The Restaurant Guys

Friday (and Thursday) Evening Cocktail: The Corpse Revivers

Corpse Revivers are a family of cocktails, originally meant to overcome a prior evenings overindulgence; not with the gentleness of a Ramos Fizz, but with a bracing jolt and a hair-of-the-dog spiritousness. Two versions of the old Corpse Reviver were listed in Harry Craddock's Savoy Cocktail Book (1930) and thereby survived to the modern era. Corpse Reviver (#1) is based in brandy and applejack. Corpse Reviver (#2) is an affair having to do with Gin, Cointreau, Lillet, Lemon and Absinthe.

More recently, the Corpse Reviver (#9) has been showing up around fashionable cocktail bars. It's a remarkable concoction that swaps in Aquavit for the Gin and Sambuca for the Absinthe. We further swap in Cocchi Americano for the Lillet. Now this is an affair to remember: a remarkable, bright and complex cocktail. I had heard that The Corpse Reviver (#9) was originally concocted by our friend Jim Meehan; but after scouring the web, I could find no such attribution. A quick email to Jim confirmed it's his drink.

Tonight for Halloween, and tomorrow night for our regular Friday Evening cocktail special, we will serve The Corpse Revivers Numbers 1, 2 and 9 in The Cocktail Bar at Catherine Lombardi for just $9. We will pass hors d'oeuvres until 9 PM Friday and give out candy if you say Trick-or-Treat today, and the most tasteful cocktail enthusiasts of The Garden State will be in attendance, as is their custom.

The Spirits Project: Macallan 18 Year Old Scotch Whisky

Making the experience of super-luxury spirits crazily affordable and accessible!
Read more about the Spirits project.

• Suggested retail price: $189 per bottle
• We will pour an ounce for $7
  

Now I know that last week, we put in a teaser for the Johnny Walker "King George V." I have received many pleas to delay the opening of V by yet another week. Some have told me they would be in tears while trick-or-treating with young ones, thinking about the adult treat they were missing at the same time. So rather than pour this rare bird on Halloween night, we're going to pour our favorite iteration of Macallan. The 18 year old is not exactly rare but it's a pretty amazing whisky and we agree that it represents one of the best values in luxury Scotch.

Macallan was one of the first single-malts I ever sampled. When I first started tending bar, Macallan, Glenlivet and Glenfiddich were the only single-malts available. Macallan used to be listed as Speyside, a region within The Highlands, but since 2009 it can no longer carry that designation. The whisky has not changed, the regulations have. Any way you cut it, Macallan is one of the best values in single malt. Their standard is the 12 year. Their 25 year is a hallmark of luxury but exponentially more expensive than the 18. The 18 is extraordinary for the price. It's got a full, rich, mouth-feel; lovely, toasty aromatics and a gentle, round, roasted finish.

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

Next Week in The Spirits Project: Johnny Walker King George V (Really, I promise!)

Related articles

The Spirits Project: Aberfeldy 21 Year Single Highland Malt

Thanksgiving is Just Around The Corner (So Book A Corner Table for You and Yours!)

The Cozy Dining Rooms of Stage Left
An American Feast at NJ's Premier Contemporary American Restaurant
If your clan is big enough, why not book a private dining room?
Thanksgiving Turkey Feast $59
Our Regular Menu is also available.
The Menu | Reservations

Catherine Lombardi
Like Coming to Mark's Grandmother's House For The Holiday
Both fireplaces will be roaring. Frank Sinatra will be on the stereo. The food will be fantastic.
Celebrate Thanksgiving Italian-American style.
Thanksgiving feast of Turkey, Macaroni and Eggplant and Sopressata and .... $49
Our Regular Menu is also available.
The Menu Reservations

Walk-Around Wine Tasting

Saturday, November 30, 3:30 - 6 PM

It's become tradition for us to hold a walk-around tasting on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Some traditions are worth keeping. So here's how it goes down. We line up 25 really cool, unique and interesting wines in the wine shop, plus some cool olive oil and other groovy products. You come and taste as many as you like, all the while enjoying my sparkling commentary and amusing anecdotes. Then, if you want to buy some you do. If you don't, then you don't.

One of the really cool things about this tasting is how we price it. The price is $50, but see below:

• First of all, it's on AMEX Small Business Saturday, which means if you register with them and pay with your American Express Card, you get $10 credited to your bill.
• Second, if you have dinner in Stage Left or Catherine Lombardi that evening, we'll give you $25 off dinner.
• Third, we'll credit $25 toward the purchase of your first full case of wine (12-bottles).

That's some pretty good math. Please make a reservation at reservations@stageleft.com or by calling 732-828-4444.

Related articles

What Makes Rioja Riojanissima

A Final Sunday on The Sidewalk: Lobster and Honeybees

Belgian Beer Menu - The Best Beers In The World

November 14-16

It is impossible to overstate the importance of the Belgians to the universe of quality beer. It's impossible to overstate the importance of quality beer to the Belgians. Belgium doesn't have the right climate for grapes, but what they have done with grain over the centuries is unmatched. As France is to wine, so Belgium is to beer. Belgians don't just make or drink it: They live beer. It's integral to their national identity and culture.

November 15 is Kings Day in Belgium. Hundreds of quality bars across America will join in the Coast To Coast Toast to VanBerg an DeWulf (the folks who introduced America to Belgian beer) and to the wonderful culinary, food-friendly beers that they still represent. V&D is a small, family-owned company like our own. They're obsessed with quality and we go waaay back with them. Their beers are extraordinary. Learn about Belgian beer and meet the owners of VanBerg and DeWulf here.

So here's what we're doing to join in the fun: From November 14 - 16 in Stage Left, we're going to offer a Belgian Beer Dinner Menu along with our regular Menu. Make a reservation here, or at 732-828-4444.

Coast to Coast Belgian Toast Menu

Spiked Sweet Potato Soup with House-Preserved Applejack Cherries
Vicarus Generaal

Hunters Salad of Mushrooms Root Vegetables
Scaldis Refermentee

Bison Short Ribs, Espresso Rubbed with Roasted Pickled Carrots and Cauliflower Gratin
Tatanka for Kevin Costner Fans
Dupont Special Belge

Venison with Roasted Purple Cauliflower, Pine Nuts and Golden Raisins
Scaldis Noel

Apple and Cheddar Tart
Bier de Miel

$99

Thanksgiving and the Wines of Fall

Tempus fugit my friends. There's only one more week till the clocks fall back and Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Venison has appeared on the menu in Stage Left, along with more fall vegetables from Dryer Farms. Chef is pickling and then roasting carrots alongside tuna. Roasting house-pickled carrots is a new and delicious preparation of fall's favorite tuber. Purple cauliflower is roasted with rosemary, shallots and blue cheese for a vegetable side that screams of the season. Up in Catherine Lombardi, cauliflower makes another appearance, broken up in to small bits and slow cooked on the stove, almost to the texture of risotto: a perfect foil for slow-cooked short ribs.

What about the wines of fall? We have a dozen red zinfandel, seven Brunello, nine Rioja, six Barbaresco, eight Barolo and three Amarone, including Giuseppe Quintarelli and about 700 or so other selections at your disposal. I love this time of year.

For Thanksgiving I'm recommending two reds that are great and represent great price-value relationship: We'll apply our usual 10% Case Discount on Bottle 1

We've got a lovely, bold Amarone 2006 by a producer called Chiccheri regularly $49, but $44 with discount. Amarone is a powerful wine from the Northern Italian region of Veneto. For Amarone, they dry the grapes into raisins in order to concentrate the flavors, and aromas and to impart the lush texture and solid structure unlike any other wine. This particular cuvee is completely dense and powerful without being overly fruity and a perfect, perfect, perfect match for the rich foods of fall. It's more of a dinner wine than some of the very raisiny Amarone. Perfect with the foods of the season.

We also offering a lovely Brunello 2008 by Collelceto regularly $39, but $35 with discount. Sangiovese Grosso from this particular region of Tuscany is often great, but rarely a bargain. Here is a glaring exception. Smokey, tobacco, resin, lovely fruit and sweet spices make me think of the woods. It compliments pasta, red sauce, game, cheese, and it's even delicious just by itself.

You can order these wines by emailing me or by calling 732-828-4444 ext 200. We can have your case packed up and waiting for you. You won't be disappointed.

Related articles

What Makes Rioja Riojanissima

The Spirits Project: Aberfeldy 21 Year Single Highland Malt

Friday Evening Cocktail: The Plymouth Rock

Plymouth Gin, Pear Shrub, Love

We first served a shrub in 1996, in celebration of the Amelia Simmons Cookbook. It was the 200th anniversary of "American Cookery," the first American cookbook ever written. Back in those days, nothing was wasted. To preserve the fruits of summer, many methods were employed, not least among them was the shrub. To make a shrub, one would just add the vinegar and summer fruit and possibly some hard-spices together to make a mixture that would last through the winter. Amelia recommended her shrubs for use in dessert; later Americans had better ideas. This delightful gin concoction is light and pretty and complex and speaks of the fall.

Friday evening, we will offer The Plymouth Rock for just $8. Hors d'oeuvres will be served at the bar until 9 and the most tasteful cocktail enthusiasts in NJ will be in attendance, as is their custom. I hope to see you there.

Related articles

Friday Evening Cocktail: The Deshler

Friday Evening Cocktail: The Shrub

Friday Evening Cocktail: Sloe Gin and Seamus Heaney

The Spirits Project: Normandin-Mercier Grande Champagne Cognac XO (30 Year Minimum)

Making the experience of super-luxury spirits crazily affordable and accessible!
Read more about the Spirits project.

• Suggested retail price: $159 per bottle
• We will pour an ounce for $4.50
  

Now I know that last week, we put in a teaser for the Johnny Walker "King George V." It turns out that we'll have to do that one next week.

Don't despair however. This week we will be pouring a Cognac that I have long loved, but only recently been able to carry. Since 1872, five generations have contributed to the development of the prestigious Normandin-Mercier Cognacs. The family has build its fame by perfecting the art of blending and ageing cognacs in an exceptional geographical site. For decades, the family Normandin Mercier has been buying young cognacs from the same handful of producers in the crus of Petite Champagne and Grande Champagne only. They are silky and rich and sensual and decadent. It is important to note that this is done with no artificial coloring (more common than you might imagine) and these brandies are not subject to a cold filtration, which preserves a total purity of the aromas and flavors.

Normandin Mercier cognacs are made with about 90% Ugni Blanc, and 10% of Colombard and Folle Blanche, which is very rare and unique blend compared to other cognacs. Each of their cognacs are matured in the family chateau’s traditional cellars near the town of La Rochelle, the historic medieval port that made Cognac famous many centuries ago. The proximity of the ocean and the iodine air, the natural regulation of hygrometry and oceanic temperature all favor the aging of the cognacs, giving them fullness, elegance and a unique character unlike any other Cognac. This is a positively sensual Cognac.

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

Next Week in The Spirits Project: Johnny Walker King George V (Really!)

Friday Evening Cocktail: The Allspice Sour, A Cocktail For The Season

Maker’s Mark Bourbon, St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram liqueur, fresh Lemon & Lime juices, Bitters

Mark and I came across this little ditty in New Orleans, July of 2009. It's the work of bartender John Lermayer and it shows off the remarkable, but hard to deal with, Allspice Dram. It's light and pretty while also being richly flavored with wintery spices.

Friday evening, the Allspice Sour will be offered at 2/3 of our regular cocktail price. Hors d'oeuvres will be served at the bar until 9 and the most tasteful cocktail enthusiasts in NJ will be in attendance, as is their custom.

Related articles

Friday Evening Cocktail: The Shrub

Friday Evening Cocktail: The Deshler

Friday Evening Cocktail: Sloe Gin and Seamus Heaney

A Final Sunday on The Sidewalk: Lobster and Honeybees

Friday Evening Cocktail: The Deshler

As the fall comes on us, it is rather fashionable to switch from white spirits to brown. Manhattans seem more appropriate to the season than martinis. But sometimes, I seek a spirit-forward cocktail that doesn't pack quite the punch of a straight-up manhattan. It's time for a Deshler! It's a lovely cocktail, primarily of rye, tempered with Dubonnet, Cointreau and Peychaud's Bitters: A perfect October Tippler.

So who was the pugilist in whose honor this libation was named? The mighty fellow you see pictured above originally hailed from the great garden state. He was a lightweight who amassed a rather evenly-balanced record of 27 wins, 25 losses and 24 draws over 15 years around the time of the First Great War. His boxing earned him no lasting fame, but Hugo Ensslin’s secured his legacy when he included the drink named for him in his seminal Recipes for Mixed Drinks (1917).

Friday we will be happy to mix you up a Deshler for the benign tariff of $9. We will pass hors d'oeuvres from 6 PM and the most tasteful cocktail enthusiasts of The Garden State will be in attendance, as is their custom. We hope you can join us.

Related articles

Friday Evening Cocktail: Sloe Gin and Seamus Heaney

Friday Evening Cocktail: The Shrub