While we gear up for New Year’s Eve (full details on beers and all our options coming soon), we decided to reflect upon the lows (Hurricane Sandy) and highs (new breweries, new menu options) of 2012 at Jimmy’s No. 43. Owner Jimmy Carbone had many favorites among the 200+ events we created or attended this year. Looking back in no particular order, these were on his “Best of the Best” list:
Dieu du Ciel Dinner on St. Patrick’s Day
While we frequently use St. Pat’s to counter program the green-beer-and-Guinness outings throughout the city, this year was particularly amazing as Dieu du Ciel’s head brewer, Luc “Bim” Lafontaine, joined us with more than a dozen of his best brews that were paired to a three-course dinner.
Ultimate Nøgne Ø Beer Night and Dinner
This year at Jimmy’s No. 43, we instituted the “Ultimate Beer Night and Dinner,” with several exclusive, intimate gatherings with brewers from around the world. The first of these was our Ultimate Nøgne Ø Beer Night and Dinner, featuring Tore Nybø and Nøgne Ø’s colorful co-founder and brewmaster Kjetil Jikiun.
Ültimate Mahr’s Bräu Beer Night and Dinner
Because everyone loved the Ultimate concept (and we loved funky vowels) so much, we did a repeat event with Mahr’s Bräu owner Stephan Michel. Can you spell lederhosen?
2012 Good Beer Seal Awards at Jimmy’s No. 43
July is Good Beer Month, and as a founding member of The Good Beer Seal, Jimmy’s No. 43 was proud to host this year’s awards party, when eight new bars (including two on Staten Island) were brought into the fold. More than 20 bar owners were in attendance, with new awardee, Adobe Blues, shutting down for the evening and bringing their entire staff to Jimmy’s No. 43 to celebrate.
A Very Special Meet The Brewer: Meet The Brewer: Hitachino’s Mr. Toshiyuki Kiushi
Long before we were facing our own natural disaster, we reached out to raise funds to help craft brewers and sake makers who were decimated by the 2011 tsunami. A year later, Hitachino’s Toshiyuki Kiushi came to Jimmy’s No. 43 for a special invitation-only gathering to thank the many local beer industry folk that were instrumental in keeping our Japanese friend’s brewing dreams alive. We also had plenty of Hitachino on tap for everyone who came to the bar that night.
August Sour Beer & Vegetarian Nonsense Dinner
While we always offer vegetarian options on the menu, we had no idea just how well our Vegetarian Nonsense theme would take off. Now we offer a prix fixe vegetarian dinner every other month, making us (to our knowledge) the only non-vegetarian restaurant/bar to do so. The August dinner was made specially scrumptious thanks to guest chef Jessica Wilson and an amazing line up of sour beers.
Third Annual Battle of the Belgians
This has become the “must attend” event of December, but this year we expanded our offerings throughout the month, even adding a new Saturday afternoon feature (starting at 3 p.m.): Bacon and Belgians. The offerings this year were extensive and had the added bonus of bringing in a Swiss element, when BFM’s very own Jérôme Rebetez joined us (his Abbaye de Saint Bon Chien 2011 took both the judges and People’s Choice “best of show” wins).
Thus, we had an amazing year, and we can’t wait to do it all again (and then some) in 2013!