With Fashion Week (and the weekend!) upon us, we hunted down mixologist Brian Bartels, of Fedora, Joseph Leonard and Perla, for a boozy refresher. The novelist and Director of Bar Operations for Little Wisco restaurant group surprised us with a cheeky take on the Aperol spritz, named after industry shutterbug Terry Richardson and resembling a camera lens. “A colleague of mine was joking about how anything can happen at his photo shoots,” says Brian of his mustachioed inspiration. “The same applies to cocktails — anything can happen.”

The Terry Richardson Photo Shoot

Serves One

1 oz Wódka Vodka (Polish, just like Anja Rubik)
3/4 oz blood orange juice
3/4 oz Aperol
3/4 oz dry sparkling wine
Ice cubes
Grapefruit peel (round, like a camera lens)

Add Aperol, then blood orange juice, then vodka to shaker. Add ice, not too much but enough so the cubes are submerged. Shake for 10 to 15 seconds. Strain liquid into a champagne coupe glass. Top with dry sparkling wine. Take grapefruit peel and twist over drink to release the oils. Then run the inside of the peel over the rim of the glass. When done, drop into drink — waxy side up — as garnish.

Photographed by Noa Griffel

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