princess bride Apparition pop-up at Deep Roots. // Photo by Sherry Lockwood
“Farm boy, get me the schnapps.”
“As you wish,” apparition‘s third popup bar at deep roots (4601 Shawnee Dr., Kansas City, KS), beverage blacksmith Matt Smith has made his move. Its robust drinks menu features 24 cocktails (and six shots, which, like the 1987 cult classic, The Prince’s Brideoffers something for everyone.
Open every day of the week from 4:00 p.m. and until February 25, the room previously shown nightmare before christmas and mumbo jumbo Themes in Autumn now hosts a cozy, dimly lit room in which to enjoy the mellow splendor of medieval instrumentals while whispering little words and countless quotations with fellow warthog-faced buffoons.
The small foyer that leads into the dining room is a close replica of the ailing grandson’s room from the film – right down to the stray bag of chips over the bed and the poster of Fridge Perry from the mythical ’85 Bears. Just inside the door is an endearingly crude sculpture of Fezzik (Andre the Giant) waving diners to their seats.
The interior art and design, created by the likes of Colleen King, Dominic Bautista and Sky Heath, utilizes and balances Deep Roots’ careful, dark ambiance. At our lantern-lit booth, we could marvel at some of the most enduring and memorable lines scattered across the walls, snap photos with a ROUS and other surprises, or otherwise pretend we’re not just any drooling drunk who could . Don’t buy brandy (as it wasn’t on the menu).
My first order was the “Six Fingered Manhattan,” which was made with rye whiskey, sweet vermouth, maraschino liqueur, blackberry syrup, and grapefruit bitters, and featured a small plastic rodent of underwhelming size frozen in an ice cube. I wouldn’t say I was mostly dead afterwards, but I definitely felt a nice high.
My cohorts ordered two sausages in the “Buttercup Buttered Rum” (spiced dark rum, butterscotch schnapps, and coconut milk) and in the “Prince Humperdink” — an aesthetic concoction of cherry liqueur, naranja, orange juice, lemon juice, and egg whites topped with champagne.
The latter is just one of several oddities mixed up by Smith, who says he watched the film multiple times over the course of a weekend while sampling and refining drink ideas with friends.
“We found one of those old Mr. Boston cocktail guides from the 50’s or 60’s and we ended up playing around with it one night. We made that up,” says Smith, pointing to the “Prince Humperdink.” “And we thought it was so weird because it was like having an egg in the cocktail. I had never done anything like this before.”
It turned out pretty great. Shortly thereafter, as we were deciding on one of the five shots, Smith talked me into buying the unimaginable “Shrieking Shot” — an eel-infused tequila with a “shot” of Tabasco. I dabbed some of the “buzz berries” from the rim of the shot glass onto my tongue, creating a mildly numbing effect, and downed the vile thing like a champ, according to the folks at my table. Tequila is pain, Your Highness. Anyone who says otherwise is probably selling tequila.
The remaining four shot options were perhaps more desirable to the average guest and included “Flame Spurts” (fireball and jalapeño syrup), “Shortage of Perfect Breasts” (butterscotch shot and Bailey’s served with whipped cream and garnished with a cherry) , “Iocane Powder” (vodka and silver dust) and “Shots of Insanity” (Kahlua, vodka and sprite).
Other orders that we had time and tolerance for were the Dream of Large Women (gin, blueberry mint, blackberry syrup and ginger beer), the Miracle Max’s Martini (gin, lemon, Lillet Blanc, Medjool date ). syrup and crème de cacao) and “Life Is Pain, Princess” (pomegranate, dark rum, velvet falernum, lime, coconut cream, spices). It’s safe to say that we couldn’t get even a quarter of the menu on a single outing.
We also indulged in two of the nine food options from Fezzik’s Feast in The Sicilian (ham, pepperoni, mozzarella, pepperoncini on ciabatta) and Have Fun Stormin’ the Castle (literally Chicken Tenties).
Larger groups can sample a few specialties like the “Brute Squad,” which serves two to four people (again, depending on your table’s collective alcohol level) and consists of coconut rum, blue curacao, lychee, pineapple juice, champagne, and sprite served with dry ice.
As You Wish offers music bingo every Tuesday, karaoke every Wednesday and True Love’s Trivia on Thursdays. Those under the age of 21 are allowed to partake in 14 out of 25 cocktails Sunday through Thursday, which can be ordered in a non-alcoholic format.
My final opinion on an appearance pop-up that I’d rate pretty highly among those I’ve participated in: It’s not that bad! Now, I’m not saying I’d love to build a summer home here, but the drinks are actually quite nice (and strong).
Photos by Sherry Lockwood