The Restaurant Guys

Labor Day Grill Menu!

Labor Day Weekend!

Get Your Grill On!
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Stage Left Cookout Menu On The Sidewalk - Sunday Sept 2

(and inside if it rains)

Cocktails, Great Beer, Great Wine, A Casual Menu, Laughter, Good Friends!

At Stage Left, we celebrate on the sidewalk with the annual Stage Left Labor Day Cookout:   Lobster Rolls, Lobster Po Boys, Stage Left Burgers, Grilled Shrimp, Niman Ranch Fearless Frank Chili-Dogs with Wild Boar Chili, Spanish Sherry Potato Salad, Niman Ranch St. Louis Ribs, our entire Steak Menu, and a Mixed-Grill for those who can't decide!  
Make a reservation by return email or calling 732-828-4444.  We only cookout 3 times a year: Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day.  Don't miss it!

Sunday Pig Roast -- Lindemans Belgian Lambic Ales

Summer Sunday Pig Roast - Lindemans Belgian Lambic Ales

This Sunday, our pig will be roasted whole and served with wood grilled peaches and the Lambic Ales of The Lindemans Family
This is a startlingly fantastic combination and one rarely seen outside Belgium!

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In the Southwest of Brussels, in the quiet Belgian town of Vlezenbeek, the Lindemans family has been farming and home-brewing as long as anyone can remember. Commercial brewing started in 1811.  The lambic, or spontaneously fermented, beers of this region and are among the world’s rarest: they are the only beers fermented via wild, airborne yeast - no yeast is added by the brewers. Lambics come only from the Senne River valley, near Brussels - a region about 15 by 75 miles in size. The unusual, demanding, and unique flavors that come from multiple yeast strains are unmatched in the world of beer.  These beers have fruit added during the beer-making process.  The beers have a touch of sweetness to them and pronounced and clean and bright fruit flavors.  Most lambics fruit beers are based on a style of ale called a "sour ale."  Lindemans is unique in that they use a brown ale for the base.  They're the only ones who do this and we think it makes their beers much more approachable, accessible and food-friendly. They're perfect with pig!

This Sunday, we will toast the pig with glasses of Lindemans Peche (Peach).  We'll also have Lindemans Kriek (Cherry) and Framboise (Raspberry) beers available at a discount.  These are not for dessert.  Most Americans have never had them with dinner.  We've been missing out!

Every Sunday this summer, heaps of whiskey-barrel charcoal are laid upon a perfectly seasoned whole pig sometime in the late morning.  There is nothing quite as tasty as pig roasted whole. Now you never can be exact with a whole pig under charcoal, but we can assume he'll be ready to go around about 6 PM.  Chef is preparing our pig this week, with fresh fruit and herbs.  There will be a minted peach sauce to go with the pig and we'll be serving wood grilled peaches as a side.  We will have our regular dinner and bar menus available, as always.  So if you've got a piggy-pooper in your party, they can always have a steak or a burger or anything else their heart desires.  The pig is served family-style: $20 for a half-pound $29 for a pound. 

Friday Night Cocktail: Suzey P

This Week's Cocktail - The "Suzey P"

"P" is for Pisco and Suzey is for Suze.   Suze was first distilled by Fernand Moureaux in 1885.  It's an aperitif based primarily (but not solely) on gentian root.  It is unique among crazy French and Italian aperitifs in this regard.  Picasso immortalized suze in a painting he did called "Glass and Bottle of Suze."  It's copyrighted so I could not include it in this email.  You can check it out here: http://www.artchive.com/artchive/p/picasso/suze.jpg.html.  It was unavailable in this country for many years.  Frankly, no one cared.   However, in this cocktail renaissance, all sorts of things are coming back on the market.  It's a fantastic ingredient for cocktails.  We may introduce a whole Suze section in our fall cocktail list.   Here is the first Suze cocktail on our list.  It's an original: Pisco, Suze, Lime. The ONLY pisco that works in this drink is Pisco Porton.  It's bright and refreshing and that Suze adds and herbal not that is unquantifiable.   So come in on Friday and see what inspired Picasso.  Feel free to doodle on a beverage napkin.   

Friday we will serve The "Suzey P" in The Catherine Lombardi Bar for just $9.  We will pass hors d'oeuvres until 9 PM, and the most tasteful cocktail enthusiasts of The Garden State will be in attendance, as is their custom.

Glenlivet Coilltean 34-Year (1977) Scotch Whisky - Samaroli Selection

Tonight, Thursday, August 23 - The Spirits Project at Catherine Lombardi will feature

Glenlivet Coilltean 34-Year (1977) Scotch Whisky - Samaroli Selection
Suggested Retail Price is  $395    We will pour one ounce for $12

Yet another spirit from the famed spirits purveyor, Mr. Silvio Samaroli.  This single cask 1977 was given 34 years to come to maturity.  We're finding that whether it's rum or whisky, Samaroli's selections tend to run to the round and glycerol end of the spectrum.  Glenlivet, of course, was the first licensed distiller of whisky in Scotland and has been producing fantastic whisky legally since 1824.  This act almost got the owner killed by the other distillers who preferred to remain under the radar and off the king's tax rolls. 

On Thursday, at precisely 6:30, we will open just one bottle.  When it's gone, it's gone.  I do hope you can join us.

 

Next Week in The Spirits Project

Elijah Craig 20 Year Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey

New Orleans Jazz and Cajun Roasted Pig

Pig Roast Returns Sunday!

New Orleans Jazz & Cajun Roasted Pig

Inspired by our recent trip to New Orleans, we've hired a 5-piece Jazz band with two trombonists that will blow your doors off!
Maker's Mark Bourbon will be sponsoring Live Jazz in The Nawlins Style
Courtesy of The New Brunswick Jazz Project: Music From 5 - 9 PM
www.NBJP.org

Come downtown on Sunday and have a ball!

 

 

 

 

Adam Machaskee & Phillip Menchaca Will Blow Your Doors Off

featuring Peter Parks on guitar, Jeff Dingler on bass and Dan Silverstein on drums.

Our pig will come off the coals around 6 PM. We will all toast the pig with various Maker's Mark Libations (Including Juleps of course)!
Maker's cocktails will be available at a discount all evening long.
Pig will be prepared Cajun style!

Make a reservation here or call 732-828-4444!

The Mary Pickford and The Mary Pickford's Sister

 

                           National Rum Day Was August 16th! 

This Week's Cocktail - The Mary Pickford & Mary Pickford's Sister
The Mary Pickford is purported to have been invented by a bartender in Cuba while the screen star was shooting a film there in the 1920’s.  There are a few versions out there and many are implausible.   Our recipe is adapted from The Savoy Cocktail Book, which was first published in 1930.  The Mary Pickford calls for white rum and we use our new favorite Old New Orleans.  We’ve also created a slight (and slightly more expensive) variation using Old New Orleans' aged rum.  It's a distinctly different and delicious libation I call Mary Pickford’s Sister.

 

Friday Night both The Mary Pickford & Mary Pickford's Sister will be offered at a 33% discount and the most tasteful cocktail enthusiasts in NJ will be in attendance, as is their custom.  Feel free to stay for dinner.  Complimentary hors d'oeuvres will be passed until 9 PM.

Navy Grog

 

                             Rum- It's not just for pirates anymore!

This Week's Cocktail - The Navy Grog
The Navy Grog was invented in the 1940's by former bootlegger, Donn Beach, at his iconic Hollywood joint: Donn The Beach-Comber.  Donn didn’t mess around. 
The recipe calls for three types of rum, grapefruit, cane syrup and soda.  We're not using Island Rums, as Donn would have, but three different rums from a favorite new distillery.  Mark and Visited the Old New Orleans distillery just last week. It's truly a MICRO distillery making unique and interesting and delicious rum in a place that hasn't had a rum distillery in an hundred years.  Look for more good things from them.

Friday we will serve The Navy Grog in The Catherine Lombardi Bar at a 33% discount.  We will pass hors d'oeuvres until 9 PM, and the most tasteful cocktail enthusiasts of The Garden State will be in attendance, as is their custom. 

Sunday Lobster Pot

Sunday Lobster Pot

It's Lobster, Baby!

So we've decided to give the pigs a break this weekend.  This Sunday, it's all about Lobsters (and gin)!

The Lobsters we've been getting in are just fantastic.  So this Sunday, we're going to cook up a bunch them and turn our weekly pig roast into a lobster pot. 
We'll offer 1.25 lb lobsters still partially in the shell with Dreyer Farm Corn for $20, two for $35! 
We'll whip up the first batch of punch around 5 PM and we'll be cooking lobsters to order all night.  Reserve a table here.

Now, of course, pig goes with any beverage and gin goes with any food; however, we thought that the occasion of our Sunday Gin sponsor was the perfect time to switch to crustaceons!  Brooklyn Gin is made by hand in New York State.  It is made in a copper pot still in very small batches and it's delicious. 

Since there is no moment of Pig Toasting we will offer you all the opportunity to toast with a welcoming glass of Brooklyn Gin Punch.  All other drinks with Brooklyn Gin will be just $9.  So have a Brooklyn and Tonic or a Brooklyn Americano!  Your imagination is your only limit.  And in case you're wondering, that adorable baby lobster costume can be had at Halloweencostumes.com.

Tomintoul 1967 "44-Year" Speyside-Highland Malt Scotch (Bottled 2011) Silvano Samaroli Selection

Thursday, August 9 - The Spirits Project at Catherine Lombardi will feature

Tomintoul 1967 "44-Year" Speyside-Highland Malt Scotch (Bottled 2011)
Silvano Samaroli Selection
Suggested Retail Price is  $450    We will pour one ounce for $12.99 (13 is unlucky)

Tomintoul is the highest village in The Highlands of Scottland.  It's more than 1100 feet above sea level.    "Tom an t-Sabhail" means "Hillock of The Barn" in Gaelic.  Why that's important..? I have no idea. Today just over 300 souls call it home, down from almost 2,000 in the 1800's.  The distillery began production in 1965 and so this bottling is from the second year of Tomintoul's production.  It's 44 years of age in cask was not wasted.  It's one of the most substantial, interesting and sexy whiskies we've ever offered in The Spirits Project.  Silvano Samaroli is one of the finest selectors whisky and rum in the world.  Yes, he's Italian, which is uncommon in the whisky trade.  He is the only Italian doing this whom I know of.  He's been doing it since 1968 and his technical palate and his great taste are unquestionable.  I will seek out anything with this man's name on the bottle.  You should too.

Silvano Samaroli

On Thursday, at precisely 6:30, we will open just one bottle.  When it's gone, it's gone.  I do hope you can join us.

Woodford Reserve Pig Toast

Summer Sunday Pig Roast

Woodford Reserve Bourbon, Mint Juleps, Personalized Engraved Bottles

Every Sunday this summer, heaps of whiskey charcoal are laid upon a perfectly seasoned whole pig sometime in the late morning.  There is nothing quite as tasty as pig roasted whole. Now you never can be exact with a whole pig under charcoal, but we can assume he'll be ready to go around about 6 PM. 

This Sunday, Woodford Reserve Bourbon will be there to help us celebrate.  We're crushing lots of ice and bruising lots of mint so that we can bring you some frosty mint juleps with which to toast our pig.  We will also have a bottle engraver on-hand to personalize your bottle, if you would like to take one home.  Two examples of engraved bottles are above.  You don't have to be a Kentucky Wildcat either.  We can't do it at the bar, but there's no law against refilling these at home for a permanent addition to your home bar.  Engraving is complimentary with the purchase of the bottle.  This is for Sunday only, and as long as the engraver is on-site. 

Chef is preparing our pig this week, southern style, with a mint and bourbon maple glaze.  We'll also have some bitter greens and black-eyed peas and blue corn grits on the side. We will have our regular dinner and bar menus available, as always.  So if you've got a piggy-pooper in your party, they can always have a steak or a burger or anything else their heart desires.  The pig is served family-style: $20 for a half-pound $29 for a pound. 

Make a Reservation by Return Email or 732-828-4444
Some Pig!