Jamaican Me Crazy Last Minute Meal with Octavio

It seems every night in December we find ourselves either booked for dinner, a holiday gathering or friends' office parties; Cafe Drake loves the annual overbooked schedule and particularly the occasional "off evening" when pals stop by for seasonal cheer.

Such was a recent school night when old crony (and now upstairs neighbor) Octavio Fenech popped in for drinks and a nosh. We whipped up surprisingly authentic curried potato rotis (cheating with whole wheat pita bread), spicy ginger peas and jerk tofu for a Caribbean-influenced last-minute dinner keeping in mind Octavio's meatless diet. Festive red "pink gins" were quaffed via recreating an old British classic with gin and raspberry syrup and lemon juice.