I first heard those four annoying words — that’s what she said — spoken aloud while working back of house at a lowcountry restaurant during graduate school. I believe it was our top-earning server, a guy everybody just called by his last name, Condetti, who first uttered them. Usually Condetti only quoted Trailer Park Boys, but I guess he’d tired of shirtless-Randy jokes and taken to watching The Office, the American version anyways, and picked up the phrase from there. Or perhaps he picked it up on a smoke break, out on the curb, where that’s what she said wafted on the wind from restaurant to restaurant across the country faster than a bird flu.
Anyways, that’s all to say, on a quiet night at Weights + Measures, I didn’t order this simple and delicious cocktail based on the name, though I do respect the bartenders for keeping the tradition alive. I ordered it because of the egg, which makes a drink nice and frothy, and, like most people who grew up with an Orange Julius habit, I have a weakness for drinks that are nice and frothy.
That’s What She Said, in my mind, is simply a variation on a Clover Club — a rather dainty pre-Prohibition classic that was surprisingly popular with men in the early 1900s— but Weights + Measures’ version prominently features blackberry liqueur instead of raspberry syrup. I watched the bartender shake my drink like a crazy man, as I downed the restaurant’s signature roasted carrot pizza.
“How’s the pizza?” the bartender asked, pouring my drink.
“Great,” I told him. “It’s bigger than I thought it would be.”
“Yeah,” he said, placing my cocktail before me. “That’s what she said.”
2 oz The Botanist Gin
3/4 oz Creme de Mure (blackberry)
3/4 oz Fresh lemon juice
1/4 oz Simple syrup
Egg White
Combine ingredients and vigorously dry shake with no ice for 30 seconds. Vigorously shake with ice for 30 more seconds. Strain into a coupe. Rim and garnish with lemon peel.
This article appears in Spring Arts & Events Guide.
