The Restaurant Guys

Stony Hill Wine Dinner

Stony Hill Wines of Napa

Don't Miss This Dinner - First Time in NJ!

The Older Vintages Alone are Worth Coming For!

Friday May 11  8 PM

Fred and Eleanor McRea - Old Vines

 

You may not have ever heard of Stony Hill.  But you come to us to bring you new things and The Best of The Best.  Like we first brought Paul Hobbs into NJ and George Hendry and David O'Reilly, the list goes on and on. 

 

Now, we're presenting you (VERY enthusiastically) Stony Hill.  They've been around for a long time (providing some of the oldest vines in California), but still a lot of people don't know about them.  Stony Hill is the sommelier's secret weapon: Cabernet, Chardonnay, Riesling TO DIE FOR. 

 

Nobody knows about this vineyard and it just kills me!!! They're some of the best AND most age-worthy wines in THE ENTIRE NEW WORLD!  And we're going to taste some old ones!

 

Sara McRea will bring her family's whole range of wines, including library selections dating back 15-years.  

 

Friday, May 11 at 8PM  See the menu here. 

Make reservations: 732-88-4444 or JAlexHall@stagleft.com.  

$139 Plus Tax and Service.

 

Don't miss this very rare opportunity!

Mint Julep

This Week's Cocktail

 

The Mint Julep

Bourbon, Mint, Sugar, Ice

 

 

Is there anything really better than a Mint Julep in the summer time?  Is there a better time of year to have the first Mint Juleps of the summer than Derby Weekend?   We think not.   All weekend, we'll be featuring Mint Juleps with the Bourbon of your choice (from our extensive list), for 1/3 off the price of the Bourbon.

 

Bourbons
Hirsch 20 Year
Ridgmont Reserve 1792   
Labrot & Graham "Woodford Reserve"    
Baker's 7 Year    
Basil Hayden's 8 Year         
Blanton's   
Booker's 7 Year    

Bulleit   
Elmer T. Lee   
Evan Williams   
Evan Williams "Single Barrel"   

Ezra Brooks   
Knob Creek "Single Barrel" 9 Year   
Knob Creek "Small Batch" 9 Year    

Maker's Mark   
Maker's Mark 46   
Old Grand Dad   
Rock Hill Farms   
Russells 10 Year  
Willet Family Pot Stilled (My New Favorite)

Wild Turkey

 

This will be available Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  We will pass hors d'oeuvres Friday until 9 PM.

If you want to come watch The Derby with us on Saturday, the Catherine Lombardi Bar will open at 3 and the race will be on the television at 5.  I hope you can join us.

Bunnahabhain "Scott's Selection" 1988 16-Year Scotch Whisky

The Spirits Project at Catherine Lombardi will feature

Bunnahabhain "Scott's Selection" 1988 16-Year Scotch Whisky

Suggested Retail Price is $149.  We will pour one ounce for $5

We’ve got quite a special bottle for this week’s Spirits Project.  

Robert Scott has been immersed in the Scotch Whisky trade since he left school at the age of 16. Starting first as a distillery worker responsible for cleaning the stills, he rose steadily through the ranks.  By the time he had reached his 32nd birthday, he had become one of the most respected "nosers" of Scotch Whiskies.

In the 1970s he was appointed Master Distiller of The Speyside Distillery, a position he held in the finest traditions of this ancient craft until retirement beckoned. Prior to caring full time for his garden in Glasgow, Robert was, however, given one final assignment: to create a personal selection of his favorite single malt whiskies. Thus Scott's Selection was born.

The selection criteria are drastic, from the choice of the malt to the optimal maturation time for each cask. The aim of this collection is to bottle whiskies as close as possible from their original taste in the cask. The whiskies are not chill-filtered. The malts are not diluted. All the whiskies from this selection are bottled at cask strength.

 

Paul Virant

Paul Virant

Author, The Preservation Kitchen: The Craft of Making and Cooking with Pickles, Preserves, and Aigre-doux

Mark and Francis discuss their recent trip to DeBragga and Spitler and what they learned about aging meat. Their guest is Michelin-starred chef, Paul Virant, author of the new book The Preservation Kitchen: The Craft of Making and Cooking with Pickles, Preserves, and Aigre-doux. They discuss putting up fruits and vegetables for both restaurant and home use and how you can can safely at home.

Listen Here!

The Livingston Avenue Cocktail

The Livingston Avenue Cocktail

Bonded Apple Brandy, Bourbon, Passion Fruit Wine, Pineapple

 

The Avenue Cocktail appears in the old Café Royal Cocktail Book, published by the UK Bartender’s Guild in 1937. It calls for a passion fruit syrup. We've twisted it a bit with passion fruit wine (truly fermented passion fruit juice) and good old Laird's Apple Brandy stands in for Calvados. 

 

Tonight, we will pour Livingston Avenue Cocktails for $9.  We will pass hors d'oeuvres until 9 PM.  The most tasteful cocktail enthusiasts of The Garden State will be in attendance, as is their custom.  I hope you can join us.

Dalmore "Amaroso" 1981 Scotch Whisky

 

The Spirits Project at Catherine Lombardi will feature

The Dalmore "Amoroso" 1981 Scotch Whisky

Suggested Retail Price is $1,000.  We will pour one ounce for $32

We’ve got quite a special bottle for this week’s Spirits Project.  

The Dalmore Distillery has been producing exceptional single malt whisky since 1839. For almost a century, it was owned by the Clan Mackenzie. The stag antlers that adorn the bottle are taken from the Mackenzie family crest.

Dalmore is located on the northern shores of the Firth of Cromarty, deep in The Highlands. The waters are from Loch Morie, high in the hills overlooking the distillery. The barley is from the rich coastal soils of The Black Isle. Dalmore is situated at sea level and hard by the water.  The distillers believe this affects the aging of whisky in their particular tiny little corner of the world and makes it singular.

This 1981 single-cask bottling spent 26 years in American white oak bourbon barrels, followed by a short, intense period in Amoroso sherry casks from Gonzalez Byass in Jerez de la Frontera.  It numbers just 484 bottles. 

Come share a glass. 

Stage Left 20th Anniversary Dinner

Our 20th Anniversary

The Great Chefs of Stage Left Dinner

 

On May 22, 1992, Lou, Mark and Francis opened Stage Left Restaurant on a not-yet-revitalized street corner in downtown New Brunswick.

 

 

On Friday May 18, 2012, we will host a special anniversary dinner in Stage Left, with some wonderful chefs with whom we have had the great privilege work.  Each of these chefs made their mark here and we're so very grateful to have each of them back for one night of celebration.   Won't you join us?

 

Along with our wonderful current Chef J.R. Belt, Chef Anthony Bucco, Chef Patrick Yves Pierre-Jerome and Chef Eric Martin will join us.  Chef Bryan Mack, who was the long-time maitre d' of Stage Left, has gone on to be Chef and Manager in his own right.  He was our pastry chef long ago and he will oversee dessert.

 

Hors d'Oeuvres at 7 PM

 

We will then sit to Lobster Wontons by Eric Martin

 

Followed by Pulled Duck and Foie Gras Ravioli by Patrick Yves Pierre-Jerome

 

Black Trumpets and Tuna Loin with English Pea Puree and Pea Tendrils

by Anthony Bucco

 

A Duo of Aged Wagyu Strip Loin and 48-Hour Short Ribs with Gingered Carrots by JR Belt

 

and finally, Dark Chocolate Mille-Feuille with Hazelnut Mousse, Mocha Pot de Creme and Chocolate Cardamom Ice Cream by Bryan Mack

 

Dinner is \$79, not including beverage, tax or service. 

Make reservations: JAlexHall@stageleft.com or 732-828-4444

Stony Hill Wine Dinner

Stony Hill Wines of Napa

Wine Dinner, Friday May 11  8 PM

Fred and Eleanor McRea - Old Vines Chardonnay

 

One of THE FIRST wineries of the modern era to plant high quality, dry-farmed, mountainside chardonnay vineyard and began making super high-integrity, age-worthy wines 30 years before California chardonnay was fashionable. 

 

Sara McRea will bring her family's whole range of wines, including cabernet sauvignon, riesling, a fantastic late-harvest semillon and an amazing vertical tasting of their one-of-a-kind chardonnay dating back 15-years.  Don't miss it! 

 

Friday, May 11 at 8PM

Hors d'Oeuvres
White Riesling 2010
Gewurztraminer 2009

Sea Bream with Spring Vegetable Pistou & Spring Peas
Chardonnay 2007

Breast of Poussin & Morels, Rolled and Stuffed with Pistachio Mousse
Chardonnays 2004 and the 1997

Roasted Suckling Pig with Rosemary and Sage
Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

Sabayon with Black Mission Fig and Chestnut Honey
Semillon de Soleil “Late Harvest” 2009

The Monk on a Motorbike

The Monk On A Motorbike

Benedictine, Cointreau, Lemon

 

The sidecar is a well-known cocktail based in Cognac.  The legend of its naming has to do with a military man on a motorcycle.  Bartender James Hanly is responsible this particular variation.  It's an unlikely substitution of Benedictine for Cognac.   Now Benedictine and brandy go famously together, but I would never have considered swapping one for the other. 

 

It works though, and very well!  The herbaceous notes of the Benedictine dance on the lemon and add complexity and depth; while the lemon and Cointreau enliven the liquor.  Served in a sugar-rimmed glass, it's a delight. 

 

As the Benedictine Liqueur was originally made by the monks of that order, and the drink is a rather simple derivation of a sidecar, we have dubbed James' cocktail Monk on a Motorbike.  I was able to find several pictures of such a thing online; however, it seems most monks who actually ride on motorbikes are Tibetan.  If you can find a picture of a European monk (or ideally a Benedictine monk) on a motorbike, please do forward it to me.

 

Friday, we will pour Monks on Motorbikes for \$9.  We will pass hors d'oeuvres until 9 PM.  The most tasteful cocktail enthusiasts of The Garden State will be in attendance, as is their custom.  I hope you can join us.

Glenfiddich 30-Year-Old Speyside Scotch Whisky

 

This Thursday, April 19 - The Spirits Project at Catherine Lombardi will feature

Glenfiddich 30-Year-Old Speyside Scotch Whisky

Suggested Retail Price is \$325.  We will pour one ounce for \$12

 

In 1887, William Grant purchased a small, unspoiled field, hard by the River Fiddich.  There he founded the Glenfiddich (Gaelic for "Valley of The Deer") Distillery.  I don't really need to go into the quality and pedigree of the whisky that's been coming out of said distillery since that time. 

I would, however, like to put into perspective, the history of this bottle No. 5134 of batch No. 00027 of this particular 30 - Year we'll be pouring Thursday night.   It ran off the copper pot still when a farmer in China stumbled across 8,000 terra cotta warriors buried under his field.  It was put into cask as the first oversized mobile phones appeared on city streets and Stephen Hawking developed his theory of black holes.  It was rolled from the filling house into the warehouse as Darth Vader, Han Solo and The Bee Gees arrived on the scene.  As it was lifted onto its pyramid of casks, Apple launched its first computer: The Apple 1. Microsoft was using DOS.  As the warehouse doors were closed and double locked, the Sony Walkman made its first appearance. 

--Time Perspective from William Grant & Sons