The Francesco

 I got this glass at my favorite place Murph’s Bar.  If you don’t know Murph’s it’s an Irish dive bar in the Fishtown Neighborhood of Philadelphia that has the best Italian food you’ll ever eat.  The reason is the amazing chef in the basement, Francesco who hails from Puglia, Italy. My sketch group Secret Pants made Murph’s our regular meeting place about 18 years ago.  At first they had a small fryer and an extremely limited food menu.  Eventually a kitchen was installed in the basement that chefs could rent and while we were meeting there we saw just about any style of food you could imagine.  Each chef would be there a few months and then disappear. One evening we went in to find a very elaborate Italian menu and the new chef Francesco.  We were skeptical at first but the food was mind blowing.  We started to really look forward to our meetings and trying everything Francesco had to offer.  At the end of the meal, he started offering homemade limoncello to guests. There’s a long goofy story involving Secret Pants sneaking limoncello, but let’s just say the result was Francesco becoming a dear friend.  The word soon got out about the food at Murph’s and we had to find a new meeting location because seating was at a premium.  But we all still go to Murphs for catching up and special occasions.  A few years ago we got limoncello gelato served in this champagne flute. After we were finished, they mentioned that frequently these glasses get thrown away because they're tough to wash so I was allowed to take two home. This year on my birthday Francesco gave me a large jar of italian cherries to use in my original cocktails. At that moment I knew I needed to make him a drink in this glass and it needed cherries and limoncello. I also knew Francesco’s drink of choice is Italian beer, so I experimented a bit to make a nice lemony bubbly drink for my champagne flute.  The result is a drink as fun and enchanting as Francesco himself. So raise a glass with your favorite friends- just make sure you make eye contact while saying “salute!”