Naked & Shameless

At Sobre Mesa in Oakland, California, you can order platefuls of tostones and patatas bravas, both of which serve as a perfect precursor for some of chef Nelson German’s show stopping larger plates, like a tender, braised pork belly served alongside fried yucca and pickled fresno peppers, or a chimichurri flank steak. To wash everything down, you’ll want to order a cocktail, and the Naked & Shameless — a tropical, smoky, herbaceous drink that we can’t get enough of — is a must-try.

“This is inspired by the Naked & Famous cocktail invented in 2011 by bartender Joaquín Simó while working at the bar Death and Co in New York City,” German says. Think of this cocktail as a surefire way to please fans of the Paper Plane, which calls for amaro, Aperol, and bourbon, but also capable of exciting your friend who likes to order a classic Last Word with Chartreuse, gin, and sweet maraschino liqueur. 

For this cocktail, German swaps out Chartreuse (which is in limited supply nowadays) for Genepy, a gold-colored Alpine herbal liqueur reminiscent of chamomile flowers. Be sure to use joven mezcal, which is clear and unaged — think of this as the sibling to blanco tequila. While German suggests sourcing Caribbean papaya or guava nectar, blueberries will also work in a pinch. “It doesn’t have to be fresh fruit,” he adds. “Hawaiian papaya works  — but not Vietnamese papaya, the green papaya.” To prepare the papaya, simply dice and blend (here are a few of our favorite blenders) to get a smooth, puréed juice. You can store the juice in your refrigerator for up to a week, and you’ll find that it plays nicely with white rum, tequila, and gin. – Oset Babür-Winter