Mouthing Off

Starchefs.com has just released the stellar lineup for its International Chefs Congress taking place later this month in New York City's Park Avenue Armory with, amusingly (oddly?) enough, a catalog featuring two underwear-clad, cut-out chef paper dolls. But the humor doesn't stop there. Among the talks and workshops led by some of the food world's most talented personalities, two get the prize for most creative name: "Voulez-vous sous vide avec moi (ce soir)"? (Paul Liebrandt at the soon-to-open Corton) and "Gin... The Other White Meat" (Audrey Saunders at Pegu Club).

When life gives you lemons, make... limoncello? That's what the bartenders over at Flatbush Farm & Bar(n) in Brooklyn are doing, anyway. When I recently went to celebrate a friend's birthday, the bartender sent her a mystery drink that was all lemony smoothness, mixed with lemon rind-infused vodka, Prosecco and a hint of St-Germain, an elderflower-based liqueur. Here, some more refreshing limoncello cocktails that will help you weather the mid-August swelter:

Citron Shake: A spin on the White Lady cocktail that Harry MacElhone served at Harry's New York Bar in Paris in 1929. Limoncello replaces Cointreau.

Limoncello Collins: The characters in my favorite J.D. Salinger novella, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters, cool off with gin-based Tom Collins. Consider this drink a Tom Collins lite, with less gin, more limoncello. 

Smith & Thomas: Bartender Regan Smith and bar manager Curt Thomas of Emeril's Atlanta created this limoncello-and-black-tea cocktail for a party in honor of local celebrity Tom Houck, who was Martin Luther King, Jr.'s driver.

Bitter Queen: From the Martini Bar at the Raleigh Hotel in Miami, this drink, with equal parts Campari and limoncello, rightly lives up to its name.  

Pink Panther: This limoncello-spiked twist on the Sea Breeze, served at Delmar Restaurant & Lounge in St. Louis, gets its pink hue from fresh red grapefruit juice.

Boston’s South End keeps getting hipper. Every time I return to the charming neighborhood in my college town, I discover new chocolate shops, design stores and restaurants.

Last weekend I was in the city for the Red Sox game (and Celtics celebration), and even though I was craving a Fenway frank, I made time to swing by the much-buzzed-about South End restaurant the Beehive. The space and concept were inspired by and named for a 1920s artists’ residence in the Montparnasse district of Paris, and the downstairs truly feels like an artist’s studio, with live music performances and local art hanging on the walls. Despite the fabulously designed interiors, my friends and I were lured outdoors to a patio table because we wanted to try the new “urban picnic” menu.

My friends and I were handed a list of about a dozen simple yet delicious-sounding items, and after much back and forth, we checked off the Sicilian tuna with artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes, Manchego cheese with honey, tuna tartare and seasonal red cherries. Within minutes, our server dropped an oversize picnic basket on our table. Tucked inside were adorable glass jars containing each of our dishes, along with two butcher-paper-wrapped French baguettes. After a round of Beehive juleps (made with two rums and a drop of honey) arrived, we passed around jars, taking forkfuls from each and battling for the last scoops of our favorites (there aren’t plates, so things got a little messy, which was part of the fun). It was the perfect prelude to a game—satisfying, yet not so overwhelming that I couldn't make room for my ballpark dog by the sixth inning.

I can think of a dozen reasons why Bruichladdich (pronounced brook-LADDIE) is the most exciting distillery in Scotland. For starters, it’s one of only two independent distilleries left in the country (and the only one on Islay, where it’s helping to revitalize the local economy). Secondly, it’s shaking up the Scotch industry, creating a huge portfolio of lightly peated, floral Scotches that challenge the idea of regional styles and traditional distillation techniques. Thirdly, it’s reinventing the idea of barrel-aging: Head distiller Jim McEwan (who spent 40 years at Bowmore before helping Bruichladdich CEO Mark Reynier relaunch the shuttered brand in 2001) has created a system he calls “Additional Cask Evolution” (ACE), wherein he finishes his Scotches in select barrels from the world’s top wineries, including Chateau d’Yquem, Chateau Haut-Brion, Gaja, Ridge and Guigal. These barrels add a completely different body and flavor profile than traditional bourbon and port casks do, making Bruichladdich’s bottlings unlike anything the Scotch world has tasted before.

And now Bruichladdich is applying its ACE program to, of all things, rum. I recently had my first taste of its Renegade Rum at Manhattan’s Elletaria restaurant,  and the stuff is as aberrant as its whiskey. Reynier had the idea to produce the rum a few years back, when he noticed certain disheartening parallels between the rum and whiskey industries: Both are dominated by a few enormous companies with deep marketing pockets and a penchant for blending and consistency. Reynier picked out a few select barrels from the Caribbean’s oldest, family-owned distilleries (some now defunct) and shipped the rum back to Scotland, where McEwan ACE’d them in ex-d’Yquem and Latour barrels, among other things. I tasted all four of the mind-blowing, limited-edition rums in Renegade’s current rotation: an earthy 15-year-old Jamaican rum finished in ex-Latour barrels; a clean, fruity 10-year-old port-finished Panama Rum; and two rums from Guyana, one a robust 12-year-old ACE’d in d’Yquem oak and the other a lighter, fruitier 16-year-old enriched by Madeira casks.

The rums run from $80 to $110, which is pretty reasonable, given their cult status. Look for them online at K&L Wines, Morrell and Garnet.

My super plugged-in colleague Kate Krader is usually the one name-dropping celebrities and rock stars but this weekend I found myself uncharacteristically star-struck while out in Montauk, probably the least celebrity-filled town in the Hamptons.

I was there to volunteer at the second annual Beach Rescue Mission sponsored by the Surfrider Foundation and Barefoot Wine.  Picking up garbage alongside me at Ditch Plains – Montauk’s best surfing beach - was the much-buzzed-about-of-late singer/songwriter Tristan Prettyman and nearly 200 other surfers and eco-crusaders. Surfrider and Barefoot Wine thanked all of us do-gooders by throwing a killer after-party at the newly opened Second House Tavern with unlimited wine (The new Barefoot Moscato could not be restocked quickly enough!) and incredible performances from Tristan and headliner Garrett Dunton – better known as, G. Love from the eclectic hip-hop,funk, psychedelica, blues trio G. Love & Special Sauce.

The night before I was hanging with G. Love at the much-hyped (all of it well deserved) Surf Lodge where Sam Talbot, a fan favorite from season two of Bravo’s Top Chef, is serving serious, summer-style food in a space that’s a total throw-back to 70’s surf culture and Bruce Brown’s iconic Endless Summer movie. G. Love, surprised me with his sophisticated palate (his mom’s a cooking instructor and his sister works for wine importer Daniel Johnnes) and we shared notes on our meals: sweet corn, peeky toe crab salad got a major flavor boost from the brilliant addition of marinated nectarines; lobster rolls were untraditionally served on hamburger buns, making them less messy to devour; and striped bass prepared in an herb and roasted garlic broth was light, yet insanely flavorful.

The Surf Lodge’s excellent food, super laid-back vibe, lakeside bonfire and 3,000 square-foot deck drew our group back for an after, after party Saturday night which went into the late hours with dancing and endless, Endless Summer cocktails (a dangerously delicious concoction that mixes Snow Queen vodka, Chardonnay, seedless red grapes, simple syrup and fresh lemon juice). G. Love summed up the weekend best saying: “We cleaned the beach, we drank some wine and we rocked out in Montauk.”

When you break it down, America’s two greatest contributions to the culinary universe are barbecue and cocktails (buffalo wings finish a distant third). On this patriotic weekend, I plan on celebrating both, with a pile of pulled pork (from our June 2008 issue) and this spunky drink made with applejack, the original American spirit, which I’ve turned into a pork-friendly pitcher drink.

Big-Batch Applejack Cocktail
Makes 8 drinks

Ice
2 cups applejack
1/4 ounce Rich Simple Syrup
1/2 ounce Angostura bitters
8 lemon twists, for garnish

Fill a pitcher with ice. Add all of the ingredients except the lemon twist and stir for 30 seconds, until chilled. Strain into chilled martini glasses and garnish each drink with a lemon twist.