A Tippler's Hideaway

The purists at Anvil Bar & Refuge are heating up Houston's cocktail scene

Fifty years ago, fin-tailed Caddy Eldorados and cherried-out Ford pickups ruled Houston's roads, and the Firestone store on Westheimer Road was a pit stop for many who suffered a blown tire. In the 1980s, the shop morphed into the Daiquiri Factory, dispensing a premixed slushy version of the famed cocktail. Today, in the same rectangular brick building, Anvil Bar & Refuge (1424 Westheimer Road, 713.523.1622, anvilhouston.com) has forged a new concept in mixology: cocktails made from original recipes using specialty and craft liquors, fresh ingredients, and infusions, served in mismatched thrift shop glassware.

Young entrepreneurs Bobby Heugel, 26, Kevin Floyd, 27, and Justin Burrow, 31, who all tend the bar, created Anvil with their bare hands. The 50-foot-long bar top is made from 12-gauge steel that "sat outside in the rain forever," Heugel explains. "The foot rail is a piece of old railroad track, and the back bar shelving is weathered steel found outside the piano store where Kevin and I worked in high school." Tables are built from reclaimed oak wood. Only the chairs and 25 bar stools are new. The tire store's original exposed brick walls, concrete slab floor, and 20-foot-high ceiling were hardly touched, though windows and a set of French doors have been added to let in sunshine.

First-timers to Anvil often get the wrong impression: just another Texas tavern on a busy boulevard. But a glance at the bar's A-to-Z list of "100 Libations to Try Before You Die" makes it obvious that the owners are cocktail connoisseurs. The list starts with an absinthe drip and ends with a zombie, the powerhouse tropical potion created in the Tiki era of cocktailing — the mid-1930s to mid-'70s. Anvil's version mixes three Jamaican rums, passion fruit syrup, brown sugar, and Angostura bitters with fresh lime, lemon, and pineapple juices.

The three amigos also have created their own signature drinks. Best known is a complex cocktail called the Brave. It's a potent mixture of Del Maguey mescal, sotol (a spirit with an earthy aroma to it), amaro (a bitter Italian digestive liqueur), and orange curaçao. The inside of a wine glass is misted with Angostura bitters, and orange zest rubbed around the rim is set aflame to caramelize it. The Brave is served with no ice. Why? "We accentuate the aromatics at room temperature and balance the sweetness and bitterness of the botanicals of the different spirits," explains Heugel. Most cocktails are priced $8 to $10, a serious bargain considering the labor and the quality ingredients poured into them.

Houston is a beer and wine town, and Anvil carries only a few obscure wines by the glass but does offer a dozen aperitifs. The beer repertoire is more adventurous, with a dozen hard-to-find drafts and 50 bottled brews, most from American microbreweries. A choice of upscale cheeses and meats plus nuts and olives are the only foods served.

Amid all this invention, it's a shock to find the bartenders here are purists. If you ask for a 10-to-1 or 20-to-1 martini, they might try to persuade you to opt for the real thing. Anvil makes a martini the way it was originally mixed. "No vodka, no olive, not shaken, and not dirty," insists Heugel. "It's properly made with two parts gin — I mostly use Bombay because it's a dry, juniper-forward, London-style gin — one part fresh vermouth, and two dashes of orange bitters."

— Chris Barnett

The Wine Shop

This month, Continental sommelier David Gordon recommends three California wines perfect for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Red Car Boxcar Syrah, Sonoma 2007, $19.99
This producer is making extraordinary pinot noir and syrah and is one to watch. Full-bodied, with ripe blackberry and pepper flavors, this wine really over-delivers for the price. It is a great value.

Venge Scout's Honor, Napa Valley 2006, $33.99
A blend of mostly zinfandel and petit syrah, this full-bodied, robust, and spicy wine is made by Napa native Kirk Venge and his dad, the legendary winemaker Nils Venge. Dedicated to the memory of their dog, Scout, this lush old vine cuvée is bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Saxon Brown Zinfandel One Oak Vineyard, Sonoma 2007, $39.99
Up-and-coming winemaker Jeff Gaffner produces a mere 300 cases of this zinfandel from a tiny vineyard in Sonoma. Ripe berries, spice, and a touch of earthy flavor round out this intense yet well-balanced wine. Zinfandel is the all-American varietal and is rarely grown outside California. It's perfect for a holiday celebration —D.G.

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Photograph: Felix Sanchez