The Spirit World

We recently partnered with one of the best restaurants in the Chicago area to offer a cocktail and food pairing dinner. Only a few places here are doing anything with cocktail pairings - it’s a very new concept for most people. Given the movement toward culinary cocktails and artistry in beverages, we hoped to show what can happen when a great chef partners with a great mixologist.

Aside from my exploits at home, no one in the room had ever attempted pairing cocktails with food, but all were excited at the prospect. Here’s a sampling of the pairings (this was a big tasting menu):

Food: Wild kind salmon combination, with housemade gravlax (done in a gin-based brine), and warm olive oil poached
Cocktail: Gimlet, made with fresh lime juice
Notes: The gravlax in particular was fantastic with the cocktail, it accentuated the gin’s spice in the drink, and the lime helped balance the heaviness of the oil on the poached salmon

Food: Roasted pork loin and fresh ham, with woodgrilled porcini mushrooms, arugula and olives
Cocktail: Dirty martini with house cured olives
Notes: This was the favorite pairing of several in the room, with the two savory components accentuating the other’s flavors. The touch of olives with the pork helped bring them together, but the other flavors in each allowed for great contrasts as well.

Food: Raw milk caraway Gouda, housemade rye bread, candied ginger
Cocktail: Gingervit (aquavit, ginger-infused syrup, orange bitters and soda)
Notes: This was the other favorite, with each of the elements in the food highlighting components of the drink, creating an amazing taste together.

The Finale
Food: Rhubarb and frangipane tart, with mascarpone sabayon and roasted marcona almonds
Cocktail: Strawberries and cream martini, with a hint of hazelnut (in a nut-crusted rim, and not sweetened beyond the strawberry puree)
Notes: The fact that the drink wasn’t that sweet really made this pairing work. The tart was incredibly rich and creamy, but not that sweet, and the acidity of the drink really cut through the tart’s richness.

All in all, a fantastic evening of great food & cocktails. The feedback was amazingly positive, and everyone enjoyed it even more than they had expected.

Anyone else have a fun food & cocktail pairing story to share?

Note: pictures are from other pairing dinners I’ve attended, unfortunately I forgot to take my camera to this one!