Tag Archives: bourbon

Forum, Back Bay, Boston Revisited

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On our first visit to Forum the bar area was packed with people. Our second visit the bar area had a stead stream of customers, but was not too full. The dining area seemed quite sparse and it doesn’t seem like many people visit Forum for snacks or dinner. We can distinctly recall how busy both the ground floor and upstairs area of Vox once was.

Forum’s design is clean and the bar area is spacious. The back bar area would be perfect for a semi-private birthday party or cocktail hour.

The Suffolk County Smash Eagle rare 10 year old bourbon, blueberry mint purèe, lime, shaken and strained over crushed ice was refreshing.

I enjoyed a Red Square ($10) with hammer & sickle vodka, ginger basil syrup, ginger beer, fresh lime, candied ginger garnish $10. The vodka and ginger beer combination was enhanced by intensified layers of ginger, with ginger basil and candied ginger. It was fantastic.

I will have to try Forum for brunch. They do serve my favorite French sandwich, the croque madame, and chicken and waffles with pickled vegetable and jalapeño maple syrup. Both of these  items are difficult to find in Boston. For desserts, Forum offers carrot cake and “coffee and doughnuts”, a sampler of apple, ginger, cinnamon doughnuts with coffee.

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Gramercy Tavern, Gramercy, New York City

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Gramercy Tavern deserves the favorable buzz and reviews because the restaurant’s ambiance, cocktails, food and staff delivers and delights across the board.

The atmosphere was ethereal with orbs of greenery on the ceiling.

The bartenders are true artisans. They make thoughtful suggestions and offer their knowledge about specific various liqueurs and pairings with food.

Our drinks were so phenomenal that both cocktails made us both yearn for another. The Fall Classic Cocktail bulleit bourbon, greenmarket cider, calvadosm, thyme, lemon and Slow Strom sloe gin, goslings rum, ginger, twist of lime, angostura bitters were both solid drinks for $14 each.

We had Iced Oysters, $2.75 each with fresh mignonnette and a squeeze of lime. The oyster were super fresh, tasted like the ocean with a bit of icidity from the mignonnette and went down silky smooth.

The Pear cider, Bordelet, Authentique, 2009, Normandy, France for $9 was the best cider we have ever had. When my nose hit the glass, the aroma of pear was so fragrant and the taste itself was lovely. We promise several bottles will be in our fridge’s side door.

We have never had a beer-based brandy and by our bartender’s suggestion, he selected the Hitachino white Ale, No Shizuku, Japan for $18. At initial whiff, the brandy smelled like grain alcohol. However, after a miniscule sip, the sweetness and floral hits the tongue and spreads throughout the palate.

Under our bartender’s guidance, we ordered the sea bass with spaghetti squash, walnuts and sherry sauce for $22. The hint of curry complimented the super flakey and tender sea bass.

The Smoked Kielbasa was perfectly grilled and had a great snap. It was accompanied by collard greens, perfectly cooked spaetzle and sweet shredded beets. $18.00 for sheer contentment.

Instead of a sweet dessert, we had the Harbison, a creamy cow cheese from Jasper Hill Farm in Greensboro, Vermont. It was very smooth, buttery and similar to a triple cream brie.

We will returning to the Gramercy Tavern bar to have the Fall Classic and Slow Strom, the Mushroom Lasagna $18 and the Warm Chocolate Bread Pudding with cacao nib ice cream for $9.

Gramercy Tavern on Urbanspoon