says with a laugh . “ It ’ s just something that ’ s in my blood .”
Cirino grew up in a hardscrabble Italian American family obsessed with using handpicked garden ingredients in their cooking . He brought that philosophy to launching his restaurant in 1983 . He ’ d only been open a matter of months when some customers came in demanding a Bloody Mary . The new owner had no bartending experience and was nervous about the order . While he had never drunk one before , he knew the cocktail relied on the kind of crisp , acid-based tomato sauce his family would make from the garden ’ s bounty . He threw something together on the fly .
“ I was embarrassed because I didn ’ t know what I was doing ,” he recalls . “ I served them , and then I was waiting with my head … down , wishing I was somewhere else . … But then one of them said , ‘ That ’ s the best Bloody Mary I ’ ve ever had . What the hell is this ?’”
The sauce ’ s reputation eventually became so towering that Cirino would , upon request , fill empty vodka bottles with it for customers sneaking out his backdoor like clandestine bootleggers . Today , Cirino ’ s secret mix is sold commercially at the restaurant , along with many stores in Nevada County and a far grander scale beyond . It often sits on local shelves next to South Fork Vodka , founded by Dan Kennerson and Jon Dorfman in 2018 . The pair had been working together as ethanol researchers for the U . S . Department of Defense when they stumbled on a new method for extracting fusel oil from corn . They decided to apply it to making a novel vodka from non-GMO corn and pristine Sierra mountain water .
Nevada County foodies have since become hooked on combining South Fork with Cirino ’ s Bloody Mary mix , either by visiting the original bar , or by making it at home after local shopping excursions . The result is a tight , tangy tomato blast enlivened by sleek spiciness and simmering garden notes .
Dorfman says that area bartenders , including the ones at Cirino ’ s , have
“ Local support is the only thing that really allows a company like ours to survive — it ’ s the drumbeat that gets people to try it out and have an open mind about it .”
Jon Dorfman , cofounder , South Fork Vodka
been helping push his upstart endeavor onto the national stage .
“ Local support is the only thing that really allows a company like ours to survive — it ’ s the drumbeat that gets people to try it out and have an open mind about it ,” he explains . “ We ’ re really honored to be able to team up with brands like Cirino ’ s . When you have local bartenders enthusiastically helping those high-quality products , it creates a beautiful synergy .”
And the harmonious ties in the county go well beyond Cirino ’ s .
In 2014 , home baker Shana Maziarz and home brewer Dave Cowie began pursuing a joint dream when they opened Three Forks Bakery & Brewing Co . in
David Cowie , brewer and co-owner of Three Forks Bakery & Brewing Co ., takes pride in the business ’ s commitment to locally grown ingredients and toppings .
Nevada City . The farm-to-table bistro quickly earned a reputation for the way Cowie ’ s clean , dry and balanced ales pair with Maziarz ’ s scratch-made breads , sandwiches and woodfired pizzas .
During a recent Saturday rush , the staff at Three Forks was hurrying orders out to visitors from across the region . As customers perused their options , a chalk board told them where virtually every ingredient on the ever-rotating menu came from : an array of eggs , fruits and vegetables all sourced from 16 different farms and ranches around Nevada County .
“ I ’ d worked for a few years on a farm here , so I knew the local food community when we opened ,” Maziarz
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