Sweet on sour: Five out of Ruth's Chris' 10 top-selling cocktails last year had citrus in them. So management chose house-made lemoncello, dubbed Lemonessence, as the base for its new line of 12 fusion cocktails.

Building on what Boyer calls Ruth's Chris' 2006 “seismic shift to a fresh bar approach,” with no bulk products, all fresh-squeezed juices, mixers and handmade garnishes, in 2007 the chain decided to create its own signature version of lemoncello, vodka infused with fresh lemons. Master mixologist Francesco LaFranconi developed the recipe for the fresh infusion dubbed Lemonessence. Every three days staff at each Ruth's Chris location make batches of the elixir, which takes five days to steep. Finished product is stored in Swiss-made, conical-shaped crystal carafes prominently displayed on the bar.

The base is used as an ingredient in a dozen fusion cocktails that include a variety of spirits. (Because the beverage program is new, Ruth's Chris is still tweaking the prices.) The Ginger Citrus Cooler, for example, blends tequila, orange-flavored liqueur and Lemonessence and is finished with ginger beer and a garnish of lemon slice and pickled ginger. The Grand Fusion includes Lemonessence with orange-flavored vodka, orange-flavored brandy liqueur, fresh orange juice and an orange zest garnish. And the Apple Cello Martini mixes Lemonessence with melon-flavored liqueur, sour-apple schnapps and fresh-made lemon sour.

Ruth's Chris took the fusion approach because “one of the problems that we identified with typical vodka and fruit infusions is that there is little flexibility,” says Boyer. “But with our fusion cocktails, whether you are a scotch, vodka, gin, tequila or rum drinker, there is a cocktail using the Lemonessence product that will appeal to you.”

Ruth Chris' fusion cocktails including the Ginger Citrus Cooler, Lemon-jito and Pear Twist blend Lemonessence with a variety of spirits such as tequila, rum and vodka.

In a five-unit test for the last six months of 2007, the new fusion drinks did well. The Pear Twist—pear-flavored vodka and Lemonessence with a splash of lemon sour served chilled in a martini glass with a lemon twist—was the best seller. The Fusion Martini, a blend of orange-flavored vodka and Lemonessence with a splash of lemon sour served chilled in a martini glass with lemon-zest garnish, tied for the No. 2 spot with The Lemon Luxe dessert cocktail, which features Lemonessence with a splash of simple syrup and a chantilly cream topper. The program will be rolled out systemwide by the end of this month.

The Bardstown Cocktail mixes bourbon with Lemonessence, garnished with an orange twist and mint sprig.

Technomic's 2007 Top 500 report analyzing 2006 sales ranked Ruth's Chris as No. 12 among the top 50 chains in beverage-alcohol sales, with alcoholic beverages comprising 25 percent to 30 percent of total sales and alcoholic beverage sales accounting for 25.2 percent of the average guest check. Boyer says the company did about the same in 2007 for alcohol sales in relation to total sales, but has been up over 2006 numbers in terms of items sold and dollars spent per guest, “which in a challenging economic environment is very encouraging for us.”

Boyer attributes some of the improvement to the drink menu upgrades and to big design changes at the bar, making them much larger, more dramatic looking and easier to access. Ruth's Chris started the design changes with new units two years ago and is still retrofitting older units.