Lew Bryson will be signing books and sipping whiskey with us on January 31st. Photo courtesy of pennlive.com.
“Quality spirits, especially from our home state of New York, are the perfect way to round out a meal and finish the night after a few good craft beers. We are proud to offer a specialty NY and indie spirits list: Whiskeys will be our specialty.” — Jimmy Carbone, publican and owner of Jimmy’s No. 43
It has been an exciting month* for us here at Jimmy’s No. 43, and as January draws to a close, we’re looking forward to our “official” launch party this Saturday (1/31) when we welcome several luminaries for a Pig & Whiskey Party! From 1 p.m. until early evening, we’ll be celebrating the spirit alongside Lew Bryson, spirits expert and author of Tasting Whiskey: An Insider’s Guide to the Unique Pleasures of the World’s Finest Spirits. Lew has been an integral part of the nation’s emerging craft spirits movement and has witnessed how the industry has changed over the past decade or so.
“Spirits may have discovered variety, innovation, and the appeal of small, local producers after wine and beer did, but it’s happened now, and folks are loving it,” Lew notes. “There are hundreds of new spirits coming out, and it’s a blast to try them, to make cocktails with them, and learn about them. Jump on in, folks; the water of life is fine!”
Lew will be signing copies of his book ($20 cash if you don’t have your own already!) and collaborating with Edible Manhattan’s Amy Zavatto and High West Whiskey for a spirits sampling (free; additional beverages are pay-as-you-go).
Our spirits celebration will lead straight into our I Like Pig recipe cook-off, featuring amateur chefs serving up pork dishes inspired by our Pig Island e-cookbook (Cathy Erway—a contributing chef to the e-book and a co-curator of the cook-off—has a very cool write-up of the event here). We welcome the public to sample two-hours of pork yumminess ($15 cash at the bar, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting Edible Schoolyard) as they sample whiskey and kibitz with chefs and culinary celebrities!
We hope to see you this Saturday (January 31st)!
*Among other new happenings at Jimmy’s No. 43, we are in the process of updating the design and flow of the website. Please be patient as we get all the functionality in place. We believe the new streamlined flow will make it easier to navigate as we continue to offer the best craft beer experience in the city with the addition of a local artisanal spirits menu.
Happy Birthday, Father of Homebrewers, Charlie Papazian!
We love our homebrewers, and in addition to hosting homebrew events here at Jimmy’s No. 43, we are celebrating The Joy of Homebrewing author Charlie Papazian’s birthday. Owner Jimmy Carbone had the great pleasure of welcoming Charlie to town awhile back (he was on Beer Sessions Radio just before Christmas), and he reminded us that long ago someone asked him how to celebrate his birthday, to which he replied, “Make me a pie!” Ever since, January 23rd has been considered “Pie Day” for homebrewers and craft beer lovers alike.
Among the cooler Pie Day events is National Pie Day at Bitters and Esters! Try 25 different pies paired to 10 homebrews in the comfort of their Brooklyn storefront (the fun starts at 7PM; only $10!).
Speaking of homebrewing, we’ve been collecting entries all month for Homebrew Alley IX taking place in Queens on February 6th and 7th. We wish all our homebrew entrants the best of luck, and we hope to see everyone drinking craft beer at Jimmy’s No. 43 this weekend.
It’s going to be a great weekend for cider lovers as a couple of very special guests come to town. First up, this evening (Friday, January 16th) we’ll have Farnum Hill’s Steve Wood in the house, pouring and chatting about some of his great ciders (pay-as-you-go and available by the glass). We expect Steve from about 6:30 PM on.
Then tomorrow evening (Saturday, January 16th, from 5-8 PM), we’ll have a new cider – in fact we’ll have threenew ciders – from Ithaca cidery South Hill Cider. Come sample some amazing ciders with cider maker Steve Selin. Among the ciders Steve will be pouring are:
*Soundpost – Soundpost Cider is made with a blend of American, English and French cider apples. Dabinet, Newtown Pippin, Ellis bitter, Brown Snout, Roxbury Russet. It was fermented to dryness then matured in aged barrels until June.
*Old Time – Old Time Cider is a blend of apples from wild and abandoned orchard trees blended with a small amount of Bittersweets for a longer finish and other heirlooms such as Merton Russet, Golden Russet, Calville Blanc, and others. Barely off-dry with notes of kiwi and lychee and a soft finish.
*Pommeau – South Hill Pommeau is a blend of Apple Spirits (Eau de Vie) with unfermented and unfiltered apple cider. It is aged for months, over which time it naturally clarifies itself. Then what is siphoned off is a a shining amber liquid of exquisite character.
It’s a great chance to kibitz with the cider makers and drink their latest batches of real, authentic hard ciders. (As usual, regular bar/restaurant service will be available.)
It was our lucky seventh year hosting the annual Cassoulet Cook-Off, and a great crowd assembled to celebrate with our professional and amateur chefs scooping out casserole lovin’ all to benefit GrowNYC’s Regional Grains Program.
Among the chefs and dishes were:
*Chef Annette Tomei for Jimmy’s No. 43 served up two different cassoulets (not up for awards): an American-style cassoulet with turkey and bacon; and a Vegetarian cassoulet
*Claire Hartten and Pixie Yates teamed with Michael Yezzi of Flying Pigs Farm to make an all-local cassoulet with meat from the farm, duck from Hudson Valley, and beans from the Regional Grains Project
*Lynn Ripley added Indonesian spices to create Lynn’s Cassoulet: A Taste of Java
*Riley McCormick served his lucky New Year’s Cassoulet with Black Eyed Peas
*Chris Livingston created a lightly spiced Green Chili Cassoulet garnished with pork croutons and cilantro
*Sandra Rerecic served up an ethnic, mixed-style cassoulet, Croatian Gulaŝ with Beans and Sauerkraut
*Chef Davide Navarro and chefs from Jimmy’s No. 43 created a traditional-style cassoulet with savory pork
Our esteemed panel of judges included Chef Paul Denamiel, food writer Gina Hamadey Bergman, Fiorella DiCarlo, and Andrew Gottlieb (a former winner). Their awards were as follows:
*1st place went to Jimmy’s No. 43 Savory Pork Cassoulet
*2nd place went to Riley McCormick’s New Year’s Cassoulet
*3rd place went to Chris Livingston’s Green Chili
*Special judges prize for meatiest was awarded to Claire Hartten*Special judges prize for chocrute mashup went to Sandra Rerecic
*Special Jimmy prize for best use of spices went to Lynn Ripley
People’s choice awards:
*1st – Claire Hartten (with Pixie Yates and Michael Yezzi)
*2nd – Jimmy’s No. 43
*3rd – Sandra Rerecic
Winning chefs received cookware and knives courtesy of our sponsors Anolon and WÜSTHOF.
It’s probably the worst kept secret at our East Village bar: We now have a liquor license! But just as we’ve always been careful to curate a great line-up of craft beer and ciders, we’re bringing that aesthetic to spirits. We’ll be offering a solid line-up of artisanal NY State spirits (with a few friends from Massachusetts and other regions thrown in for good measure). We’ll be offering drinks “neat” or on the rocks (no cocktails at this point).
Why the addition to our bar menu? Owner Jimmy Carbone has been keeping an eye on the emerging craft spirits scene and wanted to offer local distillers the same opportunities we’ve given to brewers and cider makers to reach a larger audience that really appreciates fine artisanal products.
“Quality spirits, especially from our home state of New York, are the perfect way to round out a meal and finish the night after a few good craft beers,” Jimmy notes. “We are proud to offer a specialty NY and indie spirits list: Whiskeys will be our specialty.”
And as we grow our whiskey program, you can enjoy the following spirits currently on our menu:
*From Kings County Distillery: Moonshine Corn Whiskey, Bourbon
*Astoria Distilling: Queens Courage “Old Tom” Gin
*Breucklen Distilling: 77 Whiskey (both wheat and rye varietals)
*Pine Barrents (Long Island): Single Malt Whiskey
*Catskill Provisions (Fingerlakes region): New York Honey Whiskey
*McKenzie (Fingerlakes): Pure Pot Still Whiskey, Rye
*Berkshire Mountains Distillers (MA): Bourbon, New England Corn Whiskey
*High West Whiskey (Utah): American Prairie Reserve
We’ll be incorporating spirits in to many of our upcoming events (including next Monday’s Cassoulet Wine Dinner, which will close with Calvados), and we hope to see you in spirit (you know we were going there!) soon!
