mixology

Best Sushi I Ever Had

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MC & I meet up with one of her cousins and his girlfriend and went to Sushi Nakazawa.  I have wanted to go since MC pointed out an article about the place was opening.  She knew I liked the Jiro Dreams of Sushi documentary and highlighted the connection.  The problem was we never got reservations, until today.

Reservations were late so MC and I went back  to Employees Only for a drink first.  It was nearby so we figured we would try it again.  We were lucky and it wasn’t too crowded.  We got seats at the bar.  I had two delicious Whiskey Smash’s.  I would drink more of them if they weren’t as time intensive to make myself.  MC was more adventurous and picked something interesting off the menu.  For round two she let our awesome bartender pick something out for her.  Both drinks were good however I still loved the Whiskey Smash.  After drinks we walked over to Sushi Nakazawa.

Dinner was better than expected and that is saying a lot since we had high hopes.  By far the best sushi experience I have ever had.  I opted for the Sake pairing to go along with the dinner.  It was a good choice.  MC opted for wine however there was enough Sake tasting to go around.  Dinner was a big splurge however totally worth it.

I will try not to discuss the piece of cake and two cup cakes I may or may not have had at Magnolia bakery afterwards.

Overall a fantastic evening.  The only downside would be the Uber fail.  I tried Uber for the first time and the driver canceled on me before they could pick us up.  Ended up being less of an issue since the Subway showed up quick.  I will give Uber another try at some point.  Hoping they are more reliable than one Friday late night instance cancelation.

One of The Best Meals I Have Ever Had

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Jean Georges Anniversary Dinner

Even before MC and I were married we became fan’s of fine dining every once in a while.  I don’t consider us foodies (yet) but we do like to go out and enjoy a good meal.  We have been watching Top Chef for a while and have sampled a few places in NYC from famous chef’s.  We went to Craft for our first anniversary.  Late last year we went to a restaurant run by one of the Top Chef winners, Hung.

Inevitably we don’t get out as much as we would like to.  This year for our 3rd anniversary we wanted to go somewhere nice.  Last year Amelia was only home from the hospital a week and we were lucky enough for MC’s parents to be around to let us go out to somewhere in the neighborhood.  It was a great meal but nothing too fancy.  This year we planned at the last minute so finding a nice place was a challenge.  Instead of looking for a place associated by someone on Top Chef we looked at the Michelin starred restaurants in NYC.  After some trying we were able to get reservations at Jean Georges.  it is one of a handful of 3 star Michelin restaurants in the US. Last year for restaurant week we went to the bar or whatever they call the more casual part of Jean Georges but this time we went to the full dining room.

MC was running late due to train issues, so I hung out at the bar till she arrived. I tried an Old Fashoned. I wasn’t a fan. It is the 2nd one that i didn’t like so i think i am just not a fan of the drink so i will stop trying to make it at home. I swithed to my favorate Sidecar when we got to our table. We both opted for the 3 course menu. Everything was fantastic. I think MC said her secound course was the single best bite of food that she has had. It was that good. It may have arguably been the best meal i have ever had. If not the best it is in the top 5. I paid extra for the beef 3rd course. It was delicious but if we ever went back I would try for something different. Suprisingly the least favorate course for me was my 2nd course of Foie Gras. It was good but MC and I both thought it wasn’t spectacular.

Desert was fantastic. We each went with the chocolate option. They do themes for desert so we had the option of winter, chocolate, carmel, or i think orange or lemon. Neither of us could agree on who would do chocolate and who would get carmel so we both got the chocolate. We also got a little chocolate cake for our anniversary. I was glad to mention that we were celebrating when they asked when we sat down.

Overall we had a fantastic night. Jean Georges also was the single most expensive dinner I can remember spending money on but it was worth every penny. We are now thinking of what we want to do for our next nice night out. That wont be till my birthday at minimum but we want to plan this time. I think we are both thinking of going to Le Bernardin. We both want to go but we haven’t been able to get reservations, so next time we need to plan ahead.

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The Manhattan Part 2

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Tonight was my 2nd attempt at mixing up Manhattan’s. This time around was also a success too. I didn’t drink all of it just because it was a lot to drink for a Monday night. I had enough to know that I have the recipe down to move on to my next drink.

I am not sure what I am going to try next. I made one Old Fashioned last week. According to my own standards I made up last week I want to do at least two rounds (one for MC & I each) so a total of 4 drinks to be comfortable to move on to the next one. Besides the Old Fashioned I have a total of 10 other drinks I have that I want to try mixing up. 4 of them are summery ones so I have 6 to try before I will look at variations. So far this hobby has been pretty fun, although it can cost a lot in money and calories.

Taking a break from my hobby for a day

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Tonight I am taking the day off from my mixology hobby I have adopted. MC and I are both trying to fight colds and the last two days of tasting my concoctions are likely not the greatest thing for my throat. I hope to resume my experimenting with the Whiskey smash tomorrow night.

The Whiskey Smash Take Two

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After my failed attempt at the Whiskey Smash last night I was determined to get the correct ingredients and try again. I searched around the internet and got several different recipies but settled on one that seemed to be one of the classic versions. I was missing simple syrup but learned how easy it was to make it. I also needed fresh lemon. A quick trip to the grocery store on our walk this afternoon got me everything i needed to try again.

With all the right ingredients and a video on Youtube I was ready to go. The preperation of this drink required a bit more effort than just mixing stuff up for the sidecar or the martini. I wouldn’t say it was hard but it was the most challanging drink i have had to make so far. Once done the first taste proved the effort was worth it. With the new recipe I got it right on the first attempt. MC confirmed it was good. She is fighting a cold so opted to pass on her own drink. I should have not even been making drinks yesterday or today because I was sick with a cold but I was feeling much better than I was feeling yesterday morning so I drank my creation. It was good. It wasn’t alot of drink. To make it the size of a drink in a bar I need to double the recipe but that would be alot of alcohol. I am pretty buzzed writting this post now so I don’t think I could have handled a double portion.

I wanted to take a picture of my creation but even with the mint for garnish it didn’t look as nice as the sidecar so no picture. I am still trying to figure out why they say to slap the mint on my arm before putting it in the drink. Either way the verdict is delicious.

I need to make this a few more times in the next week or so (I have a ton of mind I need to use) to be sure I mastered the recipe and then it is on to my next challange. I still need to figure out what that will be. I want to make Manhattan’s but I am not sure if that is going to be next or something else.

The Whiskey Smash

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Tonight I moved on from the Sidecar to my 3rd drink in my quest to have a new hobby.  I tried to make the Whiskey Smash. Over the past year and a half we have had it several times and loved it each time we drank it. I thought it was appropriate for it to be my follow on drink after mastering the Sidecar. It took a while for me to get ready for this one since I needed to remember to order fresh mint. Today we had a Freshdirect delivery and i remembered to order mint. The preperation was a bit more complex than the Sidecar. There was one failed attempt that i threw out, but the 2nd drink made it to completion. The problem was it didn’t taste right so I made another one. That one still didn’t taste right either. I had to confer with the internet. My research told me that the Mixology app had one recipe but it wasn’t the classic one that I likely had drank previously. WIth Mixology failing me I had to call it a night since I didn’t have fresh Lemon’s to try a different recipe. One the plus side I learned what muddleing means and what simple syrup is so I am growing as a want to be Mixologist. Is that what people call themselfs these days?

I reverted back to making two Sidecar’s as our evening cocktails. I got very worried when I ran out of Triple Sec in the middle of the 2nd drink. I was only short a bit and the drink still turned out ok. That will need to get restocked tomorrow.

My New Hobby

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A few weeks ago I decided to pick a hobby. I liked that MC has been enjoying cooking and baking and I wanted something i could do. After going to one of MC’s friends houses while on vacation and seeing their awesome bar and his ability to mix up drinks I settled on learning to make more cocktails. My first drink was something i tried before but hadn’t perfected. It was the Chocolate Martini. I wanted to do a Manhattan but I didn’t have all the ingredients. Initial results over the several days I was making them for MC & I were very positive.

This weekend I worked on my second drink. This time i selected the Side Car. It is one of my favorite cocktails. Many places MC and I goto do not get it right or have no idea what we are talking about when we ask for it. I figured I would be complex so I said challenge accepted. After my research on it I realized it is a classic drink that is not as popular as it was in the 1940’s. That explained why most bartenders don’t know it off the top of their head. The good ones look at us funny when we tell them that others don’t know how to make it.

For the Sidecar I needed to buy Cognac and more lemon juice. The first prototype was good but MC thought it was too lemony. I made some adjustments with more Cognac and less lemon and that was ok but not perfect. It wasn’t until Saturday night were I tweaked the recipe with less lemon juice and more triple sec that we were happy. I was surprised at how easy it was to do with very little practice. Now we can have our favorite cocktail anytime.

I now have to figure out what will my next drink challenge be.