dish.
Started 15 years ago as a food cart by Nong Poonsukwattana, the restaurant’s two locations offer the signature dish, consisting of poached chicken, rice, and soup that’s rounded out with cucumbers, cilantro, and a tangy sauce made from fermented soybeans, Thai chiles, vinegar, ginger, and garlic. There’s also a vegan version with tofu, one with peanut sauce, and a Thai pork dish, but that’s about it. Khao man gai is an any time of year food, but its rich soup, chicken-fat cooked rice, and aromatic sauce makes it just the kind of warming, cozy dish fall calls for.
609 SE Ankeny Street, Portland, OR | 417 SW 13th Ave. Portland, OR | @nongskhaomangai
ILLINOIS
Loafin' and Loungin' in Chicago: Writing for his newsletter
, our friend Dennis Lee visited one of my favorite breakfast spots in town, Loaf Lounge. I almost always get the bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich with herby mayo along with their “perfectly fried” hash browns. But Lee explores more corners of the menu and highlights the cured salmon open-faced sandwich, the zucchini sandwich, and more. No matter what you get on your visit, if you are in the mood for a coffee, don’t sleep on Kyle's Go Juice. Hot or cold, the drink starts with espresso and adds honey and Angostura Bitters. It’s the best. (Kyle, in this case, refers to Kyle Davidson, the Chicago bartender who created the much-loved Art of Choke cocktail. Turns out he makes good coffee drinks too.)VERMONT
An Introduction to Vermont's Largest Ski Resort: “Killington, Vermont is a sprawling winter playground and my forever ski home,” writes
in her newsletter On The Map. “I’ve been chasing terrain here since I was 11 years old.” It’s been over a decade since I last hit the slopes, but Luiso details some excellent extracurriculars, including Bloody Marys at Peak Lodge, Portuguese egg sandwiches at Ramshead Lodge, the Pub Burger at K-1 Lodge, and mid-mountain jerk dishes.OHIO
Liu Fang Brings Her Flavors of Home to Cleveland: As part of Plate magazine’s annual Chefs to Watch feature, Amy wrote about Liu Fang and her restaurant, Abundance Culinary. “At Abundance, Fang, who is from a small town in Shandong, cooks dishes from different regions of China,” Amy wrote. But the restaurant “also nods to its Cleveland location with dishes like buns stuffed with housemade kielbasa, sauerkraut, and mustard seeds.” We visited in the spring and loved the buns and the dumplings — it’s definitely a spot to check out the next time you’re in Cleveland.
— Compiled by Kenney Marlatt
Want more? Chat with us on Substack, download our Field Guides, check out our archives, or follow us on Instagram @americanweekender. We’ll be back next week.
As a Campari lover, the Pandanvardier looks delicious. Also: I need to go to Loaf Lounge.
Thank you for mentioning my Killington post! That Bloody Mary is right up your alley.