Cocktail and food pairings
According to the March/April issue of the magazine Imbibe (maybe "Drink" was already taken), on newstands now, a hot new trend is restaurants' pairing food with cocktails. I'd certainly be willing to try it, but I'm not sure I could taste the meal after awhile.
Sometimes a multi-course dinner is prepared to complement a particular spirit, and sometimes a cocktail is created to pair with a particular dish, such as a rye whiskey sour that goes with teriyaki pork belly and something called the …Fields Forever cocktail served with goat cheese crostini drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Both of these are from an Atlanta restaurant, Eugene, and the drink recipes are including in the article (although I'm more interested in the recipes for the pork belly and the crostini).
This "trend," if that's what it is, has had at least some representation in Baltimore. Taste in the Belvedere Square area has done scotch dinners, and the Wine Market in Locust Point sometimes features cocktail pairings.
Here's the recipe for the ...Fields Forever cocktail (those three dots are part of the name) that goes with the goat cheese crostini: ...



Here we are, back with the
Calm down. There's no way I can continue to torture you with this What's Hot & What's Not list into 2008. But until then...