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American Whiskey Cocktail Class at ArtBar

February 17, 2012 in cocktail, Food, Restaurants by traveleatlove | 13 comments

A Thursday night after a very long and trying week calls for a good cocktail. ArtBar at the Royal Sonesta is making Thursday’s once- a-month even better with a chance to taste, mix, and learn from an expert in their new cocktail classes. Director of Food and Beverage Troy Clarke is sharing his love for cocktails, his expertise, and the innovation happening at ArtBar, and last night we participated in a class on American whiskey. Classes fill up, but luckily Jon made sure we had a space. We joined Jon, Lindsey, and Adam to become whiskey experts. . . well we learned a lot! And had some delicious cocktails.

The scene was set with whiskey: Bully Boy White Whiskey, which is made right here in Boston, Prichard’s Rye Whiskey, and Woodford Bourbon Whiskey.

And the night kicked off with, what else, but a cocktail! We sampled house-aged Bully Boy White Whiskey in this Manhattan. Yum.

Troy walked us through tasting spirits (Hint: It’s different than wine. Stick your nose in the glass, and breathe deep, you might just ruin your sense of smell for the night.) and he gave us a good amount of background information on the whiskeys we were tasting before we launched into making out own cocktails.

Tasted on their own, I liked the Prichard’s Rye Whiskey the best for its vanilla caramel notes. The color and the different notes in the whiskeys come from the barrels in which they age. The white whiskey skips the barrel and heads straight into the bottle.

Tables were set with all of the ingredients we needed to make two cocktails, an Old Fashioned and a Sazerac.

We each had a recipe card at our place, along with a bunch of glasses, and we got right to mixing. I may not have been paying 100% attention during the instruction part, so things were a little silly during the cocktail-making. The end result, my “Old Fashioned Old Fashioned” (called that because like the original Old Fashioned, it’s missing fruit), was quite good. And we have all of the ingredients, whiskey, sugar, bitters, soda water, and lemon peel at home so I can practice a bit more.

The second cocktail we made was a Sazerac. Featuring Peychaud’s Bitters, Rye Whiskey, and Herbsaint, the Sazerac was a little bitter for me, and since we strained out the ice, a little strong, but I still enjoyed it and had fun making it.

The class ended with lots of questions for Troy about all sorts of things like stirring cocktails vs. shaking them, complete with a demonstration.

Next up is a Brandy class. We get back from Sonoma (!!!!!!!) just a few days before, so I may have to give it a miss, but if you love cocktails, check it out.

Of course, there was also food involved throughout the evening. When we arrived, my husband and I took advantage of the happy hour food menu and shared some delicious pulled pork tacos.

During the class, we were treated to some bites to keep us fueled as we mixed up our cocktails. I’m not sure what was in the spoons, but it was very good.

And, as I tend to do, I ended the night with fries. ArtBar’s menu features baskets of fries and sweet potato tots with spicy banana ketchup, pesto crème fraiche, and roasted garlic parmesan. These fries and tots and sauces, and in particular the garlic parmesan, were amazing. Add this to my post-long run cravings list.

We closed out the night with one of the best Irish coffees I have ever had on either side of the Atlantic. Troy makes a very good Irish coffee that integrates the flavors of the coffee, whiskey, and sugar perfectly without any one overwhelming the others. With St. Patrick’s Day around the corner, you should get yourself to ArtBar for one of these.

All in all, it was a really fun night. The cocktail classes at ArtBar are well worth the $20 cover. You end up with several cocktails, some great cocktail and spirit education, and a taste of ArtBar’s creative menu, quite the deal!

And if you dine at ArtBar before or after the class, you get 10% off your food. The Royal Sonesta’s Web Media Manager did also treat us to cocktails and a warm welcome. It was great to chat with her to hear about upcoming events at ArtBar. They have pretty much one of the best views in Boston, and are really doing a lot of cool, quality things food and drink wise.

I stayed out way too late, am exhausted and pretty much still have a whole week of work to do. I have not been able to catch up this week, my training runs have felt awful, and other than an enjoyable time at ArtBar, I am completely cranky this week.

I might go to bed at 7:00 tonight.

What are you most looking forward to this weekend?

Tags: bloggers, bourbon, cambridge, cocktails, events, Food, Restaurants, whiskey

Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook Launch Party

November 10, 2011 in events, Food by traveleatlove | 11 comments

When I think of Cook’s Illustrated, I think classic, foolproof, a part of every home cook’s kitchen, an American institution. For 20 years, Cook’s Illustrated has helped many people learn to cook, and I was delighted to be invited to America’s Test Kitchen to celebrate the launch of the Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook: 2,000 Recipes from 20 Years of America’s Most Trusted Food Magazine. Unlike many other area bloggers, I had never been to America’s Test Kitchen, though I had seen it on TV and online. I was excited that my health had started to improve and I could make the trek to Brookline. I was especially excited that my appetite came back.

When I arrived, I got to meet some of the America’s Test Kitchen staff, and my friend Megan gave me a little tour.

The kitchen is, as you would expect, large and super clean.

And incredibly well-stocked with Kitchenaid, Le Creuset, and other drool-worthy items. It was every cook’s dream.

I can’t imagine how much fun it must be to actually cook there!

The area next to the kitchen features a Wall of Awesome, chock full of tweets, posts, and Facebook updates about America’s Test Kitchen. Lots of pictures of delicious food were there, and it is now my goal to make the wall.

After I took my tour, I got to mingle with lots of my favorite bloggers, and, of course, to eat. There was flaky spanakopita.

And a perfectly cooked, flavorful Spanish tortilla.

Lots and lots of cheese, including this bacon ranch cheese ball and a lemon herb goat cheese ball. These two cheeses definitely gave me ideas for the upcoming holiday season.

Cook’s Illustrated Founder and Editor, Christopher Kimball was there to speak to us; in case you were wondering, his favorite meal is a New England boiled dinner, followed by a good apple pie. I have seen him on TV so many times, and it was incredibly exciting to be in the same room. I am a nerd when it comes to food celebrities!

More mingling ensued, and to Elizabeth’s delight there was dessert, mighty delicious chocolate pots de crème and pecan bars.

Even sweeter, we were sent home with gift bags stuffed with the Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook and the Menu Cookbook which I am super excited about. Recipes for all of the items served, perfect party foods, are in the books for us to make at home. After having a very sad week, my husband and I decided we need to have more dinner parties and wine tastings, and the Menu Cookbook will be an extra push toward that. I am already flipping through it to get ideas for my Thanksgiving dinner in Ireland.

The Cook’s Illustrated launch party was an absolutely lovely event that combined a little nostalgia with my current role as a blogger and lover of cooking. I love how everything America’s Test Kitchen does aims to get real people to cook real food and to encourage them to do it well so they do it again. The event was definitely a bright spot in a rough week; I love my blogger friends, great food, and fun times!

Do you read Cook’s Illustrated? Have a favorite recipe that I must try?

Tags: America's Test Kitchen, bloggers, Boston, Cook's Illustrated, cookbooks, events

Boston Food Bloggers Party

October 7, 2011 in Cocktails, Food by traveleatlove | 12 comments

As you probably know, especially if you live in the Boston area, Boston has a LOT of food bloggers, and we get together often at a variety of food and drink events. The Boston food blogging community is definitely one of the main reasons I blog. From work opportunities to running buddies to great friends, the food blogging community has brought it all to me, so I was excited when I heard about the Boston Food Bloggers party at M.J. O’Connors. On Wednesday night I made my way downtown on a freezing, windy night. I’ll be honest; I almost didn’t make it. Working from home has a special spell on me once it gets cold. Do I REALLY need to leave the house ever? The answer is obviously yes.

I arrived at the blogger event and checked in, said some hellos and grabbed a whiskey sour. The event was sponsored by Bushmills and Guinness, and there were a variety of specials. I have always been a fan of Bushmills, and after our visit last winter, I like it even more.

As with any blogger event, there was a ton of food including passed appetizers like arancini, stuffed mushrooms, sliders, and other delights, in addition to a table filled with crostini.

At this event I vowed to take more pictures of people than food. After all, it was all about bloggers, and there were so many great ones in the room. I wish I had been able to stay longer to talk to everyone. Here we have Rachel, Boston Food Bloggers founder and hostess of the event.

I also got to chat with Lindsay and Jon and to meet Molly.

I also got to meet Liz and to catch up with Elina and Judith.

M.J. O’Connor’s was a great place for a blogger party. Spacious and dimly lit, it has a nice, relaxing vibe, and they were fantastic hosts. They also have very good curry fries (but their sister restaurant, Solas, has the best curry fries in Boston, in my opinion. Winking smile )