7 Meals in 7 Nights: Saturday - Palm Beach Grill

I woke up Saturday morning around 8am feeling pretty good. Id hit the hay early so I was well rested and ready to go play 18 holes with Rick from South Florida Daily Blog. My game was streaky and I hung in there for about 13 holes then birdied the 14th to get within 5 only to put one in the drink and go down 7 on the 15th, pretty much ending the match. Rick had 1 blowup hole and I managed to win the back 9 and lose by 3 overall without losing a ball so that sure helped me sleep easier. Well, that and the wine and bourbon I was about to consume...

After golf I hit the showers at home and then packed a light bag and headed up to West Palm. Some friends were moving into a new house they'd rented and my cousin also lives up there so good times were set to be had. (Side note here: I don't know what it is about West Palm but I always end up having a kickass time when I'm up there. I guess its kinda like a mini-vacation? Every night I go out up there I have fun and usually end the night at McD's or BK at 6am. Its funny because I think of WPB as kinda boring yet I always have a bitchin time going out up there. Anyways, back to the story...) As I drove up from Miami, I was lobbying hard via text for dinner at Cafe Boulud but I was getting much resistance in favor of Palm Beach Grill. I had never been to either restaurant but Daniel Boulud is one of my favorite chefs, if not my favorite, so I was dying to go. Well, of course I lost that battle and we ended up heading to Palm Beach Grill. The reason being was that the scene was more lively even if the menu was bor-ing.

We were seated and ordered some drinks. I of course chose to drink bourbon because that's just how I roll. The selection was weak so I went with ol' reliable Maker's Mark. We ordered some apps that were pretty good. The steamed artichokes came with a fantastic remoulade for dipping which my cousin liked so much I think he might've placed it at #2 of his top all-time condiments, 2nd to only Tabasco which is in 1st by a long shot. Thats kinda huge. Me? I enjoyed the remoulade, especially considering that I hadn't eaten steamed artichokes in a little while. It took me eating about 3 or 4 of them, leaves and all, before I remembered you're just supposed to work the "meat" out with your teeth. They tasted a helluvalot better after I remembered that! The standout app for me though was the fried oysters. They came plated on the shell of the oyster and plated with an olive relish that provided that salty flavor that I love. Luckily, everyone was so consumed by the artichokes that I was able to dominate the majority of the oysters. We ordered a few bottles of Pinot Noir and Cab for dinner which was a good choice because the bourbons were starting to go down too smoothly. For my main dish, I was torn between the ribeye, filet, and the chicken. The only reason that the chicken was in contention was because my cousin said it was phenomenal. This is a guy who eats red meat nonstop, makes grilled cheeses in bacon fat, and puts Tabasco on everything. For him to say the chicken was the right play was huge and, since I wasn't feeling the ribeye at that moment, I went with it. Boy was that dumb. The flavor of the chicken was great. It had a strong anise flavor to it that I really enjoyed. However, while there were a few moist bites, the majority of the chicken was pretty dry. To make matters worse, my buddy ordered the ribeye and gave me a few slices to try and it was delicious. A perfectly cooked ribeye that was seasoned perfectly and tender to chew. Huge whiff by me.

After dinner, we headed over to Cafe Boulud for cigars and cocktails. I gotta go eat there next time I'm in WPB. The space is cool and they have a nice indoor/outdoor thing goin on there. I know the food will be good too. We enjoyed our smoke and a few bourbons and then headed to Cucina where we always end up, hammered. The night ended a few hours later after many more bourbons and the whole bar belting out "Dont Stop Belivin" by Journey. I remember leaving the bar, I remember getting in the car (not a smart play by our group...shoulda cabbed it). Apparently we went to BK because when I woke up fully clothed, face down on a pullout couch a few hours later there was a BK drink cup next to me on the coffee table. Yeah, yeah, Cucina!

7 Meals in 7 Nights: Wednesday - Jaguar, Coconut Grove

I woke up Wednesday morning still feeling full from the final round of the Pizza Crawl and wondering if Id even be able to eat anything all day. I tallied 8 slices consumed by me the night before (4 full slices at Fratelli la Buffala and 8 half slices at Casale), not to mention about 4 beers and then a few bourbons afterwards. That's a lot of 'za.

After another long day at work and only eating a cup of soup for lunch, I headed home with the intention of giving up my quest for 7 meals in 7 nights. I was just too full and it was clouding my brain and preventing me from figuring out where I would eat that night. Just as I got on 95, my friend/neighbor gave me a buzz. I hadn't seen her in awhile so when she said, "I'm running some errands then wanted to see if you wanted to meet up at Jaguar later?", I was happy to oblige. The quest was back on!

I eat at Jaguar a lot. To me, its the best spot in the Grove for good food on a consistent basis. I have a few options that I order depending on my mood. If I'm really hungry, I get the ceviche spoon sampler (2 nuevo, 2 black market, 2 oriental is the way to go) and then follow up with the Shrimp Casserole*. If I'm in a simple mood, I go with the burger which comes topped with chorizo for a nice hearty touch. The Mexican Lasagna has also been on my radar but I haven't taken the plunge yet. If I want a light meal, I go with the ceviche sampler on its own or I start with the ceviche sampler and then move on to a 1/2 Caesar salad with chicken. The Caesar at Jaguar is one of the best Ive ever had as they use just the right amount of creamy Caesar dressing and the lettuce is always crisp. The 1/2 portion option with chicken is a steal at $8 too.

Being that I was still full from the night before, I just went with the ceviche sampler and a Woodford Reserve on the rocks. They serve up some great chips and spicy salsa while you wait for your meal, so I really didn't need more than the ceviche. If you go to Jaguar, be sure to ask for the "Salsa de la Muerte" or "Death Sauce". Its very spicy but it tastes awesome with the chips or you can kick up your ceviche with a few drops. Trust me, you'll have a sweat going in no time. The Oriental ceviche pairs tuna, ginger, avocado, lime, sesame, jalapeno, and cilantro and is usually the first spoon I eat. The Nuevo comes with choice of shrimp or calamari, aji amarillo, ginger, soy, and lime. I like the texture of the calamari best with this spoon so that's how I always order it. The Black Market has white fish, shrimp, calamari, aji amarillo sauce, and corn. I think my favorite is the Nuevo overall though the Black Market is a pretty close 2nd.

I really like the dining space at Jaguar. They have a nice, long bar with plenty of stools along with about 4 leaf-shaped hightops and 2 lowtops. There is also a little seating area just past the bar where many sit for their "Thirsty Thursday" wine tastings. The wine tastings are from 7p - 830p and offer samples of 6 different wines plus steak/chicken skewers and assorted ceviche spoons for $15 plus tax/tip. Its a pretty good deal and a good way to meet people too. The only negative I noticed on the few nights Ive participated is how selfish people in Miami can be. Only a certain amount of skewers and spoons were coming out and rather than take one so everyone had a chance to eat, people were loading up like inconsiderate pigs. Last time I went was over 6 months ago so hopefully things have changed by now. The main dining area has plenty of tables and I also really like the high ceilings. Jaguar has a nice vibe, really mellow, non-intrusive music, and an effective layout for groups or dining solo.

With my 3rd meal in 3 nights under my belt, I headed home to enjoy a few more bourbons outside in my courtyard, strum the guitar, and catch up on some blog reading. Before long it was time for bed and I was already getting excited for my meal at Naomi's Grill in Sunday Isles. Stay tuned for more on that...

*The Shrimp Casserole offers 4 shrimp with aji amarillo and 4 with salsa negra along with white rice. This replaced my favorite dish on the menu and also what I considered the best offering on the menu: the Shrimp Trio. Shrimp Trio had 3 grilled blackened shrimp with salsa negra, 3 fried shrimp with a sweet mango(not sure if Im remembering this sauce correctly) sauce, and 3 sauteed shrimp with an aji amarillo sauce plus the rice in the middle. Id eat all 3 groups and then mix up all the sauce with the rice. It was awesome and it hurt me to see it go. I havent tried the Shrimp Casserole yet mostly because nothing will ever replace my Shrimp Trio... :(

Bourbon & Blues @ Bourbon Steak

This past Wednesday, I headed up to Aventura to check out Bourbon Steak's "Bourbon & Blues" night where they offer 25% off all bourbons, 1/2 price on select cocktails, live blues, and a new bar menu that offers small bites and custom burgers. For a guy like me, anything involving discounted bourbon and live blues is a huge winner but the burger did a good job of adding to the good time.

After sipping a few bourbons and listening to some kickass country style blues from the "Nouveaux Honkies", I decided that I would give their new burger menu a shot. For anywhere from about $12-$18 you have your choice of beef, lamb, falafel, turkey, and/or salmon as the base of your burger. Bacon is an additional $3 and seared foie gras is an additional $18. A fried egg is an additional $2 but, hey, its organic...

Once youre done selecting the base flavor, you are allowed to select up to 6 items to add to the burger from the following catagories: cheese, veggies, greens, and sauces. I went with the beef burger ($14) with bacon ($3), bourbon caramelized onions, pepper jack cheese, shaved jalapenos, mesclun greens, and the "special sauce" that had been recommended to me. The result was a pretty kickass burger with lots of flavor. The combo of the shaved jalapenos and the special sauce was awesome and probably made the burger for me. I loved the crunch of the jalapenos and their heat combined with the flavors of the special sauce. The onions were a nice complement too. The only buzzkill was that they forgot my bacon... The bartender gave me a side and didnt charge me the $3 but it kinda sucked because I ate the bacon AFTER the already killer burger. With bacon added to each bite, Id have been in burger Xanadu. The only complaint outside of the bacon incident would be the bun. Restaurants need to realize that the bun is a key part of the burger and a weak bun base can cause much discomfort. In this case, the bottom of the bun was super hot and kinda moist. Being trained in burger CPR, I knew to flip the burger onto its thicker top bun to let the bottom cool and salvage it. I didnt like having to do that but Ive become accustomed to it.

I also chose to add a trio of duck fat fries to my burger just because it seemed like the right thing to do. It kinda sucked that it was an extra $5 to do so, but hey, youre in Aventura. Gotta pay the tax... The fries were pretty frickin good though. My favorite was the garlic fries paired with onion sauce. The fries paired with the spicy ketchup were a close second. The paprika fries paired with bbq sauce didnt really do anything for me though.

The 3 different bourbons I sampled were all great brands but all overpriced. Then again, youre in Aventura and the prices werent that far off what you would see elsewhere. Add that to the burger and fries plus tax and tip and I was at about $70. I didnt feel bad about it though. Sure, there wasnt a sole in there within 20 years of my age, but I had a great time listening to the band, chatting with the bartenders, and chowing down on a pretty tasty burger paired with a nice bourbon selection. I hear that they have a different band that also plays there so I'll probably go back again on another Wednesday to check it out.

On the Kentucky Bourbon Trail

This is long overdue but procrastination is kinda my middle name. I will warn you that this is a long post that took a shitload of time to put together, again, mainly because procrastination is kinda my middle name. Im also a tad wordy and tend to relate every detail possible but hey, at least the few who read this will be gettin their money's worth. Enjoy...

Around my 21st birthday, my Dad gave me a salute with a glass of bourbon. At the time it tasted like gasoline and I was not a fan. I was used to sucking down beers not sipping liquor. As time went on, however, I began to get more into new liquors. I remember sitting at an airport bar waiting for a flight that was delayed and deciding to order a Maker's Mark and Coke so I could get a nice buzz and nap on the flight. I liked it right away. The Coke subdued that gasoline taste and added to the sweetness of the bourbon. As time went on, I switched from bourbon & Coke to bourbon & ginger ale. One day, I decided that I wanted to begin trying new bourbons and Dad had kept Basil Hayden at the house on my last visit home. He told me that was a bourbon to be consumed on the rocks only, so naturally I ditched the soda I had been mixing with other bourbons like Maker's Mark. This is when my love for all things bourbon began.

This year, I gave my dad a killer Christmas present. I booked some business in Louisville on a Friday and had him fly out to meet me that night. That was the start of the Bourbon Trail for us. In the next 2 days we were going to be visiting various bourbon distilleries and learning the secrets of their sweet nectar.

I had booked a hotel in downtown Louisville, walking distance from area attractions like Stevie Ray's Blues Bar and Fourth Street Live, a pedestrian street with shops, bars, and restaurants much like Lincoln Road on Miami Beach just with bigger buildings. After settling in and planning the next day's itinerary, we headed down to Fourth Street Live to check out the Maker's Mark bar. After all, this was a bourbon trip so we needed to make sure we drank as much as possible!

The Maker's Mark bar was stocked with around 70 different types of bourbon all lined behind the bar in alphabetical order waiting to be served up by Chris and Melissa. Both took good care of us and we decided to stick around for dinner so we could eat and watch the Celtics/Pistons playoff game. I sampled 5 bourbons, Dad had 3. Rock Hill was my favorite that night. The food was ok, mine was overcooked but Chris sympathized and passed me a free round so it was all good. Celtics came back in the 4th to finish off the Pistons and we got nice and buzzed before heading to the hotel to crash. Saturday was going to be an early start, late ending day.

We started the day early and arrived at the Jim Beam distillery around 9:15am. They are known for their namesake bourbon but have gained much more notoriety from their small batch collection - Knob Creek, Basil Hayden, Booker's, and Baker's. Basil Hayden is my favorite everyday bourbon, Dad's too. Its incredibly smooth with a nice flavor and for that reason I always recommend it to scotch drinkers who want to give bourbon a try. The tour at Jim Beam was kinda lame because it was self-guided. You got to see a movie about the Beam family history and then you could walk around the grounds before finishing off at the Beam House for some tasting. Not much learning, mostly browsing. I did think the Beam family history was pretty cool though. When we finally made our way around to the Beam House it was about 10am. The house was decorated with pictures and memorabilia from the Beam family business. There was one room that housed what is believed to be (and in my opinion has to be) the worlds smallest distiller. It can still produce 4 gallons of "high wine", the clear liquid that is poured into charred white oak barrels and aged, eventually bottled as bourbon. Other things like Beam's long pipe and an old piece of paper that held Beam's computations from when he tried to figure out what it would cost him to get going after Prohibition was lifted adorned the walls. Pretty cool. We then went for the tasting and we were in luck. The 2 bourbons available that day were Booker's and Basil Hayden. Basil at 10:15am, neat (no ice), after a full night of drinking, wasnt too bad but it did give me a little "HELLO!" moment. Booker's, on the other hand, was rough. At 124.6 proof, it was like drinking fire, especially since I'd only had an english muffin all day. But hey, I was awake now!

We hit the road and began the drive to the next stop on our Bourbon Trail - Buffalo Trace. This was the one I was most looking forward to because they produce some of my favorite brands and the most highly rated brand in the world known as Pappy Van Winkle's 23yr. Pulling into the parking lot, we get hit by the aroma of aging bourbon wafting through our car windows, also known as the "angel's share". That was awesome. We enter the store and find we have 40 minutes until the next tour. I was excited to see a whole basket full of corks from Blanton's bottles being sold. Each cork features a horse and rider figurine on top and each of those bears a letter of the name "Blanton's" at the horse's back foot. If you take all of them and spell out "Blanton's", the figurines resemble a horse race from standing position to full stride and ending with the rider raising his hand in victory. The "S" piece was rumored to be the hardest to get so I was fired up when I found the only one in the bowl. I also got the "T" and "O" to complete my collection (See below).

Here are some other highlights from the shop:

Barreling process


Buffalo Trace Milestones (6,000,000+ barrels!!!)


List of Distilleries throughout history


The Roll of Honor - all the award winning spirits made at Buffalo Trace (Impressive!)






The tour started at 1pm and we headed on over to the Free House to watch a quick movie about the history of Buffalo Trace. Turns out, the "Buffalo Trace" was what they called the paths that buffalo created as they walked through the fields of yesteryear, paths followed by our American forefathers on their expedition West. After the video and a good amount of Q&A with our guide, we headed on over to Warehouse C to check out the racks of aging barrels.



Warehouse C is where the smell of the "angel's share" was coming from when we arrived. Wooden ricks about 11 stories high with barrels upon barrels of aging bourbon lie inside, hibernating through each Kentucky season. Buffalo Trace has actually found a way to control the climate inside during the various seasons to maximize efficiency. Bourbon must be aged a minimum of 2 years to be considered Straight Bourbon though most are aged for 6-8 years. Dad and I really liked this pic I snapped next, looking out from the dead center of the warehouse.



From the warehouse we headed on over to the Albert Blanton Bottling Hall. Large batch bourbons, like Buffalo Trace's namesake brand, are a blend of 100+ different barrels aged in the warehouse. See, barrels will age differently in different sections of the warehouse, with the ones on top usually aging at a higher proof than those down below. Small batch bourbons are a blend of a much lesser amount of barrels, a select few from the heart of the warehouse. Let's not forget single barrel as well which is poured from a single barrel in the warehouse...imagine that! (Interesting fact: Booker Noe, master distiller @ Jim Beam, believes that the best barrels are located in the middle of the warehouse. Hence, "Booker's" brand bourbon is a small batch bourbon poured from barrels selected from the heart of the warehouse. It is the only bourbon in existence to be poured, unfiltered, from the barrel to the bottle) Inside the bottling hall they had a case with all of the small batch bourbons inside that were bottled at Buffalo Trace...



After a tasting of Buffalo Trace bourbon and Eagle Rare (a personal favorite of mine and a great value at about $30) the tour came to an end. Dad and I sat and talked bourbon with the tour guide and got some of her recommendations on new brands to try. She enjoyed our conversation/enthusiasm so much that she offered to sneak away for a few and give us a private tour of the fermentation process. Awesome. We headed back to the fermentation tanks via golf cart and then got a nice tour of the insides and the process.

The fermentation tanks

This bubbling is a natural reaction between the corn, rye, malted barley, Kentucky limestone water, and a little yeast that can last up to 5 days.

From there its off to the Beer Stills (the fermented product looks a lot like beer) where the product is distilled to a clear alcohol liquid. This is called "white dog" at Buffalo Trace. Jim Beam calls it "high wine". Here are the beer stills followed by a pic of the "white dog" tap. I loved the tasting glass next to the tap. The "white dog" is what is poured into the charred oak barrels to age, eventually becoming bourbon.




Oh and just for kicks they decided, since they were so good at distilling, to give vodka a try.





We took a walk around the grounds before heading on to the next stop. Here is Thunder. The plaque reads, "carved from a fallen 300 year old sycamore tree to commemorate the majesty of migrating buffalo in a wilderness past. Created by sculptor Stan Schu, June 1999"



Our final stop for the day was Woodford Reserve, just down a ways from Buffalo Trace. The ride there was pretty cool. Miles up miles of horse farms with horses EVERYWHERE. Its no wonder Woodford Reserve creates a special bottle for the Derby each year.





Eventually we arrived at Woodford Reserve. This distillery was different to me in that it had this "high society" type vibe. Maybe Im just saying that because of the Derby connection, I dunno. Pretty cool location though.




We spent so much time at Buffalo Trace that we didnt get to Woodford Reserve in time to catch the last tour. So, we walked around the museum exhibit and read up on the history of the place and the process they employ to make their bourbon. We also got a tasting and Dad got busted going back for seconds which was pretty funny.





On our way out, we met a nice couple from Utah who I recognized from our Buffalo Trace tour. They had seen a few different distilleries the day before and we decided we would have to make a return trip next year to hit up the rest of the Bourbon Trail. The husband also talked about how he has to drive to Cali to get his bourbon thanks to the laws in Utah.

We headed back to Louisville for the night and checked out Proof on Main, a spot recommend by Sara over at All Purpose Dark. We didnt have a reservation and didnt feel like waiting for over an hour so we decided to have a few bourbons at the bar and then go dominate a nice hearty steak over at Morton's across the street. I did get this shot of the outside of the 21C museum-hotel where Proof on Main was located.



A few more bourbons at the Maker's Mark bar and it was off to bed. We were flying home the next afternoon and planned to hit up the Louisville Slugger Factory before heading to the airport. You know, for a relatively quiet city, there really is a lot to see in Louisville and the surrounding area. Thats one of the things I really enjoyed about this trip outside of getting to spend time with Dad. There is so much history and so many sights and cool stuff to be seen inside the borders of our own country that most people never would think about. Sure, it may not be as glamorous as Paris or Athens but the sense of adventure is still there.