The Restaurant Guys

The Spirits Project: A.D. Rattray 'Batch No.2' 21 Yr. Blended Malt Whisky

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

• Suggested retail price: $149
  
• Thursday January 23 (for as long as it lasts), we're pouring a one-ounce pour for $5
  

 

A.D. Rattray is an old-school wine merchant in Scotland. Tonight we're featuring a blended malt whisky from their stores. A blended malt is not a blended whisky. A blended malt is a blend of specific single malts. This particular whisky is a blend of four Speyside whisky: Tamdhu 1989, Strathmill 1991, Gragganmore 1991 and Mortlach 1992. These were blended together and transferred to Oloroso Sherry butts for final aging. The result is a deep, dark, rich and complex whisky.

I'm looking forward to opening this bottle tonight, our first from Rattray. Tonight, we will open one bottle at 6:30. We will pour one ounce portions at cost. I look forward to sharing it with you.

WBGO Says New Brunswick Swings

Check out this great report done on New Brunswick by Bruce Johnson of WBGO, one of the greatest jazz stations in the country.

Jacqi Naylor Sings

Ms. Jacqui Naylor will perform at Catherine Lombardi on Sunday, February 8 at 7:15 PM.

It was just one of those lucky things. I happened to be in Madrid, and I was invited to tag along to dinner at the estate of The Marqués de Griñón, Don Carlos Fulco. It was a heady day that started with churros in the Plaza del Sol, and went on to include one of the best rejoneo bullfights I've ever seen, dinner with the Marqués, Cuban cigars and very old Spanish brandy. But the highlight of the day was when Don Carlos introduced Jacqui Naylor, whom he had engaged to sing for us after dinner. She broke my heart about seven times that evening and I've been a big fan ever since.

Sunday, February 8, Jacqui will sing for us all at Catherine Lombardi. It's not something we've done before, but we're sure it's going to be a very special evening. Jacqui and her quartet will perform at 7:15 in the dining room. We will seat for dinner until 6:15 so that you can enjoy dinner before the show. We will serve cocktails through the performance.

Tickets to see Jacqui are $35 with a 2-drink minimum (or equivalent).
With Dinner, tickets to the show are just $20!

That's a pretty sweet deal. We would love to see you there. To make a reservation and for tickets, please call 732-296-9463 or email [email protected].

About the Jacqui Naylor Quartet

Jacqui Naylor: vocals
Art Khu: piano & guitar
Ken Pendergast: bass
Josh Jones drums

"Naylor remains one of the most superbly arresting vocalists around. " — JazzTimes

"Naylor excels as a sensitive song interpreter with unerring intonation. " — DownBeat

"Jacqui has a sumptuous voice, knack for scratchiness, and an ability to sweeten those bluesy bent notes. " — Village Voice

This velvet-toned vocalist and songwriter is equally at ease singing music by Cole Porter and David Byrne as she is her own original music. Far from a straight-laced jazz purist, Naylor has made the mixing (and sometimes “smashing”) of genres and eras her stock-in-trade, gaining fans and notoriety for singing the lyrics and melody of jazz standards over the grooves of well-known pop and rock songs and vice versa. “Naylor has brought new twists to the notion of melding jazz and pop tunes - without high-tech assistance," claims NPR.

Based in San Francisco, Naylor used her early 90’s study with renowned vocalist Faith Winthrop as a springboard to her rise as a world-class artist and band leader, recording nine albums which have made the “top ten” lists of USA Today, Jazziz and The Washington Post. In 2013, Naylor released an ode to her favorite singers with the tribute album, Dead Divas Society. On it, she interprets songs by Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughn and Nina Simone along with those by Amy Winehouse, Freddie Mercury, Luther Vandross and others. In 2012 she was the subject of a full-length documentary film, Lucky Girl, which traced her evolution as an artist in the making of her 2011 album of the same name.

Naylor’s recordings are available throughout the United States, Europe and Asia and she tours regularly in these regions at esteemed venues, including Ronnie Scott's London, Birdland New York, Yoshi's Oakland, Snug Harbor New Orleans, Jamboree Barcelona, Jazz Club Istanbul Turkey, Women in Jazz Festival Germany, Reus Jazz Festival Spain, Monterey Jazz Festival, San Francisco Jazz Festival and all Blue Note Clubs in New York, Milan and Japan.

Trailer to Lucky Girl, The Documentary of Jacqui

Jacqui's YouTube channel

Jacqui's website

The Spirits Project: Ichiro's Malt 'The First'

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

• Suggested retail price: $220
  
• Thursday January 16 (for as long as it lasts), we're pouring a one-ounce pour for $7
  

'The First' is the first single malt produced at the Chichibu Distillery, founded in 2008 by Ichiro Akuto.

Ichiro Akuto's family had a history of producing sake for 300 years before his grandfather began distilling in 1946. The Hanyu Distillery, which he founded, lasted two generations; but it closed in 2000, a victim of Japan's economic downturn. Ichiro decided to bring distilling back to the family. He began by purchasing as much of the old Hanyu stock as possible. With this stock, he proved himself a masterful blender and made quite a name for himself. It was only a few years ago that Ichiro was able to set up the Chichibu Distillery in Saitama Prefecture. Chichibu is making waves as a new and exciting craft distillery. Check out this excellent blog on the topic.

To be considered single-malt in Japan (and Scotland and Ireland), a whisky must be three years old. 'The First' is the first whisky from Chichibu. 'The First' is aged in seven ex-bourbon casks and one Japanese Mizunara oak cask. There was not a lot made and demand is high. This may well be a new style of whisky, with roots in a great tradition.

This Thursday January 16th, we will open one bottle of 'The First'. We will pour one ounce portions at cost. I look forward to sharing it with you.

Harry Connick Rings

OK, so I couldn't think of something relevant to Harry Connick that rhymes with "Swings" and "Sings," but he did ring up a lot on The State Theater's cash register. In fact, tickets to his February 22nd performance sold out almost immediately. Fortunately for you, we have got our hands on several pair of tickets.

Like most people, I first discovered Harry Connick Jr. on the soundtrack to When Harry Met Sally in 1989. I was an unusual sort of 24-year old (just ask Mark) in that I was crazy about just the kind of music Harry was performing. I regularly went to The Cafe Carlyle to see Bobby Short and was often the youngest person in the room by 25 years. Harry helped to change all that. He helped to bring that music to another generation. He had 3 albums and a Grammy by 1990, and while his career is an amazing thing to remark upon, it's his music that is really moving. After hearing Harry play for the first time, when he was just a guy playing at The Algonquin with no albums and no awards, Tony Bennet said that he could be the next Frank Sinatra. Come have a great dinner and see one of the musical legends of our time...Oh...and have a lot of fun doing it.

We have some premium seats for this extraordinary show. If you would care to make an evening of it, we're offering the tickets for face value of $165. Just dine in either Stage Left or Catherine Lombardi. We'll have the tickets waiting for you. Tickets must be paid for in advance and are on a first-come, first-served basis. We don't have very many, so please act quickly if you would like to go.

To purchase tickets for Harry Connick Jr and reserve for dinner email [email protected] or [email protected].

Vote for the Best Bars in Jersey!

The Star Ledger is looking for your nominations for Best Bars in NJ.

I have a couple of ideas for Best Cocktail Bar and Best Restaurant Bar.

Do you? If you do, please email Pete Genovese [email protected].

Has to be this week!

Thanks!