bouchon

Several weeks ago I finally got the chance to visit Thomas Keller's temple of French bistro cuisine: Bouchon in Yountville, Calif.

I was there accepting the award for "Spirits Restaurant of the Year" from Sante Magazine on behalf of Proof.

Ordered: half bottle of Billecart-Salmon champagne, pate, onion soup. (I had a huge lunch at the Zuni Cafe that day and had no more room, sadly.)

blue dog.

Damn I love this place. Bocadillos with chips, wheatberry salad and a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. 

western kentucky foodways

I went to my hometown for the last two days to participate in the 25th year of a grand tradition of smoking/grilling meat the Sunday before Thanksgiving. My dad has participated in the group for many years now - and though I've been before, it had been a long time. Everyone brings all the meat and beer that could last for a day and stands around while the turkeys/pork/chickens smoke and they tell stories about each other - ended up being about 12 of us this year. The "grill" is about 8 or 9 feet long, and about every 4 minutes the fire rages up and someone stands guard with a hose to quickly extinguish it and keep the smoke raging.

This is what gets everyone through the cold. The guy who built the grill 25 years ago has also been making wine and spirits for years. As you can see above, he even labels it these days. On the far right is "Mister Jack W. Wild Elderberry Wine," and in the middle is "Liquid Apple Pie." The far left, clear liquid: I'll let you guess. They were all great and packed a punch. Especially the one on the left.

The "grill" up close. All the little pieces in the picture are turkey livers, turkey hearts and gizzards. They are dynamite. The livers taste just like chicken liver, and the hearts have a great flavor with an interesting chewiness to them. You can also see some lemon rind on the smoker - after they soak in the "dip," we throw them on the grill until they turn black. They are a brilliant quick taste of garlic, smoke, citrus and salt. 

This is my brother, Chris, preparing his cabbage. Everyone brings a cabbage, cuts off the top, drizzles the "dip" in, and wraps it in aluminum foil. Leave it on for about an hour, and it's killer. The "dip" is what we baste all the meats with; it's a thick marinade/baste of sugar, salt, vinegar, water, lemon, garlic, spice, and lard.

Old Fo.

Just got word that Old Forester (one of my favorite value bourbons) will be releasing a special 'Repeal Prohibition' bottling this month to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Great Experiment.

Very cool.

I checked out the bottle and it looks like a throwback label, very cool sensibility.

Might try to get my hands on a few bottles to offer at the restaurant as a way to celebrate our own repeal event!

deliciousness

We recently had photographer Dan Dry come by the restaurant to snap some pictures of some food + drink. It was nice to get a photographer who likes to play with color, perspective, and do some interesting things.

I particularly like this shot, because it shows some of the best stuff on our back bar - what you might call "the Italian section": Fernet Branca/Menta, Campari, Punt e Mes, Cynar, etc. I once heard the head of our group say you can't have a bar without Punt e Mes - I completely agree. It's a vermouth produced by the Carpano family, whose Antica Formula (got a bottle in the fridge) is, I believe, the oldest vermouth recipe known. We used it over the summer for our Americano, which was such a great cocktail, but no one ordered it!

On the far right you'll see Cynar (just barely), a great artichoke liqeur from Italy. We've been using it in our winter version of a Pimm's Cup, which we call a "Sorrento Cup." Sorrento is a town in Italy below Naples - I spent some time there several years ago and I've been killing to go back ever since.



"Sorrento Cup"

1 oz. Cynar
1 oz. Limoncello
top with ginger ale
garnish with an orange, serve in a highball glass

It's got a great balance of bitter, sweet, herbal, fruit. It's a nice cocktail for the winter.

some butter, some sea salt, a radish. done.

This was on Chef Michael Paley's desk the other day and I had to snap a picture of it. It looks perfect, just pulled from the ground. One of the coolest parts of the restaurant is the constant flow of farmers coming in and out of the back door with their goods. A lot of the times they might just be bringing something by for Mike to try to see if we might be able to use it on the menu. It's a very cool experience to connect what is coming from the ground and fueling our restaurant with the people that are nurturing and harvesting that food.

Make It Yourself.

One of the things that can really set a cocktail apart, and that has been a cornerstone of Proof's bar and cocktail list since we opened, is using fresh ingredients, high quality herbs, fresh squeezed juices, proper equipment, and when possible, house made mixers.

Dale DeGroff, widely credited with resurrecting the "classic cocktail," or credited with merely saving American from declaring "vodka and cran" our national drink, was one of the first bartenders (while at the Rainbow Room), to show love to the bar and espouse the above beliefs. He brought the respect given to food in the kitchen and threw it into the bar, really elevating American cocktails and inspiring many "mixologists" from whom I now draw my own inspiration.

Now, of course, when trying to make a lot of your mixers in-house, you run the risk of producing a really shitty cocktail. 

At Proof, we make our own tonic syrup, which we combine to order with soda water in our cocktails ordered with tonic. It makes all the difference. (Of course, I don't want to reveal the recipe, but it makes for the most refreshing gin and tonic ever.)

We've also never used sour mix, opting instead to use fresh squeezed lemon juice and simple syrup - a small gesture that is really evident in the end product.

I read that Freeman's in NYC makes their sour mix with maple syrup and lemon juice - a combination I am anxious to try soon when we pour a Whiskey Sour for our Repeal! event.

To that end, I also recently uncovered a very easy recipe for house made grenadine from a bartender at Smith & Mills in NYC, and look forward to all the exciting uses it may hold in the future - not the least of which is a killer Rob Roy and Shirley Temple.

The Menu.

Bear in mind that this will probably grow larger and change significantly before December 5th. One thing I do know: the Bee's Knees is staying.

Repeal! (A Celebration)

To celebrate the day Prohibition was repealed in the United States, Proof will be offering a one-night only cocktail list of some great, old school cocktails. Many were born around the time of Prohibition and the "speakeasy" era, and some are just plain awesome old drinks that deserve to be reintroduced. 

For those interested in attending, we will be offering the drinks in both the bar and dining rooms on December 5th during our dinner services. In the weeks leading up to that evening, I will be filtering some of the cocktails on and off the menu to see how they are received.

Tonight, the "Bee's Knees":

1.5 oz. Martin Miller's gin

.5 oz. lemon juice

1 oz. honey syrup

Shake and serve on the rocks.

Believe me when I say this cocktail is simple, but awesome. Sweet, sour, floral - perfect. We are using local honey from Woodland Farm in Goshen, KY - and you can tell: these were happy bees.

I'll post a menu for the evening as soon as we have it finalized.