Aside from the Brooklyn line, he makes special batches about every month or two. He travels the world, studies with other brewmasters and he’s rewriting the Oxford Companion to Beer - no slouch gets that task. Garrett is a true student and artist of beer. I can’t forget to mention what Garrett Oliver is doing as the brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery. Their headquarters are in the ‘Lorusso e Cotugno’ penitentiary in Turino, Italy. Two of the really cool ones are Birra del Borgo and Le Baladin. A lot of these beers are Belgian-inspired and they’re doing crazy stuff like using tapioca and all different grains, different spices, and they’re virtually rewriting the book. There is a very cool craft beer movement coming out of Italy. I’ll have one of these to start a meal and finish a meal. Saison Dupont farmhouse style ale, which generally comes with a cork and is fermented with 6 percent alcohol, is spicy, fresh, and crisp. It’s 9 percent alcohol, crisp, and fruity. My beer ‘grail’ is Belgian Westmalle Trappist Tripel. Flavor wise, they have been doing it for so long that they know what they are doing and the beers are impeccably made. They’re made by monks and these guys have been making beer forever. There’s also the Bitter Truth, it’s really good stuff. It adds the bitterness, but it also gives it a little bit of a beautiful fruity character too. I’m really fond of the rhubarb bitters for white spirits, like gin. It’s versatile and I just love the flavor. I find it works with a wide range of flavors. With brown spirits, bourbon drinks, even amber and darker rum drink, I use the peach. There are so many bitters on the market, which do you recommend?Ī. These guys are top notch, they have incredible cocktails, serious bartenders, and a beautiful room. They serve excellent farm-driven seasonal food, with a short concise, well-executed menu and their bar program is top notch.Ĭhicago has a great cocktail bar called The Violet Hour. It has cool esoteric wines and if you’re a serious roller and want to spend some money, they have that too. The sommelier, Sebastian Zutant, has put together a great program. When I go to DC, Proof is great for wine. But you have to get there early to reserve your burger. Every night at ten o’clock, they offer 24 burgers. The restaurant is unpretentious, the guys are wearing flannel shirts, they have mustaches, but not like fedora-tattoo-cocktail people, more relaxed. They have a great wine, beer and cocktail program. If you want a great bottle of wine for $5o, you can get it at any of his places even though they’re high end. They’re total rough and tumble guys and bohemian in a certain way, but the quality of the food, the atmosphere, and the service is incredible.Ĭhris Cannon also does well with Marea, Convivio, and Alto. They are serious about spirits, cocktails, and wine. They are making terrific custom craft drinks. John Ragan and Daniel Humm have done incredible things, but what people don’t know is that the bar program is top notch. The service of the wine program speaks for itself. Part of the reason you don’t get all three is that wine people tend to be focused on wine, bartenders tend to be focused on spirits, and then beer people tend to be focused on beer. I think a lot of restaurants don’t always achieve the triumvirate. What places can you recommend that have great cocktails, interesting wine list, and delicious food?Ī. I love what Steve Olson has been doing with aka wine geek, as far as education with a bar program. I haven’t met the guy, but I’ve been to his place and his videos are great. Any time I go to San Francisco, I stop in to see him. He’s been on the radar in San Francisco for a long, long time. He actually just made his own Pisco in Peru from harvest to crush to distillation all the way down the line, including marketing. One guy I like in San Francisco is Duggan McDonnell at Cantina. I like his humble approach, his infinite knowledge, and I think he’s done amazing things within the industry to elevate the service and quality of cocktails, and just PDT being what it is has really spawned a lot of really good people. I think that those two, having those places and being the pioneers, deserve the credit for all of these young mixologists out there. I’m a big fan of the trail blazers, like Julie Reiner of the Flatiron Lounge and Audrey Saunders of the Pegu Club, They were the genesis of the cocktail movement in New York.
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