ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD: bloody mary

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Gulp Fiction: slurp up cinema

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SKIP TO: RECIPE

Welcome to Bite Club, where we recreate iconic recipes from the screen so you can slurp up cinema along with your favourite characters. This week, we’re pouring ourselves a Bloody Mary inspired by Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, a film soaked in nostalgia, needle-drops, and Tarantino’s unmistakable obsession with anything edible. We’re here for the refreshments on screen, but not for the off-screen drama, so while Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is undeniably stylish, we don’t co-sign Tarantino's recent nonsense, so just to be clear: we remain proudly pro–Paul Dano. Always.

The Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Bloody Mary appears in Cliff Booth’s hands complete with a giant celery stalk that’s impossible to ignore. It’s peak Tarantino, casually telling you everything you need to know about a character without a single line of dialogue. While the camera lingers on that legendary celery, a closer look at the table reveals a proper Bloody Mary build station. Visible in the film are:

Worcestershire sauce
Black pepper
Tabasco
Lemon wedges
Olives

We think we also spot cherry tomatoes and either cornichons or lime wedges too (something green anyway..!) To round things out, we’ve added a couple of Bloody Mary classics you don’t see on screen but absolutely belong here: celery salt and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

A Bloody Mary garnished with celery sits on a bar. Various liquor bottles are visible in the blurred background. Bloody Mary from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Our Bloody Mary recipe leans classic, punchy, and customisable, perfect for brunch, movie night, or pretending you’re cruising through Hollywood with the radio on. Prefer to skip the vodka? No problem. You can easily turn this into a Virgin Mary by swapping the vodka for a splash of pickle juice instead. It's salty, savoury, and every bit as satisfying, with zero hangover risk.

If you haven't already, be sure to check out our video for the recipe in action, and if you find yourself here because your specific niche is watching someone else eat the food from Tarantino movies, be sure to take a bite out of our Pulp Fiction video which we’ve already tackled in our Dinner and a Movie series, linked here.

Let’s get mixing! 🍅

Bloody Mary from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. A glass filled with red juice and ice, garnished with a lemon wedge and olives on a skewer, sits on a wooden surface.

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BLOODY MARY

Features in Once Upon a Time In Hollywood at 4 mins and 45 secs

Bloody Mary from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. A tall glass with a red drink and celery garnish sits on a wooden surface. Bottles and a vintage TV are visible in the blurred background.

INGREDIENTS (serves 2)

250 ml tomato juice
50 ml vodka (substitute with pickle juice for non-alcoholic alternative)
Pinch of celery salt
Pinch of black pepper, ground
1 tsp lemon juice
Tabasco, a couple of drops to taste
Worcestershire sauce, a couple of drops to taste
Ice

To garnish (optional)

Celery stalks
Cornichons
Lemon wedges
Olives

METHOD

Fill a jug with ice. Pour over the vodka (or pickle juice) and tomato juice.

Add the celery salt, ground black pepper, and lemon juice, along with with a few dashes of tabasco and Worcestershire sauce.

Stir to cool and combine.

Strain into a tall glass filled with ice.

To garnish...

For a movie faithful iteration, garnish with huge celery stalk.

For a more elegant version, garnish with a (small) celery stalk, and a cocktail stick adorned with a cornichon, olive and an itty bitty lemon wedge.