Jimmys No. 43

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.

Did you know it’s summer in New Zealand? We’re bringing a little joy from down under with today’s Thursday Tap™ – Yeastie Boys’ Rex Attitude! The NZ brewer has created an amazing golden ale, which they made with 100 percent heavy peated malt. This 7.0% ABV beer is going to bring some sunshine into your NYC winter. Find out more about this interesting and unusual beer here, or join us after 5 p.m. when Jimmy is tapping this particular keg. As always, while supplies last, and regular bar/restaurant/oyster service still available.

We’re gearing up for a very special weekend full of cassoulet delights! For those who don’t know, cassoulet is a traditional French dish that is made in the winter months from beans and various meats (or veggies, in the case of vegetarian cassoulet). Of course, if you’ve spent any time around Jimmy’s No. 43 in January, then you know… it’s all about the cassoulet!

From Saturday, January 12, through Monday, January 14th, we will be celebrating one of our favorite winter dishes with three amazing (and amazingly different) tasting events. Centering these events will be The Fifth Annual Cassoulet Cookoff. This year the format is a little bit different: $30 (cash only) at the door gets you one drink (beer, wine, hard cider or soda) and two hours of unlimited cassoulet samples by professional and amateur chefs (there’s still time to join in the cookoff; chefs e-mail for specifics). The cookoff takes place from 1-3 p.m. on Sunday (1/13 – tickets will go on sale at noon), with proceeds to benefit the NYC Greenmarket programs.

If you’re looking for something a little more lowkey (yes, our cassoulet cookoff packs them in!), you might be interested in trying our Beer & Beans from noon-3 p.m. on Saturday (1/12). We’ll be pairing some of our favorite beers (tickets/beer list here) with three different styles of cassoulet (bean/meat) made by guest chefs including Josh Stokes (f/o Gramercy Tavern), Patti Jackson (f/o I trulli), and Jimmy’s No 43.  What pairs best? An American Ale with duck cassoulet? A Stout with pork? A fine pour from Belgium with vegetarian? You get to be the judge!

And if wine is your preferred drink, we have the perfect match up (mash up?) when Neal Rosenthal Imports pairs French wine with a five-course prix fixe dinner (tickets here – we are almost sold out, so don’t wait to buy yours!). Wines will be selected from the Rhone Valley and Languedoc region by Blake Johnson our longtime wine expert at Rosenthal.

We’ll also be offering cassoulet on our regular bar/restaurant menu, which is still available during all these events!

Jimmy’s No. 43 is happy to host the official launch of Bronx Brewery’s latest specialty beer: Bronx Black Pale Ale. For this week’s Thursday Tap™, we’ll be welcoming Bronx Brewery’s General Manager Chris Gallant, Head Brewer Damian Brown, and Sales Director Sean McCain, who will be on hand to talk about the new beer and answer questions about the recipe development and brewing process. The beer will be poured alongside the brewery’s flagship Bronx Pale Ale. Cask versions of both beers will be on hand as well.

As always, regular bar/restaurant/oyster service is available. We tap at 5 p.m. Expect the Bronx crew by 6. Join us tonight for a truly special Thursday Tap™ (first one of the new year!).

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!