One of NC’s premiere, award winning chefs, Katie Button of Cúrate (and Nightbell) paired her recipe for White Sangria (see the recipe below!) from her Cúrate cookbook with Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day”.

Katie tells Kitty, “It just dawned on me for more than one reason, but I totally agree with Lou Reed when he says his perfect day involves sangria in the park. I think it goes perfect with our White Sangria recipe. It’s also perfect because that song is a little sentimental for me. Lou Reed is one of the musicians that Felix and I when we were first getting to know each other realized that we had in common and really loved. When he talks about that day, you know it’s about spending a whole day with somebody, that’s how Felix and I first met. We met in DC and he didn’t speak much English and I didn’t speak any Spanish, and it was really fascinating, but we started at a cafe and then moved together and had lunch somewhere else, went to a movie, and finished our night having a bottle of wine and mussels in a restaurant. It just was the Perfect Day.”

Cúrate’s Cava Sangría

Serves 6 to 8

• 3 tablespoons cognac
• 3 tablespoons gin
• 3 tablespoons Cointreau
• 3 tablespoons simple syrup
• 1 cup cut-up seasonal fruit, such as watermelon and berries
• 1 lime wheel
• 1 strip orange zest, removed with a vegetable peeler
• 1 750-ml bottle cava, chilled until very cold

Stir the cognac, gin, Cointreau, simple syrup, fruit, lime wheel, and orange zest in a pitcher. Refrigerate until very cold, at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.

When ready to serve, stir in the cava. Divide among glasses and serve immediately.

Photo credit: Evan Sung