How to Make Spiked Fig and Apple Cider

It's challenging enough to operate a kitchen in which all ingredients are sourced from within 300 miles of the restaurant, but to scheme a cocktail bar without citrus (lemons, limes and oranges don't naturally grow around New York) demands serious creativity. Regardless, that's the drill at Black Tree in New York City's Lower East Side, and chef/co-owner Sandy Dee Hall's newly hatched sophomore effort in Williamsburg, Black Tree BK, is singing the same tune. So, in addition to a weekly-changing whole animal-designed menu, his hyper seasonal drinks list involves not only local fruits and vegetables, but spirits exclusively made in the vicinity, too. Below, most appropriate for the fall season, Hall's spiked fig and apple cider.

Fig
Makes 1

1 medium apple 
1/2 fig
3 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 ounces apple cider
Angostura Orange Bitters
2 ounces vodka, such as Boyd & Blair
dry sparkling white wine, such as Lieb Cellars' Blanc de Blancs

Slice apple into 1-inch cubes and slice fig in half; add fruit to cocktail shaker with sugar, apple cider and three dashes Angostura Orange Bitters. Muddle all ingredients together. Add vodka and ice and shake vigorously. Strain into glass with ice. Top with sparkling wine and garnish with apple slice.