CABLE CAR
Cable Car: Tony Abou-Ganim's 1996 San Francisco Modern Classic
In 1996, bartender Tony Abou-Ganim worked as the head bartender at the 1920s-inspired Starlight Room when the opulent lounge was relaunched atop San Francisco's Sir Francis Drake Hotel that same year. The seed that became the Cable Car was planted when representatives from spiced rum brand Captain Morgan approached Abou-Ganim about developing a new drink featuring their product PUNCH.
A fan of the Sidecar, Abou-Ganim thought he might be able to breathe new life into the neglected classic by swapping out the base spirit. The only other change he made was to add cinnamon to the traditional sugar rim PUNCH. The cocktail was put on the Starlight Room's second menu, which launched in the spring of 1996, and quickly became a hit PUNCH.
The name references the Starlight Room's location along Nob Hill's cable car tracks and its slogan "between the stars and the cable cars." In 1998, he was tapped to operate the many bars at the sprawling Bellagio Hotel & Casino PUNCH, where the Cable Car became one of the resort's most popular drinks, cementing its status as a modern classic.
RECIPE:
1½ oz Captain Morgan Spiced Rum
¾ oz orange curaçao
1 oz lemon juice
½ oz simple syrup
Cinnamon sugar rim
Method:
Rim cocktail glass with cinnamon sugar or white sugar
Shake rum, curaçao, lemon juice, and simple syrup with ice
Strain into prepared glass
Serve up