The Secret Ingredient in this Summer-Ready Spritz? Yuzu Sake

In Boston’s residential enclave of Jamaica Plain, Tonino is clearly an Italian-inspired restaurant. In fact, the neighborhood osteria is named in honor of another spot in Naples, which the Tonino co-owners Claire Makley and chef Luke Fetbroth once visited together a few years ago. But their menu—which includes pan pizzas in the cheese-dusted style of Philadelphia tomato pie, as well as rustic pasta dishes, seafood offerings and salads—authentically reflects its operators’ origins and sensibilities. As does the food-friendly beverage selection, which includes premium sake—and the sake-spiked House Spritz.

Makley and Fetbroth live in JP, as the relaxed neighborhood is known. In October 2022, they opened the cozy spot they wanted to see in their community, featuring a menu “filled [with] all of our favorite things,” Makley says. As a Level One Sake Professional, she fell “madly in love” with the beverage when her hospitality career blossomed a decade ago at omakase innovator O Ya. Later, she managed Hojoko, the O Ya group’s fun-loving izakaya spinoff, and served as opening operations lead at The Koji Club, Boston’s first dedicated sake bar.

Sake, Japan’s national beverage, is brewed from rice, which gives it an underlying savoriness that amplifies umami flavors in foods like Parmesan cheese, mushrooms and tomatoes, Makley explains. It’s typically what she picks to pair with her own meals, and her own restaurant is dedicated to making sake an accessible, everyday beverage. Combining sake with the customs of aperitivo hour takes the beverage “out of a traditional environment like a Japanese restaurant,” Makley says, and puts it “squarely into a neighborhood spot.”

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An additional ounce of Joto Yuzu Sake enhances the typical spritz format of three parts Prosecco, two parts bitter red aperitif and one part soda water. The bright, creamy offering from Eiko Fuji Brewery is made with the sweet-tart Japanese citrus.

The idea for the drink was born on the patio at the Koji Club, Makley explains. She served a glass of Joto Yuzu Sake to Boston bartending legend and local restaurateur Josh Childs, who sipped it and suggested it would make a great addition to an Aperol Spritz.

“I couldn’t shake that idea,” Makley says, but she didn’t want the fruit flavors of the yuzu to compete with Aperol’s bitter-orange sweetness. “Testing it was delicious, fun experimentation,” she recalls. She ultimately landed on using her go-to red bitter, Cappelletti Aperitivo, in the House Spritz, because its balance of bite with a “berries-and-cream” texture complements the bright sharpness of the sake’s citrus.

Using high-quality yuzu sake is important for a successful spritz. “Not all are created equally,” Makley says. Joto’s fits the bill while also being widely available and priced under $30 a bottle. Made with locally grown fruit, it’s like “limoncello on steroids,” she says. “Just one ounce adds a ton of brightness and body” to a drink. The Joto Yuzu makes an excellent spritz on its own, she adds, with just a splash of soda water.

The sparkling wine Makley uses is a Brut Prosecco from Italian producer Adami. Bosco di Gica Brut Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Superiore is effervescent, dry and floral, plus it lands “at a perfect price point,” she says. Topo Chico is Tonino’s soda water of choice because its prominent bubbles are the counterpoint needed, she explains, to stand up to the full-bodied aperitif and yuzu sake.

Tonino’s House Spritz is ideal on a hot, sunny day when ice is melting fast. Both the Joto Yuzu Sake and Cappelletti have some weight to them, so the drink holds its body more than a traditional spritz, Makley adds. It’s equally satisfying in the fall and winter, though.

“It’s never coming off the menu,” Makley says.

Tonino House Spritz

Instructions

Last Updated: August 22, 2023