Booze in a Blender

The back of the bar at Urbana [3407 Montrose, (713)521-1086] is decorated with a modern stained-glass window with jagged shapes of green, blue and purple. The whole place has a bright, sleek look. There are three TVs, their broadcasts muted, above the bar. The one on the right is tuned to a music video, and the middle one is locked onto The Drew Carey Show (an episode I've already seen). But I am riveted to the screen on the left, where Lindsay Davenport is beating Serena Williams in a U.S. Open tennis match. Wow, I didn't think the Williams sisters ever lost! Bartender Melissa Simpson recommends a tall cold one for a brutally hot night -- a bellini with a Chambord swirl.

Urbana's Chambord Bellini:The beer glass turns this colorful fruit slush into a drink that resembles some sort of frozen dessert parfait. It sort of tastes like one, too. Be sure to put the Chambord in the glass first to get the swirl effect.

1 cup crushed ice
1 shot vodka
1 shot peach schnapps
1 shot peach nectar
1 shot champagne
1 1/2 shots Chambord

Put the ice in the bottom of the blender. Add the vodka, schnapps, peach nectar and champagne, and process until slushy. Alternate Chambord and slush in a tall pilsner glass. Makes one tall cold one.