Edible Charlotte: Garden Of Earthly Delights

Bob Peters, bartender at Pisces Sushi Bar and Lounge, slides a weird-looking leaf toward me on a cocktail napkin. He’ll be sliding strange-looking things toward me on napkins for the better part of two hours, but we start with this leaf. I’ve come to him for an initiation into the world of herbal and garden-based cocktails, and he’s more than game. “Try that,” he says, and I do—I’m a getalong kind of guy after all, and I don’t want to look unappreciative. As I chew, he sees the confused look on my face. “It’s shiso, a Japanese herb. Tastes like a cross between basil and cilantro and mint, doesn’t it?” It does, and with a hint of lemon to boot. I’ve never had shiso before, and if you’re American, chances are that you haven’t, either. “Remember that,” Bob says. “It’ll be back.”