Month: January 2013

While we’re pretty sure they aren’t talking about the weather, we’re thrilled to be among The 50 Coolest Places in NYC Right Now as enumerated by Complex.com. We’re booking parties, holding food cookoffs and generally making merry with our backroom, which will go through major improvements in 2013. So, thanks to the folks at Complex for recognizing our back room! (Read the article here.)

This week’s Thursday Tap™ is a rare cask from Great Britain’s Thornbridge Brewery. Thornbridge focuses on cask beers that use traditional recipes with a modern twist provided through the use of a wide range of hops, malts and the innovation and passion of their brewing team. Thornbridge Halcyon is a 7.4% ABV Imperial IPA with a well balanced bitterness, fruit flavors and intense hoppiness.

Jimmy will be tapping at 5 p.m. with regular bar/restaurant/oyster service available.

If you skipped Jimmy’s No. 43 this weekend, you missed a lot. A lot of yummy cassoulet, that is! We had another amazing turnout for Sunday’s Fifth Annual Cassoulet Cookoff, where—for the first time in memory (and we admit our memory is not what it once was)—both the people’s choice and judges’ awards went to an amateur chef: Laura Luciano (Out East Foodie) from Long Island who wowed with her traditional cassoulet that included Crescent Duck Farm fowl plus Flying Pigs Farm pork, Koppert Cress Microgreens and cognac!

Ten chefs participated in the cookoff, with dishes that ran the gamut from BBQ baked beans to vegetarian to a fabada asturniana made with Spanish cider! All were delicious, but a few stood out from the rest. Awards went as follows:

People’s Choice

• 2nd place – Rich Pinto, f/o of Jimmy’s No. 43, who surprised with a vegetarian option that included carrots and parsnips.
• 1st place – Laura Luciano’s Douglas Corwin’s Crescent Duck Farm-inspired Long Island Cassoulet.

Judges’ Awards

• Honorable mentions – to Rich Pinto, and to Jessica Agullo’s Iberian Fabada Asturniana with Morcilla (blood sausage), chorizo, pork shoulder and bacon (steeped in cider).
• 3rd place – to Matt Knoff, who served up Julia Child’s famous cassoulet.
• 2nd place – to Jimmy’s No. 43 chef Michael, whose Ecuadoran take on cassoulet brought a bit of spice to the scene.
• 1st place – Laura Luciano’s Douglas Corwin’s Crescent Duck Farm-inspired Long Island Cassoulet.

While we come for the cassoulet, we’re there for the charity. The event raised over $2,000 for Grow NYC’s youth program, Learn It, Grow It, Eat It. Jimmy’s No. 43 was happy to learn that our fundraising effort will underwrite 15 Bronx teens in this summer’s program.

Finally, we thank our amazing judges: Matt Timms, Jackie Gordon, Kathy Blake, Margaret Chan, Nancy Motsumoto and Amy Zavato. More press coverage can be found here and here. As an added bonus, the Cassoulet Cookoff was taped by French videographer Malo Delarue of Keep In News. Look for a link, soon.

We’re living la vie folle with the addition of cassoulet to the menu. Starting today, we’ll have menu options that include varieties of this quintessential French country dish, which has become an integral part to January at Jimmy’s No. 43. Pair your cassoulet with an amazing French beer or bottle of wine. We have an extensive list that will transport you to the land of the Rhone and Seine Rivers.

We’ll also have several very special events (regular bar/restaurant service available, as well) celebrating cassoulet. First up, starting at noon today we’ll be doing a very special French beer and cassoulet tasting (three hours unlimited samples of both for $45 – tickets online until 11 a.m., then available at the bar by cash or cc) with Shelton Brothers Importers. Beers will include:

• La Choulette Ambrée,
• Les Sans Culottes,
• Theillier La Bavaisienne,
• Thiriez Extra,
• Mikkeller – Santa’s Little Helper Holiday Ale,
• Wandering Star – Mild at Heart (English dark ale),
• Brasserie Dupont La Bière de Beloeil,
• Midnight Sun Trickster,
• L’Anjub 1907 Pale Ale,
• Plus, Thiriez Blonde, Rockaway Brewing – Gold Stout, Carton Brewing – BDG Brown Ale, and Lagunitas – IPA, on draft with other beers TBA.

We’ll pair these interesting and unusual beers with three different (bean/meat) cassoulets made by guest chefs Josh Stokes (f/o Gramercy Tavern), Patti Jackson (f/o i Trulli), and Jimmy’s No 43. These cassoulets will also be available on our dinner menu.

Then we have tomorrow’s Fifth Annual Cassoulet Cookoff, where guest chefs (amateur and professional) compete for judges awards and great prizes of Anolon Nouvelle Cookware, Microplaner Tools, and Wüsthof Knives. Chefs include:

• Ian Kapitan, Alobar;
• Patricia Clark Catering;
• Patti Jackson;
• Robbie Richter, f/o Fatty Cue;
• Jessica Garcia, Agullo, who will create a Catalan Cassoulet with Iberian Beer United Castonon Cider;
• Jimmy’s No. 43 + amateur chefs TBA.

Ah Mon Dieu et Sacre Bleu! We have ze cassoulet and now everyone’s favorite DJ with a beret will be pouring some amazing French beers to go with it at this weekend’s Beer & Beans. (That’s Bières et Haricots en français!) C’est vrai! Monsieur Jim Barnes will be in the house for Beer & Beans, featuring French brews from Shelton Brothers (see full list below). He might even be bringing his mix cd of French disco called Cassoulet du Disco.

• La Choulette Ambrée,
• Les Sans Culottes,
• Theillier La Bavaisienne,
• Thiriez Extra,
• Mikkeller – Santa’s Little Helper Holiday Ale,
• Wandering Star – Mild at Heart (English dark ale),
• Brasserie Dupont La Bière de Beloeil,
• Midnight Sun Trickster,
• L’Anjub 1907 Pale Ale,
• Plus, Thiriez Blonde, Rockaway Brewing – Gold Stout, Carton Brewing – BDG Brown Ale, and Lagunitas – IPA, on draft with other beers TBA.