In Austria, where 202 bar chef Stefan Trummer grew up, vendors hawk hot wine on the sidewalk like pretzels. Since that won’t be happening here anytime soon, you’ll have to repair to Trummer’s domain inside Chelsea Market to warm your cockles with his winter sangria, an aromatic mulled wine fortified with cognac and rum. The spices—cinnamon, star anise, allspice, and cloves—remind you of Christmas, but their fragrant heat becomes crucial a month or two later, when New York winter really sets in.
Stefan Trummer’s Winter Sangria
2 small slices pomegranate with peels
1 slice apple
1 slice pear
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
1 large orange peel
6 ounces medium-bodied, fruity red wine
2 ounces dark rum
1 ounce cognac
2 ounces freshly squeezed orange juice
1 ounce honey
1 cinnamon stick
6 to 8 cloves
1 star anise
6 to 8 allspice berries
(1) Combine ingredients in a saucepan. (2) Cook over medium heat until the liquid starts to simmer. Then turn heat to high for about 10 seconds. (3) Strain into a wine or punch glass, garnish with the fruit and the cinnamon stick, and serve with a spoon.