In the summer of 2011 Mark & I were approached about by the team from Providence’s Cook & Brown Public House with a bold idea–a bitters dinner, with dishes paired to cocktails and very specifically to the bitters therein–our bitters. Flattered is too weak a word for how we felt when these James Beard award winning restauranteurs proved to be not just serious about it the concept, but inspired and pretty damn brilliant in its execution. Chef Nemo Bolin, General manager Scott Pinocci and Bar Manager Jennifer Ferreira worked together to create dishes and cocktails that resonated with one another. On a rainy, blustery night in November Mark & I took a train up to Providence and joined them for the event. Wisely, I think, they went with wine pairings for the sit-down portion of the evening, keeping the cocktail pairings to the actual cocktail hour, with lovely passed hors d’oeuvres. (Continuing with cocktails through dinner can be problematic, as anyone who has sat through the all-booze Spirited Dinners at Tales Of The Cocktail can attest. The wines from Frederick Wildman were a much savvier dining accompaniment.) My favorite duo was the crisp pork belly with pickled sunchoke & pineapple paired with a Smoked Pineapple Swizzle, using some of our as-yet-unreleased Smoky Charred Pineapple Bitters, then still in their demo phase (look for them in late March.) But they were all smashing. In between courses Nemo and Mark took turns speaking to the guests. Mark detailed some of the nuances of each bitters, and Nemo discussed how he used the bitters in dishes, and how he also took inspiration from and worked with many of the botanicals in the bitters. We’d given him a list of almost all of the ingredients in our base, and sworn him to secrecy.
The results were pretty astonishing–the menu at the bottom of the page should make that clear. And the cocktails were spot-on. When we learned this week that Cook & Brown had received a nomination for Outstanding Bar Program we weren’t surprised. Jason Rowan
Jenny behind the stick, making bitters magic.
Jennifer’s cocktails.
PUNCH
2 oz Nero d’avola wine
1 oz Batavia arrack
3/4 orange juice
1 brown sugar cube
2 dashes black mission fig bitters
SPARKLER
1 1/2 oz gin
1/2 lemon
1/2 ginger syrup
2 dashes Meyer lemon bitters
SRIRACHA BITTERS DRINK
2 oz mezcal
3/4 lime
1/2 simple
1/4 Cointreau
1 egg white
2 dashes Sriracha bitters
APPLE CIDER COCKTAIL
2 oz calvados
1/2 black tea simple
2 dashes apple cider bitters.
Below, the complete menu with wine pairings. Click twice to enlarge. Mouth watering may result.
Chef Nemo prepares.
