A Firsthand Look at White & Church's Bug Cocktails

Once upon a time, there was an Italian restaurant called Il Matto. They had banquettes on wheels and served cocktails garnished with radicchio, and they closed in under a year despite a two star review from Sam Sifton.

When the owners reopened the restaurant as White & Church this spring, they promised to pander to mainstream diners and said it would be "more casual and less scary." Yet a couple of weeks ago the Post reported the new restaurant has a full menu of cocktails garnished with crickets, worms, scorpions, and other bugs that they figured at least 40 percent of their diners would try. Glad to see they owners haven't lost their flare.

Check out below as Justin Rocket Silverman tries a couple of creations, including what looks to be a fluffy liquor-scented meringue with a cactus leaf and a liberal sprinkle of crickets and a jet black licorice cocktail loaded with sugar soaked scorpions.

· Bug Juice! NYC Mixologist Adds Insects to Cocktails [The Daily]
· All Coverage of White & Church [~ENY~]
· All Coverage of Il Matto [~ENY~]