The Restaurant Guys

This Evening’s Cocktail Party - The Ward 8

Any regular reader of this email will know that I am a fan of old books in general, and old cocktail books in particular.   My good friend Rob Timko this week gave me a present.  It's a 1953 cocktail book that was given out or sold by Davidson's Liquors right here in New Brunswick.  The telephone number for Davidson's is given as KI5-0065.  That's Kilmer5-0065.  How great is that?  

Nineteen Fifty-Three was an odd time in the life of the American Cocktail.  While it certainly wasn't the pre-prohibition Golden Age of the American Cocktail, neither had it yet descended into the Fuzzy-Wuzzy Woo Woo and Mind-Eraser nadir of 1970s cocktail culture.   New Brunswick was in a similar position.  Camp Kilmer was still open and the city's business was still thriving, having not yet descended into the nadir of urban malaise to which it succumbed in the 1970's.  

When I came to New Brunswick in 1984, Davidson's was a slum liquor store and it seemed most of the product it sold was drunk from a paper bag within 100 feet of its front door.  It's hard for me to imagine the Davidson's that I knew ever proffering a cocktail book to its customers, much less one with recipes.  Davidson's is gone now.  The gleaming new Rockoff Hall stands where the bums used to drink.   And the cocktail has returned to New Brunswick.  You can see where Davidson's once stood from the windows of NJ's First True Cocktail Bar of the modern era.  Stop by this week and I'll point out where it used to stand. 

Davidson's book has some pretty good advice on glassware and bartending, some horrendously frightening recipes, some very boring party games, the lyrics to My Darling Clementine, Alouette, The Old Gray Mare and Old Folks At Home; and some pretty good recipes.

This weeks cocktail, included in those recipes, is a Ward Eight.  The Ward Eight is purported to have originated at the famous Locke-Ober Restaurant in Boston circa 1898.  It's a classic made of rye, grenadine, some juice and sweetened with a touch of sugar.  It was named in honor of the 8th ward of The City of Boston, which reliably supported a particular candidate for office.

I think it somehow even more relevant to The New Brunswick of today as the city just defeated a referendum that would have changed the form of governance from an at-large city council to one based on ward-specific elections.  The people spoke and democracy was affirmed once again in our fair city.  Toast with a Ward 8 this week. 

The Ward 8 will be offered in Catherine Lombardi at a 33% for an entire week, beginning Friday evening.  We're experimenting with this new week-long format.   Our Cocktail Launch Party will still be Friday.  Hors d'oeuvres will be passed until 9 PM and the most tasteful cocktail enthusiasts of The Garden State will be in attendance, as is their custom. 

Le Beaujolais Est Arrive!

Okay one of the best marketing ideas to sell bad wine to consumers who didn't know any better was the Beaujolais Nouveau craze of the 1970's and 80's.  Starting in the 70's a certain producer of Beaujolais fabricated the ridiculous "custom" of releasing crappy Beaujolais "wine" that was barely done fermenting to a sea of thirsty, yet undiscriminating Americans and Brits on the third Thursday of November (and not a minute sooner).  The wine ranged from terrible to really terrible but the festive atmosphere and parties that sprung up actually were a lot of fun.  I remember one third Thursday I spent many years ago at a swell party with the French Ambassador in New York.  The Nouveau arrived to the embassy by horse-drawn carriage at the stroke of midnight.  Sure it was crap, but what a party!

Now we're going to do things a little differently.  Believe it or not, there are some really great producers of very traditional (traditions that pre-date the 70's) Beaujolais who make delicious wines at super reasonable prices.  Tonight, the third Thursday of November we will pour three wines from just such a producer.  We'll offer tastes of each wine at The Stage Left Bar.  There is no charge.

We will also offer the wines for sale by the quartino.  Beaujolais goes great with our burger, by the way.  They are exceedingly reasonably priced and go very well with Turkey. 

Here is what Eric Asimov of The New York Times has to say of just one of the wines we'll be pouring:

...obviously not new in Saint Amour, as the family has order books that stretch back to customers in Paris prior to the French Revolution. The 2007 Saint Amour is a stellar bottle, with a deep and serious nose of black cherries, pomegranate, a touch of black truffle, complex soil tones, wood-smoke, fresh herbs and a touch of cedar in the upper register. On the palate is full-bodied, deep and succulent, with lovely complexity, a very soil-driven personality for Saint Amour, modest tannins, zesty acids and superb length and grip on the long and intensely flavored finish. This is a stunning bottle of Saint Amour that will age magically- provided one can keep the hands off of it long enough to allow it to develop. It is so tasty right now, that will be no easy task. Clearly Domaine des Billards belongs to be ranked up with the very best producers of Cru Beaujolais. 

top by tonight. Try some for yourself and toast the maturing of the American Palate.

Friday after Thanksgiving

Watch The Rutgers Game with Mark in Catherine Lombardi

The Friday after Thanksgiving Rutgers kicks off against Louisville at 11 AM.  Mark is opening up the Catherine Lombardi bar at 10:45, turning on the television, pouring himself a frosty one, ordering some bar food from the kitchen and watching the game.  It's the perfect civilized place to watch the game. After all, we've painted the whole restaurant red!

Drink Champagne and Port with Francis in Stage Left

The Friday after Thanksgiving, we will host a tasting of Champagnes from the house of Taittinger and Port from the houses of Fonseca and Taylor.  From 5:30 to 8:30, stop by Stage Left and sample four different Taittinger Champagnes and four different vintage, tawny and ruby ports.  It's an informal tasting.  Just stop by at your leisure and taste at will.  The tasting is just $25. Make a reservation with credit card and it's just $10!!!  That's a steal.

We're arranging special gift-packs that will be available for package sale and the wines will be available by the glass in either restaurant.

Stage Left Bar Menu Extravaganza

We're shaking up the Stage Left bar menu.  Don't worry, the burger is staying.  We will be enhancing our bar menu however, and we need your help in deciding just what to put on it permanently. 

From Monday 11/23 through Sunday 11/29 (Thanksgiving excluded), we will be running 25 or more items on our bar menu.  We're asking you to come in, order off the extended bar menu and then vote for what will stay permanently. 

The menu is below.  Prices are yet to be determined.  Please give us a call to let us know you are coming. 

We will be making additional seating available for this bar promotion, but it always helps to know who is coming in advance.   Reserve by calling 732.828.4444 or by emailing me directly.

Snack
Candied Pecans
Candied Walnuts
Candied Peanuts 
 
Soupish
Onion and Bone Marrow Soup
Wild Boar Chili with Vermont Cheddar and Crème Fraîche
 
Veggie
House-Made Modern Pickle Plate
Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette
Steak Salad
Goat Cheese Salad
 
Tempura
Chicken Tempura with Sweet Chili Sauce
 
Sandwiches
Salmon Club Sandwich
Lobster Club Sandwich
Sandwich of Goat Cheese With Apple Smoked Bacon
Bacon (Amish) Lettuce and Tomato (House-Preserved)  Sandwich
Crab-Cake Sandwich
The Wood Grilled Chicken Sandwich
Heritage Duroc Pulled Pork Sliders (2) With Home Made Slaw And Pickles
 
Burgers
The Famous Stage Left Cheeseburger: Wood Grilled Angus Beef with Two-Year Vermont Cheddar Cheese, Tomato And Red Onion
 
Stage Left Little Buddy Burger: Our Stage Left Cheeseburger but Half the Size
 
Grass-Fed Beef Burger: A Stage Left Burger from Grass-Fed Beef
 
Tartare
Tuna Tartare
Steak Tartare
Salmon Tartare
 
Seaside Selections
Pickled Oysters
Shrimp Toast
Baby Octopus Salad
Chilled Garlic Shrimp
Shrimp and Crab Cocktail
Lobster and Crab Mac and Cheese
Smoked/Cured Salmon Finger Sandwiches
Crab-Cake with Cilantro and Pickled Pepper Aioli
 
Give us a call 732.828.4444

Corison Cabernet Wine Dinner Tomorrow!

Tomorrow night, our friend Cathy Corison will be joining us to host a very special dinner with her wines, including some rare back-vintages of cabernet sauvignon.  We still have a few seats left, so I hope you will join us. 

An extraordinary opportunity to see just what Eric Asimov was talking about when he included Cathy's wines in his recent New York Times story entitled Cabernet Like Cabernets Should Be.  I really can't add anything to that.  Check out the menu. 

Make a reservation by return email or by calling 732.828.4444. Hors d'Oeuvres at 7.  Dinner at 7:30.