Pamplona bar manager Ana Barrera has garnered rave reviews for her balanced and unpretentious cocktails ever since the Spanish restaurant opened in Clarendon in January. And her creations are as pretty as they are tasty. “I’m all about beautiful colors,” she says. Nowhere is that more evident than in her interpretation of sangria.
If there are more perfect summer-time quaffs than these, I’ve yet to find them. Pamplona offers six types of the fruity, wine-based punch by the glass ($8) or pitcher ($38) with options ranging from roja (red wine, apple brandy, pomegranate, bitters, lemon, dehydrated apple garnish) to a sparkling white (Cava, maraschino liqueur, ginger, Marasca cherry and dehydrated orange garnish), as well as other variations made with white wine, rosé, sparkling rosé and cider. Barrera also offers two irresistibly slushy frozen sangrias.
If sangria isn’t your thing, try her Valenciana cocktail. It features muddled strawberries, fresh cucumber, citrus vodka and Bovale rosé (from Valencia), garnished with a lemon wheel and a rosebud. www.pamplonava.com