Category: Featured Articles
Sidebar: Garden Mixers
Many cocktails are fruit-based, but that’s changing as inventive bartenders experiment on the savory side. Cucumbers can be found in some classic drinks such as the Pimm’s Cup, but now herbs, chilies, beets and even parsnips are showing up in drinks.
Cheers Roundtable at NRA
Cheers convened a large and dynamic round table at the National Restaurant Association’s Wine, Spirits & Beer Event in Chicago, which touched on how both local and classic traditions influence bar offerings and trends in the Chicago mixology community.
Online Exclusive: Not Cooking with Beer
There is a fine line between beer adding depth and flavor to a dish and it being bitter. For this reason, Kyle Bailey, chef at Birch & Barley in Washington D.C., rarely cooks with the 555 beers available. In fact, when coming on board he specified that despite the artisanal beer focus he wouldn’t be cooking with beer.
Scene: RPM
Before- and after-dinner drinks are primo at RPM. Aperitifs and digestifs big part of beverage program. RPM Italian, the fifth restaurant collaboration of Chicago restaurant impresario Richard Melman’s three offspring, goes all out to stimulate the tastebuds before, during and after dinner.
Online Exclusive: Tea Flavored Beer
Tea time for beer?
Hophead Heaven
Chain operators’ guests are falling in love with IPAs. Whether draft or bottle, domestic or import, guests are often gravitating towards hopped-up brews with overt bitter tones. Operators have shared their thoughts on the reasons for their rising popularity, how they are merchandized and marketed, food pairing tips and even techniques for attracting the IPA-averse.
2012 Benchmark Award Winners
This year’s group of fantastic operators has an amazing lineup of cutting-edge drinks programs. They come from diverse regions of the country and represent the dynamic, new face of single-location and small-chain bars and restaurants. To be eligible for entry into the Benchmark Awards program, bars and restaurants must have less than five locations of a specific concept in the U.S.
Cure in New Orleans has taken classic and innovative drinking to a new level. The cavernous indoor and outdoor space is both huge and welcoming. The cocktails are traditional and inventive. This great addition to the New Orleans’ drink scene is well-deserving of the Benchmark award.
Taverns in the Green
Eco-conscious operators are raising the bar on what it means to be green.
Rum Gets Serious
The tropical spirit is crafting a more sophisticated reputation.
Back2Basics – Beer’s Better
The finer points of pairing brews and food.