The Southern Mary from Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ Kitchen, made with Dixie Black Pepper Vodka, Whiskey Willie’s Bloody Mary Mix, pecan-smoked bacon, fried green tomato, pimento cheese-stuffed olives and a seasoned salt rim. Again, we’ve embellished it to our taste, so what you receive at the restaurant may differ slightly.
Just like a bartender who takes the traditional Bloody Mary recipe and substitutes the alcohol used or changes the garnish, the story of how the cocktail first came into existence—and got its name—is subject to interpretation.
According to Difford’s Guide for Discerning Drinkers, a family-owned and one of the world’s largest websites aimed at providing factual and impartial information on everything tipple, the origination of the Bloody Mary can be attributed to one of two people: Fernand “Pete” Petiot or George Jessel.
Toast of the Town
Famed bartender Fernand “Pete” Petiot took up his first gig as a kitchen porter in Paris’ New York Bar in 1916. Petiot secured the job after helping his mom run his family’s 60-room mansion and worked his way up to the role of bartender, which he held when its name was changed to Harry’s New York, after Scottish bartender Harry MacElhone assumed ownership. Known for his stints at Manhattan’s New York Plaza Hotel and London’s Ciro’s Club, MacElhone brought with him a cache that lured glitterati such as Rita Hayworth, Humphrey Bogart, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway to his Paris bar.
Hemingway figures in one theory of how the cocktail got its name. The Associated Press reported that, according to local legend, Petiot invented the drink when Hemingway was dating a woman named Mary; it seems he wanted a cocktail mixed with juice so she wouldn’t smell the alcohol on his breath. Frustrated by having to disguise his drinking, he muttered the words “Bloody Mary!”
Another theory comes from Chicago’s Bucket of Blood Saloon, so named for the way the bar owners would throw dirty, blood-stained water from cleaning up bar brawls into the street. In an interview with the Cleveland Press in 1972, Petiot recalled a story that a patron at his bar recommended Petiot should name his drink Bloody Mary, after a waitress named Mary who worked at the Bucket of Blood Saloon.
But the most popular theory is that Petiot named it Bloody Mary after infamous monarch Queen Mary Tudor of England, for the hundreds of executions carried out during her reign, forever labeling her Queen “Bloody” Mary.
Petiot published a Bloody Mary recipe in “Harry’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails” in 1921. He was one of the world’s most popular bartenders until his retirement in 1966.
The Jessel Connection
Vaudeville and Broadway star George Jessel also claimed ownership of the Bloody Mary’s lineage. In his autobiography, “The World I Lived In,” Jessel said he created the drink in 1927. Following an all-night boozing session after a baseball game, he attempted to sober up by mixing the pungent vodka a bartender had given him with Worcestershire sauce, tomato juice and lemon, to kill the smell.
Soon after, an acquaintance named Mary walked in, and Jessel asked her to try the cocktail. When she spilled it down her white dress, Jessel reports she laughed and said, “Now you can call me Bloody Mary, George.”
A recipe for “George Jessel’s Pick-Me-Up” later appeared in “The World-Famous Cotton Club: 1939 Book of Mixed Drinks.”
A Bloody Mary from Briarpatch in Winter Park.
Shaken with a Twist
Southern Living’s classic Bloody Mary recipe mirrors the one published by Petiot in 1921. Using tomato juice as the base, add vodka, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, lemon juice and black pepper. Fans of spice consider TABASCO® to be a crucial ingredient. There are many variations of this recipe, however; the following are the most popular:
Bloody Bull: Adds beef broth to the recipe.
Bloody Caesar: Uses Clamato instead of tomato juice.
Bloody Eight: Uses V8 instead of tomato juice.
Bloody Maria: Substitutes the vodka with tequila.
Bloody Pirate: Substitutes the vodka with dark rum.
Green Mary: Substitutes green tomatoes (tomatillos) as the base of the mix instead of red tomatoes.
Michelada: Substitutes the vodka with light Mexican beer and the tomato juice with Clamato.
Red Snapper: Substitutes the vodka for gin.
Further Muddying the Waters
If the simplest answer is the easiest answer, then both men are responsible for the Bloody Mary we know and love today. The evidence seems to support this—sort of—as Petiot noted Jessel’s contribution in an interview with The New Yorker in 1964. “I initiated the Bloody Mary of today,” said Petiot. “Jessel said he created it, but it was really nothing but vodka and tomato juice when I took it over.”
In any case, the Bloody Mary’s origins just may be the perfect subject to mull next time you order up the cocktail at brunch.
Brunch’s Favorite Cocktail
By the ‘50s, the Bloody Mary had become a popular brunch cocktail—and hangover cure. Those who support the hangover cure theory point to the beverage’s sodium content and its ability to replace lost electrolytes; naysayers argue that the alcohol causes dehydration, worsening a hangover’s effects. If you’re drinking a Bloody Mary for this reason, the best bet may just be to skip the alcohol and order a virgin Bloody Mary.
But for those who want to booze it up at brunch (be sure to have a designated driver or take a rideshare), there are plenty of wonderful options in Central Florida.
A note about garnishes: Rumor has it that in 1960, the practice of garnishing the Bloody Mary was started by a patron at Chicago’s Ambassador East Hotel (now defunct), who grabbed a piece of celery from a relish tray to stir his poorly mixed Bloody Mary. Today, common embellishments include olives, bacon, pickles and shrimp, but creativity rules the roost—we’ve seen some Bloodys topped with hamburgers, donuts, fried chicken, soft pretzels and deviled eggs. And that’s not taking into consideration the rims! The Bloody Mary truly has become a meal in a glass, and indicative of regular items you’d find on a brunch menu.
Bottomless mimosas in orange or pineapple are available for brunch at the AC Sky Bar, which overlooks downtown Orlando.
Brunch’s Other Favorite: The Mimosa
The origins of the mimosa are also a bit murky and have been attributed to bars in Paris and London—there was also once a claim that the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, created the drink, but that’s since been discredited. We love the idea, though. Evidence points to either bartenders Frank Meier, who began serving his version of Champagne-orange at the Ritz Paris in the 1920s, or Malachi “Pat” McCarry, whose cocktail Buck’s Fizz (named for London’s Buck’s Club where he worked), was introduced around that same time.
But does it really matter who created this light concoction of Champagne and orange juice, which can be customized to your taste by simply substituting the juice? Mimosas are fab in Orlando thanks to the fresh-squeezed citrus that goes into them—if you want to change up the orange, grapefruit juice (the substitution is called a Paloma) is a refreshing way to go.
Back to The Best Brunches in Central Florida 
