The Restaurant Guys

The Spirits Project: Oliveira Boal Madeira 1922

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

• Suggested retail price: $689
• Friday, November 25, through Sunday, November 27 (for as long as it lasts), we're pouring one ounce for $19

We're going to depart just a bit from the "spirits" theme of the spirits project. Instead we are going to pour a wine that has been fortified with brandy. The island of Madeira is a Portuguese possession off the coast of Africa. It's fortified wines are legendary. Because the process of making Madeira involves both oxidation and heating, the wines are the most stable and age-worthy in the world. In colonial times, Madeira was the most popular and most prized category of wine. Today it is sadly under appreciated. This bottle is completely stunning.

Oliveira is one of the greatest of the classic Madeira shippers, and one of the few to survive from the pre-phylloxera era. Founded in 1820, and today housed in cellars that date from 1619, this small jewel of a company is still owned by the same family, who were once highly important growers in the parish of São Martinho.

d' Oliveira stocks of old wines have grown over time, either through marriage with other wine-producing families or by the purchase of other old firms. But the foundation for its unparalleled library of ancient vintages was laid by wines made by the family itself, from its legendary vineyards in São Martinho. Here is a rare Boal from 1922 in perfect condition.

We will open one bottle at 6:30 precisely. I hope you will join us.

Next Week in The Spirits Project
Caol Illa 15 Year Un-Peated

Stage Left White Truffle Menu

We're bringing back a white truffle tasting menu in Stage Left beginning Sunday, November 20 through Sunday, November 27th. Truffle season started out a little slow this year, but the ones we have in now are pretty fantastic. In addition to the truffle menu at Stage Left, Catherine Lombardi also offers 5 grams of truffles on any of our dishes for $50. Garganelli with Truffle Cream and Prosciutto is my personal favorite.

(We Also Sell Truffles for Home - Great on the Turkey)

Angel Hair
White Truffle

Wagyu Short Rib
with White Truffle Gnocchi

Grilled Veal Loin
with Humbolt Fog Polenta, Egg yolk, White Truffle

Mascarpone Cheesecake
with Truffle Honey, Figs, Truffle Powder

$189 per person

[email protected] or 732-828-4444
Nov 20 - 27 (except Thanksgiving)

The Spirits Project: Mannochmore 25 Year Single Malt Scotch

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

• Suggested retail price: $399
• Thursday, November 17 (for as long as it lasts), we're pouring one ounce for $13

A rare official bottling of Mannochmore here, bottled at natural cask strength as part of series of 2016 Special Releases. Interestingly, it's matured in fresh American oak and European oak casks as well as first fill ex-bourbon American oak barrels and ex-Sherry European oak butts. 3,954 bottles were produced.

Mannochmore is actually one of the most recently constructed distilleries in Scotland. It was built in 1971 on the site of another distillery: Glenlossie (which was founded in 1876). Mannochmore used to be a fairly anonymous distillery, until they released a new single malt whisky in 1996: Loch Dhu. The name is Gaelic for 'Black Lake'. This was a very suitable name because the whisky was virtually black - hence the subtitle 'the black whisky'. This was one of the most controversial single malt's ever released. People either loved or despised it. It was either smoky and delicious or 'licking an ashtray.' Mannochmore went from anonymity to being both famous and infamous.

Rarely do we see official Mannochmore releases and almost never this old. These guys are bold and make strong, opinionated whisky. I can't wait to sample this 25 year, distilled in the early days of Mannochmore.

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

Next Week in The Spirits Project
Caol Illa 15 Year Un-Peated

Book your Holiday Party in Stage Left or Catherine Lombardi

Book your Holiday Party in Stage Left or Catherine Lombardi
Lunch or Dinner: Private Rooms Available

Four Private Dining Rooms in Stage Left
Two Private Dining Rooms in Catherine Lombardi

Extraordinary Food, Beverage and Hospitality in Both

email [email protected]
or call 732-828-4444 (Stage Left)
732-296-9463 (Catherine Lombardi)

Cocktails For Millionaires All Weekend

The election is over, and I need a drink. You probably do too? Whichever side you were on, I think we were all ready for that to be over.

This week, in lieu of The Spirits Project, we're going to open up a special a long list of super high-end spirits (some odds and ends from spirits project plus some additional selections), for drinking at cost.

Pick your poison: You can have a 1-ounce straight, or you can have an extremely decadent cocktail made from luxury ingredients (we call these Cocktails for Millionaires). All bottles retail from about $150 - $900 per bottle and the ounces (or cocktails) range from $5 to $25.

This will start at The Cocktail Bar at Catherine Lombardi Thursday at 6:30 and continue through Sunday.

Thanksgiving at Catherine Lombardi

Seating from 1 - 7 PM $49.95
Reservations: [email protected] or 732-296-9463

Catherine Lombardi's table was the center of her family's Thanksgiving tradition.
We will offer a holiday menu inspired by those 60 years of holidays.
We will also serve our regular menu a la carte.

Antipasti
Pizza Rustica

Macaroni Course

Fettuccini	Roasted Garlic, Pepper Flakes, Tomato & Mussels
Garganelli	Truffle Cream, Prosciutto, Asparagus
Orecchiette	Sausage (Hot or Sweet), Garlic, Broccoli Rabe
Spaghetti	Marinara
Long Fusilli	Walnut Basil Pesto Cream
Pappardelle	Bolognese
Lasagna or Eggplant Parmesan or Caesar Salad

Turkey (American) Course
Natural Turkey with Sausage Stuffing
Broccoli Rabe
Polenta
Cranberry Sauce
Mashed Potatoes

Dessert Choices
Zabaglione with Fruit
Mrs. Palmisano's Cookie Plate
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Chocolate Hazelnut Bread Pudding
Tiramisu

$49.95 per person plus tax, tip and beverage
A la carte menu also available

Thanksgiving at Stage Left

Back in 1992, when we started in this business, very few folks went out for Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve dinner. Now, we are the holiday tradition for many families and we love that.

I hope you will consider dining with us on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. We would like to be your new Holiday Tradition.

Seating from 1 - 7:30 PM $59.95 per person
Children 12 and Under Pay Their Age!
[email protected] or 732-828-4444

Our regular a la carte menu is available
as well as a Traditional Thanksgiving Menu

All dinner guests will receive the fixings for a late night turkey sandwich to take home.
Dine with us in the main dining room, or if you wish a little privacy, inquire about booking one of our private dining rooms.

First
Butternut Squash Soup with Chestnut Herb Salad or
Endive and Arugula Salad, Blue Cheese, Candied Walnuts and Grapes or
Shibume Farm Mushroom Salad, Goat Cheese Mousse, Jamon Vinaigrette or
Country Pate, Cornishon, Pickles and House-Made Mustard

Main Course
Local Turkey with Chestnut Stuffing
Sweet Potato Puree

Garlic Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes
Roasted Parsnips, Carrots and Brussels Sprouts
Cranberry Sauce with Orange Zest and Applejack or

Butternut Squash Gnocchi
Lemon Thyme Brown Butter and Pecans
Roasted Parsnips, Carrots and Brussels Sprouts
Cranberry Sauce with Orange Zest and Applejack

Dessert
Toasted Coconut Sabayonne or
Pear and Cranberry Bread Pudding or
Pumpkin-Seed Milk Shake, Chocolate Chip Cookies & Pumpkin-Seed Brittle
Baked Caramel Apple Streusel or
Molten Valrhona Chocolate Cake

$59.95 per person plus tax, beverage and service
A la carte menu also available

The New Stage Left and Paddy Cohn

As the sun is setting earlier and earlier and rising later and later, it means that the holidays are just around the corner. Soon at Stage Left we will celebrate our 25th anniversary on the corner of Livingston Avenue. We've remodeled and redecorated the place. We've expanded out the bar room to encompass our roaring fireplace and redesigned the other dining rooms entirely. If you haven't been to Stage Left in a while, you haven't been to Stage Left. While we've updated our look and expanded our bar menu, some things remain consistent. The dedication to serving you great stuff in a warm and welcoming environment stays the same.

Click any image for a link to a great little article about The New Stage Left and Paddy Cohn, the artist whose work now hangs on our walls. We would love for you to come check it out.

The Spirits Project: Achroisk 25 Year Single Malt Scotch

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

• Suggested retail price: $449
• Thursday, October 27 (for as long as it lasts), we're pouring one ounce for $15

The Auchroisk distillery was built in 1974, to ensure a steady supply of malt whisky for the J&B blend. The land and springs, including the water source, Dorie’s Well, were bought for £5million. Although launched as a blending malt, master blender Jim Milne declared the quality of the bourbon-matured whisky sound enough to be sold as single-malt. It was not sold as Auchroisk (pronounced ‘OH-thrusk’), because the company deemed the name difficult to read. The distillery’s own bottlings were first sold under the name Singleton and in 1986 the first bottling, a twelve year-old, was released under this name. I have drunk some amazing, delicious whisky under The Singleton label, but none very old.

We have had some merchant bottlings of older Achroisk, but never an official release of the distillery. Well here we are with a rare old cask from the early days of this excellent young distillery, released under its own name, rather than The Singleton. I am pretty excited to taste this bottle with you.

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

Next Week in The Spirits Project
Westport 18 yr, Five Lions Private Collection, 1997 Scotch