What a shot

Marisa O’Neil

If you’ve ever had an eye-popping bar tab, just imagine one for $650.

For one drink.

The Villa Nova restaurant in Mariner’s Mile offers a drink so

stiff, some people might need financing just to pay for a sip. The

special martini, using cognac from the Napoleonic Age, even showed up

last week on a show with Oprah, who could surely afford one.

“We actually sold one right after the Oprah show,” Villa Nova

Manager Susan Emmett said. “Some guys came in and said they saw it

and had to try it.”

Villa Nova is one of the few restaurants to offer the

ultra-premium, limited-edition cognac L’Esprit de Courvoisier. It

comes in a Lalique crystal decanter and includes 200-year-old cognac,

reportedly from Napoleon’s private reserve, mixed with other rare,

vintage cognacs.

One shot will set you back $650.

And a bottle -- well, if you have to ask, you probably can’t

afford it.

“It cost us $5,000 wholesale,” Emmett said. “But we’ve been

bombarded with e-mails and phone calls from people wanting to know

where to buy it.”

For martini fans, Villa Nova bartenders can use it to make a CV

Rouge, a mix of 1.5 ounces of L’Esprit, 1.5 ounces of cranberry

juice, a splash of premium champagne and a sugar cube, all for $650.

If you’re on a budget, order the same drink with XO Courvoisier

for a mere $20.

Last week, Villa Nova maitre d’ Gary Lundrigan flew to Chicago to

mix the drink on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” which was featuring the

best and most extravagant indulgences from around the world.

“I had some on the show,” Lundrigan said of the cocktail. “And

some backstage for my nerves.”

Emmett said they don’t sell the drink in the restaurant every day,

but big spenders do come in ready to splurge for birthdays,

anniversaries or other special events.

“People like to come in here and close deals,” she said. “We might

get someone in here from a yacht broker who’ll say: ‘Yeah, we just

sold a $10-million yacht. Let’s have a special shot.”

The restaurant has an extensive wine cellar but, she said,

high-grade cognacs are popular with their late-night piano bar crowd.

Emmett said they do a surprisingly brisk business with their Remy

Martin Louis XIII cognac -- a bargain at only $100 a shot.