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Archive for category Happy Hour
At my age (undisclosed at this time) I really can’t justify a jello-shot at a party. But in the video below, my girls Alie & Georgia show you how to class it up. Um… yes, please. And thank you.
Try this for your next Halloween Party!
This could be GREAT for your Halloween Party.
Another option for a Halloween Party cocktail!
October Beer Events
Oct 12
As compiled by Austin L. Ray @Austinlouisray for Creative Loafing Atlanta. (The rest of the article is an interview with Brick Store Pub’s Dave Blanchard. Get the full article HERE.)
Leon’s Full Service Flight Night
When: Every Monday, 5 p.m. until it’s out
Where: Leon’s Full Service
Price: Varies
Leon’s serves up myriad beer and wine flights (five or six of each), with food pairings.
Beer Geek Tuesdays
When: Every Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Where: Cypress Street Pint and Plate
Price: Depends on how much you drink
Each week, this Midtown establishment features anything from tap takeovers to guest speakers, special brews to the company of beer aficionados.
Hop City Beer Tastings
When: Every Wednesday, 5:30–7:30 p.m.
Where: Octane
Price: Free
Octane hosts different beers from Hop City Beer every Wednesday.
Wells and Young’s Brewmaster Visit
When: Thurs., Oct. 6
Where: Ale Yeah!
Price: Free
Wells and Young’s brewmaster Jim Roberts will visit Ale Yeah! in Decatur to discuss his brewery’s wares. The store will offer growler pours and specials on Wells and Young’s, too.
Atlanta Beer Week
When: Oct. 8-16
Where: All over the Atlanta metro area
Price: Varies
For nine days, the Atlanta beer community comes together for festivals, tap takeovers, special prices, dinners and events too numerous to list here.
In the August issue, executive wine editor Ray Isle names the best summer value wines. Here, he explains how you can do wrong by those fantastic bottles in a new series called What Not to Do.
1. Artichokes.
Artichokes hate wine. They grow on their little stalks thinking, “I hate wine. Ooh, I hate it. I’m gonna grow here for a while, then I’m gonna go mess up some wine.” The reason they do that is that artichokes have a compound called cynarin in them that basically makes wine taste awful. If you’re dead set on eating artichokes and drinking wine with them, the best option is a light-bodied, unoaked white wine like a Grüner Veltliner from Austria. But you’d be best off with beer: a nice brown ale ought to work just fine.
2. Serve your wine too warm (if it’s red) or too cold (if it’s white).
Warm red wine tastes alcoholic and flabby. Serve reds a little below room temperature and they’re not only more pleasant to drink, but they taste better with food (throw them in the fridge for 30 minutes before you pour them). Icy cold whites don’t taste like anything, so pull them out of the fridge a few minutes before serving.
3. Try to make two stars share the table.
This doesn’t work in Hollywood, and it doesn’t work at your house, either. If you have a truly extraordinary wine to pour, serve it with a simple dish. If you’re spending 15 hours trying to re-create one of Thomas Keller‘s intricate recipes fromThe French Laundry Cookbook, pour something good—but not equally spectacular.
4. Serve oily fish with tannic red wine.
Fish oils react harshly with tannins, so don’t, for instance, serve mackerel with Cabernet—unless you like the taste you get from licking a roll of pennies. With oily fish, skip the reds entirely and go white. Any of the crisp, minerally seaside wines: Albarino from Spain, Vermentino from Italy, Sauvignon Blanc from Chile’s Pacific coast. All of those are good options.
5. Overthink the whole thing.
Really. This is the biggest way to screw up a wine pairing, not because the wine and food will taste bad together, but because you’ll turn yourself into a neurotic mess who makes Woody Allen seem like a Zen buddhist. Most wines can happily live alongside most foods, in a kind of neutral you-go-your-way-and-I’ll-go-mine state. Just stay away from those artichokes.
I find wine pairings very challenging. And beer pairings don’t even cross my mind. But when it is expertly matched with my meal, I remember why I drink beer in the first place. I think carnivores like myself will find this article as useful as vegetarians. We often think to pair our beverage with our meat, but what about the side dishes. –Dani Styles
As written by Jen Murphy for Food & Wine Magazine.
ONIONS– Best with onion rings: a slightly bitter, hoppy pale ale like a Sierra Nevada or Alpha King, the flagship beer from Three Floyds Brewing Co. in Munster, Indiana.
ROOT VEGETABLES– They’re sweet, so they go well with a beer that also has notes of caramel. Try pairing with an American porter, such as Avery Brewing’s New World Porter.
WILD MUSHROOMS– An aggressively hoppy, malty beer with a bitter kick—an American strong ale like Stone Brewing’s Arrogant Bastard—pairs with the umami flavors in mushrooms.
TOMATOES– An amber ale such as Ballast Point Calico has rich flavors and a smooth finish—just right for acidic vegetables like tomatoes.
I find wine pairings daunting, so I’m always grateful for tips. I often think about pairing my wine with my meat, but pairing based on the vegetable makes perfect sense. I thought these were so easy to remember that I had to share them. Bookmark this and refer to them next time you’re entertaining. –Dani Styles
As written by Ray Isle for Food & Wine Magazine.
Pairing red wine with vegetables can be tricky. Here, five fantastic combinations.
- Tomatoes, which are acidic, will taste better with a relatively acidic red, like a Sangiovese.
- Pair dark, leafy greens like spinach or chard with light reds such as Gamay; greens make full-bodied reds too astringent.
- Match mushrooms, lentils, miso and other earthy ingredients with an earthy red like Pinot Noir.
- Tannins intensify heat, so for dishes with hot chiles, pour soft, fruity reds like Zinfandel.
- Protein-rich vegetarian dishes (with cheese, for instance) often stand up to tannic reds like Syrah.
I arrived a little late for dinner thanks to the hideous traffic on 75/85 headed north. I’d visited the Bottle Bar before, but was turned away because a friend was “dressed inappropriately”. That night we managed to steal our own vehicle from the valet due to crowd confusion, which turned me off completely. So this time I opted to self-park for $5 across the street.
The
y were running “fifteen minutes behind on reservations” which gave me the opportunity to watch the Hawks beat the Celtics from the bar. I also had the opportunity to take in the décor and details. I found it lovely. The patrons were well-dressed and clearly “sauced”. After waiting 40 minutes for our 10pm reservation to be honored, we were seated along the back wall between a large party of rambunctious hipster-fashionistas and an aging couple enjoying their date night (aka full-on making out at the table).
We started with a “good” bottle of wine. To be clear: the menu highlights wine specials at decided price points, like “good” ($15), “better” ($24) and “best” ($30). A tasty new world Sauvignon Blanc from Napa Valley did the trick to loosen us up.
After examining the menu and asking a few questions we realized that the appetizers were tiny and not enough to even whet the palate. Not to mention the small plates were not available. So we went for entrees. I ordered the lamb burger and BFF had the salmon.
At that point, the music seemed to get louder and louder while the lights got dimmer and dimmer—making it more like club than a restaurant. The TVs that had showed the game before, were now showing music videos that corresponded with the DJ’s mix of house and hip-hop. More and more people gathered in the middle to dance, providing lots of entertainment while we waited for our food.
I ordered the lamb burger with tomatoes and goat cheese. But it was more like the goat cheese came with a side of lamb. I ended up scraping some of the creamy cheese off and eating the patty open-faced. The grilled salmon w/ garganelli pasta and clam sauce was more like a bland clam broth over pasta with bite of bland salmon. It just didn’t really work for us. I was pleased with the lamb burger after trying the pasta.
After eating, the two parties around us left and were replaced by celebrity entourages. Big Poppa (best known as the elusive married lover of a “Real Housewives of Atlanta”) and Zaza Pachulia (BBB owner and Atlanta Hawks Center) were gawked at by fans and groupies. That was our cue to leave.
All in all, I enjoyed the bar scene before the 11pm switch to club mode. And the lively crowd makes it a great place to gather with friends. But I’m not sure about the food. I’d be curious to try the small plate menu one day.
As you guys know, I love a good cocktail. And anything with the word Royale on the end is RIGHT up my alley! Here is a recipe I found that I think you’ll enjoy. I know I will!
