Lead bartender Esmay Kim prepares a Suzanne's Last Dance.
In the dog days of summer, a light, delicious cocktail can serve as the perfect end to a long day—or the perfect start to a long evening.
Suzanne’s Last Dance at Quenelle, the French bistro at 341 Franklin St., is exactly that libation. It’s been the restaurant’s best-selling cocktail since its opening in January 2025.
“This drink is brisk, fruity and refreshing,” says Quenelle co-owner Rachel Herman-Gross. “It is a riff on the classic Corpse Reviver #2, a cocktail created in the Prohibition Era to revive one from a hangover.”
Suzanne’s Last Dance is named after an elderly patron of the Rue Franklin (formerly located at 341 Franklin) whose dying wish was to have a family dinner there and who passed away, surrounded by family, after dessert.
If you’ve got to go, I can certainly think of worse ways. Here’s to you, Suzanne.
Suzanne's Last Dance at Quenelle
Ingredients
1 oz. gin
1 oz. blanc vermouth
.75 oz. apricot cordial*
.5 oz. fresh lemon juice
1 lemon peel
Absinthe, to rinse the glass
Instructions
Fill a glass with ice, then combine gin, vermouth, cordial and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously for 15 seconds. Discard ice from glass and “rinse” with a barspoon of absinthe, then discard. Strain cocktail into prepared glass, add lemon peel garnish and enjoy, Santé!
*To make apricot cordial, combine equal parts apricot jam, sugar and water. Cook over low heat until sugar dissolves and the mixture becomes homogenous. Cool before using in cocktail.
