The Dish: Sanguine Mary, a cold summer soup inspired by the Bloody Mary.

The Beverage Pairing: Vodka or fresh soda water. You don’t really want something too acidic because that’s pretty acidic. You can put vodka right in the soup if you want.

Recipe: Sanguine Maria Soup
Makes three quarts

1 quart diced fresh onion
1 and 1/2 teaspoon garlic puree
1 quart tomato fillets
1 quart tomato juice
2 cup water
1 cup Pico de Gallo, divided
1/8 cup diced lovage stalks
1 tablespoon dill
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup chopped lovage leaf
1/2 cup diced Kalamata olives
1/2 cup Key Lime juice

Sweat the onions and garlic in a sauce pot. Remove from heat, place in blender with the tomato fillets, blend smooth. Return ingredients to kettle, turn on low heat, and add all the rest of the ingredients except for half a cup of pico. Simmer for 40 minutes without bringing to a big boil. This will help reduce the liquid for flavor. Remember, this is a chilled soup, not cooked. Remove from heat, add the remaining cup of pico. Chill in the fridge or in an ice bath if you’re in a hurry. Serve cold. This is better if it sits overnight and is served the next day.

TIP: You can garnish with balsamic reduction, mint oil, or olive oil.

What’s in your fridge at home?

Grapes, apples, smoked brisket done from scratch for Memorial Day. Some Hopslam from Bells. Along with like juice boxes and coconut milk, probably some chicken. Some little kiddie drink yogurt things.

What’s your favorite drink?

Lovage lemonade. [Lovage is a celery-like leaf]. It’s great.

If you were a historical figure which would you be?

I’ve never thought about that before in my life. I don’t think I’d want to be a historical figure because I live in the now.
What question have you always been afraid a journalist would ask you?

What historical figure I’d be.

Would you rather fight fifty duck sized horses or one horse sized duck? Explain why?

I’ve kind of had a fear of geese, so I think I’d rather fight one horse-sized duck.

What is your favorite restaurant in the greater Midwest?

Frontera in Chicago (Rick Bayless). He’s kind of the grandfather of urban purchasing.

Tell us your worst customer story?

Which one?

Many years ago, a customer informed me that he chipped a tooth on a hash brown and proceeded to show me his chipped teeth. But all of his teeth were black.

I asked a guest to leave because he was smoking cigarettes in our bathroom. He threatened to “f-ing kill me and murder me”. I think that’s called double jeopardy—getting killed AND murdered. I didn’t know that was possible.