Month: February 2013

Jimmy’s No. 43 is for lovers! Beer lovers, that is! For Valentine’s Day we’ll have oysters, chocolate… and cider! Our Thursday Tap™ today is perfect for both romantics and the jaded among us: Sidra Castañón, a Spanish cider that is on draft for the first time in Manhattan. The cider is the first keg version of John and Anthony Belliveau-Flores—aka the “Rowan” Brothers—great selection of Sidra.

Of course, we’ll have our usual oyster service and full menu available. And for music lovers, we’ll have Sistermonk in the back room doing a pop-up performance starting at 9 p.m. The Thursday Tap™ happens at 5 p.m., while supplies last. Reservations are recommended this evening, especially for couples.

Yesterday’s second annual Gumbo Cookoff to benefit Chefs for the Marcellus brought in a vast array of gumbo from traditional to unusual, with a bit of ethnic flair thrown in for good measure. A baker’s dozen of chefs brought their best N’Orleans fare to tempt the spice buds of all in attendance.

Among the more unusual gumbo recipes was Michelle Lamorte’s Gumbo Choux, a cabbage gumbo she recreated from a 1901 Times Picayune Cookbook recipe; Mary Cleaver’s Green Gumbo with turnips and fried oysters; and Exchange Alley’s Paul Gerard with Pigeon Gumbo (the pigeons were sourced from D’Artagnan… we asked!).

Two brewers represented, as well. Ron Carlson of Horsehead Brewing brought his Hot-Jala-Heim Beer With Bite, a habanero-infused brew, which he paired with a traditional shrimp, chicken and andouille gumbo. Empire Brewing’s David “DKat” Katleski brought the brewer’s proprietary Big Easy Gumbo™. Adrian Ashby, William Gadol, Jimmy’s No. 43 and Dave Miss all contributed traditional gumbos with varying degrees of spice.

In the end, the awards went to:

• The “Jackson Pollack” award for most interesting gumbo went to International Wing Factory’s Deepak Ballaney, who put a middle eastern/African spin on his Sindhi Kadi (Sindhi is a region in India; Kadi is “curry”) with chicken wings and okra cracklings.
• The “Do It Yourself” gumbo went to Tim Trombley of Oyster/Almond Restaurants with his “Pig’s Head Gumbo,” a gumbo made from pig’s head broth and a homemade andouille-like sausage made up of shrimp, pork, and crawfish.

People’s Choice:

• First place went to Simon Glenn of Tchoup Shop with a duck, andouille and okra gumbo that included Chaurice sausage for spice and garnished with duck cracklings and mini biscuits to sop up all that goodness.
• Second place went to Dave Katalski’s Big Easy Gumbo™.

Judges Choice:

• First place went to Jon Bratton, whose NY Hot Sauce provided the base and just enough “umph” to make the judges want to come back for seconds for his “Redneck Coonass Gumbo,” a traditional shrimp and okra recipe adapted from Jon’s Louisiana mama and West Texas daddy.
• Second place went to Tchoup Shop’s Simon Glenn.
• Third place went to Dave Katalski’s Big Easy Gumbo™.

Thanks to all in attendance, and especially this year’s judges: Will Blunt, Rozanne Gold, Cathy Erway, and Richard Stein.

 

The snow has stopped falling, the sun is out, and we’ve got our second annual Gumbo Cookoff to benefit Chefs for the Marcellus from 1-3 p.m. today! This is not only the best deal in the city, it might be the best Mardi Gras event in the USA! Seriously! A mere $20 (cash at the bar, you can line up starting at noon) gets you a bowl, a spoon and two hours of gumbo samplings from both professional and amateur chefs. Schedule to be there are:

• Mary Cleaver, Green Table;
• David Katleski, Empire Brewing;
• Tim Trobey, L & W Oyster;
• Nissa Pierson, Ger-Nis;
• Simon Glenn, Tchoup Shop;
• Jon Bratton, NYC Hot Sauce;
• Dave Miss;
• Paul Gerard, Exchange Alley;
• Michele Lamort (previous amateur winner);
• Adrian Ashby (previous amateur winner);
• Ron Carlson, Horseheads Beer;
• Deepak Ballamy, International Wings Factory;
• and Jimmy’s No 43 with a few surprise chefs possible.

Last year we had a packed house, but regular bar/restaurant service should still be available to the non-gumbo-goers among you. (And tickets still remain for tomorrow’s NOLA Prix Fixe all-seafood dinner with French/Quebecois beer pairings!)

For this week’s Thursday Tap™ we’ll have another great cask by Thornbridge (U.K.). This time we’ll have their South Pacific Pale Ale, Kipling, a “golden blonde beer with an exquisite passionfruit, gooseberry and mango aroma. An initial sweetness and full body are balanced by a lasting grapefruit-like bitter finish.” At only 5.2% ABV, this beer is sure to be very drinkable, so get yours while supplies last (we ran out of our last Thornbridge brew in a couple days!).

As always, we tap at 5 p.m., and regular bar/restaurant/oyster service will be available.

Whether you like to wear beads and watch parades or just want a great New Orleans-themed dinner, well, once again Jimmy’s No. 43 has you covered as we march into the final days of the Mardi Gras celebration. We’ll have three chances for you to enjoy some very cool N’awlins events!

First up, on Sunday, is our annual Gumbo Cookoff to benefit Chefs of the Marcellus. This is one heck of a deal: $20 (cash, if you please, starting at noon) at the door gets you two hours (1-3 p.m.) of gumbo samples by professional and amateur chefs. This year’s participants include include:

• Mary Cleaver, Green Table;
• David Katleski, Empire Brewing;
• Tim Trobey, L & W Oyster;
• Nissa Pierson, Ger-Nis;
• Simon Glenn, Tchoup Shop;
• Jon Bratton, NYC Hot Sauce;
• Dave Miss;
• Paul Gerard, Exchange Alley;
• Michele Lamort (previous amateur winner);
• Adrian Ashby (previous amateur winner);
• Ron Carlson, Horseheads Beer;
• Deepak Ballamy, International Wings Factory;
• and Jimmy’s No 43 with additional entries TBD.

If you like our prix fixe dinners (and who doesn’t), you definitely do not want to miss out on our NOLA Mardi Gras Dinner, next Monday (2/11) at 7 p.m. We will pair with the best beers of Quebec (the Cajuns are descendants of French Canadians) and France. Our all-seafood (no meat!) menu will include:

• Baked Oysters with Creole Aioli paired with Thiriez Blonde (bottle);
• N’Awlins-Style BBQ Shrimp – sauteed head-on shrimp, finished with spice, creating a “bbq sauce” in the pan-served with crusty bread for dipping – paired with Theillier La Bavaisienne;
• Crayfish Gumbo paired with Dieu du Ciel Corne du Diabel;
• House Shrimp and Grits (no bacon!) paired with Bretagne Sant Erwann (bottles);
• Caramel bread pudding paired with Dieu du Ciel Solstice d’Hiver on draft for dessert!

Tickets are available here (this dinner will sell out, so get yours today!).

Finally, on Mardi Gras itself, we’ll have the New Tuesday Tasting ($20) with a seating at 7:30 p.m. (we start on the dot, so please be early) where we’ll feature some of the beers from Monday night’s dinner (with food available for purchase a la carte).

Regular service is available for these BYOBeads (we’ll have the beer!) Mardi Gras events.