Our New Favorite Joint in the Hood...

Spatzle with fried egg, mushrooms & chorizo cabbage

You may have noticed that Nick and I frequent a particular restaurant a lot. And Revel is amazing and probably will be our favorite place for a while.

However, we've got a new little neighborhood joint that we adore and is in contention for our favorite spot - and nothing we've eaten there has been disappointing. In fact, everything we've eaten is anything short of absolutely delicious and plate-lick worthy.

Lloyd Martin

Just wanted to throw this restaurant's name out there since it stands on its own. It's in the tiny spot at the top of QA that used to be Bricco. The place only has a bar and 6-7 small tables which keeps it intimate; its kitchen is also super small but whatever those guys make is going to be a perfect little plate that is lovingly made and perfectly executed.

I recommend the 64 degree egg and shrimp and grits. My daring statement is that it's the best shrimp and grits in town - beating out Toulouse Petit. 

Hit it up. We recommend it. Don't just take our word for it.

Hot Weather, Cool Food

Seattle summers are gorgeous but Seattlelites need to complain about something so instead of just enjoying the cloudless azure skies and 80-90 degree afternoons on the water, we complain that it's too hot. However, not consistently hot enough to have air conditioning.

Quit your whining Seattle. Pour yourself a lemonade and eat some cool food.

Nick is checking out the market goods in Vietnam

Vietnam is always hot and I was aghast that people over there wore long sleeved button ups and trousers in 95 degree weather with a gazillion percent humidity like it's no big deal. How do you spot the tourist? Someone who is wearing a tank top, shorts, flip flops and is sweating puddles. But Vietnamese people eat some delicious and amazing food that is easy to make outside on a BBQ and is refreshing for these warm Seattle evenings and dining al fresco.

The Vietnamese Salad: Gỏi

Gỏi in Hoi An

Gỏi is more of a slaw than a western salad perhaps, but we Vietnamese love our light, crisp and fresh tasting mandolin-sliced veggies thrown together with a light dressing. There are tons of different varieties often named for what protein is served with the veggies. These are easy to make as long as you have some time to wash and slice vegetables. I've linked to recipes although I have yet to try them so I don't know if these recipes are great. An important part of Vietnamese cooking is that you don't necessarily need a list of exact ingredients; use what you have in your kitchen pantry and substitute! You can use cucumber in lieu of daikon or try some mint and parsley if you're missing cilantro. Try different things and see what tastes good.

• Gỏi ngó sen (Lotus): Lotus stems served with julienned veggies and shrimp or pork
• Goi tôm (Shrimp): Julienned carrots, cucumbers, daikon and crunchy things topped with shrimp
• Goi gà (Chicken): A cabbage and chicken salad
• Goi đu đủ (Papaya): A salad with green papaya served with slices of jerky and a vinegar-y nước mắm pha

I'll cook with my grandma this week or next and make one of these so I can write down a tried and true recipe.

Summer Rolls

Small rolls as part of a multi-course meal in Hoi An

These seem to be most popular at Thai restaurants in Seattle but summer rolls wrapped in rice paper are delicious mini burritos of awesome. If you're throwing a dinner party, you can do a 'summer roll-making party and save yourself some cooking since it requires prep only. The most popular roll is gỏi cuốn although I'm partial to bi cuốn. Either way, set out plates of fillings, a few deep plates or dishes of warm water to wet the rice paper wrappers in and allow your guests to fill their rolls with whatever they choose. The filling bar can include:

• 8''-9'' inch rice paper round wrappers (bánh tráng)
• Bean thread noodles (clear or cellophane noodles)
• Rice noodles (referred to as bún, not to be confused with thicker and flatter phở noodles)
• Shrimp/prawns which you can slice in half lengthwise
• Fresh thai basil leaves
• Cilantro
• Mint
• Daikon sprouts
• Cucumbers sliced into  matchstick-sized pieces (the hothouse seedless English variety works well)
• Julienned pickled carrots
• Green and red lettuce leaves
• Slices of fried firm tofu
• Slices of seared pork tenderloin
• Chives
• Chopped peanuts

Cooking class on the rooftop deck of our Ha Long Bay cruise.

Set up some peanut-hoisin dipping sauce and some nước cham for people to dip their rolls in. A lot of restaurants like adding an extra crunch to their rolls now and will add a long piece of a deep fried rolled up sliver of either egg roll wrapper or a thin rolled up piece of deep fried bean curd lengthwise. Do what you will! You can follow a recipe and make the rolls in advance or try a make-your-own party. Then, you don't have to deal with picky friends who hate cilantro or pals who refuse to eat sprouts or whatever.




Barbecue - Vietnamese Style! 

Street meat in Hanoi. Fanning it is just advertising

Even my Texan pals can agree that Vietnamese-style barbecue is completely delicious! If you go to Vietnam, you smell the spicy-sweet aroma of grilled street meat nearly everywhere you go on little hibachi grills; you can get a full grilled meal or salad indoors at sit-down restaurants.

To beat the Seattle heat, you can grill up toppings in the backyard on a hot summer day and serve it with cold rice noodles (bún again) along with nước cham, a squeeze of lime and the assorted greens: sprouts, mint, cilantro, lettuce, green onions and matchstick-sliced cucumbers. Herbs are a big part of a refreshing Vietnamese diet so you'll see green sprinkled generously on everything.

Bun chả cá in Hanoi, cooking in oil

I love skewers like skewered grilled pork (nem nướng) or Hue regional sugarcane prawns (chạo tôm) which uses a stick of sugarcane for the skewer and allows you to suck on a sweet piece of sugarcane as you bite into the shrimp. If you've been trout or halibut fishing, bun chả cá Thăng Long or La Vong is an herbacious, fragrant and refreshing favorite of mine; it's fish that's either grilled or pan friend with tumeric and served with heaps of fresh dill so it's a great farmers market-type of dish. Nick and I were fortunate enough to have gotten to eat this meal at one of the famous monikered place in Hanoi and it was amazingly tasty. However, it's also a super-expensive dish because of its popularity in Vietnam (six or seven bucks a person if I recall - and that was pricey) but you can make it at home just as easily.

Most of the kebabs are easy to make but you can make marinated beef, pork chops, pork ribs, pork meatballs or saute some tofu. A more difficult but supremely delicious barbecue option is grilled beef in la lot leaves or bò lá lót.

Bun chả cá in my bowl

These dishes are all relatively simple to make on a summer evening but provide a great complexity of flavors and textures so you're not just having a boring salad or one-note barbecue. Here are some recipes I found online - please share if these work out for you or else comment and link to a recipe you love more.

• Barbecued pork ribs
• Sliced pork
• Grilled pork skewers
• Lemongrass beef
• Grilled prawns
•  Sugarcane prawns
• Grilled beef in la lot leaves
• Tumeric fish with dill

Iced coffee in an Aussie expat bar in Hanoi.

Vietnamese Iced Coffee (cà phê sữa đá)

Vietnamese coffee is well-known because it's absolutely fabulous and another French-influenced fusion product. If you need an afternoon pick-me-up or if you're already dying of heat exhaustion in the morning, this will hit the spot.

You can brew it with actual Vietnamese coffee with a French drip-filter but save some time and use some French roast espresso mixed with sweetened condensed milk and pour it over ice. I've been drinking Vietnamese coffee hot or over ice pretty much my entire life. (When I was younger, my mom only gave me a little bit of coffee and mixed it generously with normal milk so I don't think it's coffee that stunted my growth).

Tiger Beer!

Apparently French colonists introduced coffee to Vietnam, which grows remarkably well there and now Vietnam is a top coffee producer. Because the Vietnamese typically used cows as beasts of burden rather than as milk and beef-producers, there was a shortage of fresh milk so the French couldn't have their cafe au laits. Instead, they used sweetened, condensed milk and thus, this amazingly sweet and refreshing addition. Of course, you can also cool off Vietnamese-style with some bia or beer:

Happy eating! When the weather gets cold, I'll give you a rundown of my favorite Vietnamese noodle soups since there are regional varieties that will warm you up, keep your toasty for hours and make your belly very happy.

Inkredible Ink: Food that sets the standard

Nick and I cook often and we eat out often (at great establishments, not just 'eating fresh' at Subway). We both grew up with food as an intimate and important part of our lives so we don't throw around this statement lightly:

We have just had one of the best meals of our lives.

Yes. We just threw down! In fact, we had some food that will ruin us for future meals because many other plates will be compared to this caliber of food.

The Trip.

It started as a total surprise. Nick told me to take a Friday off for a special surprise birthday trip, which I had thought would be somewhere within driving distance.  A weekend trip to Portland perhaps or a surprise foray to Willows Inn at Lummi island? I hoped! But lo and behold, I was whisked away to a totally surprising L.A, which I was totally stoked for, once I got my liquids and gels squared away in the car...

Yay. I love Disneyland. This is me when I walked through those gates. Giggity.

Even better, post Disneyland adventures, Nick informed me that I would be having dinner at Ink, the restaurant founded by Top Chef winner  Chef Michael Voltaggio. That season was one of our favorite seasons of Top Chef because the level of incredible talent there was staggering. Each challenge was a fun glimpse into creative madness and served as a exhibition of crazy imaginations. The top three finalists including Michael's own brother could all have won another Top Chef season on their own; they simply had the luck/misfortune of all competing against each other. So not to be completely geeky, but I've been a Michael Voltaggio fan for a while now. And culinary creativity aside, he's not bad to look at.

We were excited to eat, drink and enjoy the results of Chef Voltaggio's amazing culinary skills and imagination.

The Drink.

While I want to get right to the food, I have to give props to the bartender. The cocktail menu there was inspired with the most delicious and well-mixed cocktails. I am a fan of the move to incorporate classic cocktails, great mixology and artisanal ingredients into the fold of any great restaurant and Ink was no exception. Nick had bourbon cocktails and I opted for a pisco sour because I love egg white cocktails.

bourbon  rhubarb, aperol, lemon, peychauds bitters
pisco  pineapple, coconut water, falernum, lime

Cocktails are an important aspect of a great experience and we needed a little aperitif. 

The Food.

Ink was inkredible.

Nick and I are huge hamachi fans and ravenously devour How To Cook a Wolf's hamachi crudo every time we go eat there.

So we started our meal with: hamachi, dashi sponge, soy-yuzu, radish, rice cracker

This dish was beautiful, dainty and refined. The dashi sponge was more of a thick foam encompassing the fish with a flavorful sauce that wasn't overwhelming to this balanced dish.

We opted for the burrata next because, let's face it, who doesn't love fresh, gooey mozzarella and cream?

burrata, bottarga, egg yolk, little gems, lemon dressing

The best part was that the egg yolk and the burrata were the same temperature and unctuous consistency so the burrata melted into everything as if it were the egg white. It was a perfect little salad with the right crunch from the romaine and the bread.

Here is a photo of my excited self wanting to munch the bejeezus out of this food.

Nick had heard that their poutine was top-notch so that was our next snack.

poutine, chickpea fries, yogurt curds, lamb neck gravy

I ate the chickpea fries with curds, sans gravy and the fries were crisp and delicious. Poutine was once thought of as a disgusting Canadian snack but is en vogue all of the sudden and rightfully so - it's damn delicious. And so was Ink's adaptation.

Now the next dish was definitely my favorite and probably one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten. Nick and I were intrigued by seeing this on the menu:

baja scallops, egg yolk gnocchi, mushroom hay

And we definitely are gnocchi fans! But this was no ordinary potato based gnocchi. The gnocchi was soft, airy and dense like a rich mousse. When we inquired about the technique, our lovely server informed us that it's basically just pure egg yolk that was cryovac'ed and then tubed out. However it was done, it was melt-in-your-mouth rich and velvety along with little perfectly cooked baja scallops swimming in a rich, umami mushroom sauce. The mushroom hay, which must have been some dehydrated mushroomy awesomeness that lent some crunch to the dish.

It was so tasty, here are two photos of how amazing this dish was:

That mushroom sauce was heavenly and complex; Nick and I spooned it up after all of the main parts of the dish were gobbled. We pretty much wanted to bathe in that dish. Ohhh yeah. Next up:

soft shell crab, tarragon mayo, caper, potato

This was certainly a pretty dish! My complaint about soft shell crab in general is that it is often too greasy. This was crispy, not too oily and generally very tasty. It wasn't as intoxicating as some of the other dishes and the Vietnamese in me wanted to dip this in nuoc cham with a side of pickled carrots.

Nick and I puzzled to recall how many dishes we had ordered and then they brought this out:

apple, caramel, walnut, burnt wood ice cream

Yay! For me? Why yes it's my birthday!

The server instructed me to crack open the top of the ice cream and let it shatter all over the dish. The entire plate was familiar, yet new at the same time. It wasn't too sweet and my stomach was satisfied with the combination of delicately sweet, tart and savory flavors and unusual textures. I am not even exactly sure of what this was but it had crumbles and soft creamy bits and fruit and smoky ice cream and all sorts of molecular gastronomical wonders.

Whoops. They had brought out the birthday dessert course out early. Our server joked about it and the manager apologized profusely but we honestly didn't care. It was an amazing meal and I replied that Nick usually likes to end with pork anyhow.

pork belly, charcoal oil, bbq flavor, corn

And this pork belly has changed his life:

It was perfectly cooked with a generous drizzle of charcoal oil and barbecue sauce which, according to Nick, tasted like a perfect summer afternoon of barbecue in your mouth. I mopped up the creamy corn grits on the side that were drizzled with the oil and the charred onion.

This photo is of Nick explaining that he gave up. He was pretty sure he was ruined for pork belly after this and it was undoubtedly the most delicious piece of pork belly he had ever tasted.

"That's it. I give up."

This photo is of Nick explaining the smokiness of the sauce and how it was like a summer afternoon barbecue wrapped up in a sauce.

"It's like they captured the essence of a summer BBQ"

 And this is just Nick in a stupor, dishing more of it into his mouth.

"nomnomnom"

And here are more photos just so you can see the obscene food porn that this rich pork belly is.

All evening long, the manager shuffled a few diners towards the kitchen window to greet Chef Voltaggio as he worked the line. They managed some words of gratitude but didn't get much more than a handshake and a couple of words in. I felt a bit shy but Nick asked our server if we might be able to greet the chef, seeing it was my birthday.

After paying the bill, the manager came out to apologize again for the pork-as-dessert mix up and then said that we could give our compliments to the chef. However, he said, "Michael usually doesn't like to meet people in the dining room and so he would like to meet you outside on the front patio, if that's ok." I was a bit confused but followed him out of the front door. Then, Chef Michael Voltaggio came out magically to shake our hands.

ZOMG.

He was so ridiculously sweet and generous. He apologized profusely for the dessert mix up although we giddily told him how wonderful his food was and that we didn't care what came last. We told him that it was inspired cuisine that we had traveled for and were delighted to consume. He asked where we were staying and told us a few fun bars and places along Abbot Kinney to check out. He was sociable and super nice.

That's when the manager said, "So um, this is when we would normally take a photo...?" My jaw dropped. I had heard another patron ask the manager if they could take a picture with him, only to be declined. I quickly grabbed my camera, made sure the settings were okay and shoved it at the manager. Michael put his arms around our shoulders and....

I freaked out. He's amazing.

Chef Michael Voltaggio was completely sweet, humble and genuine but most importantly, he's a damn talented chef who just served us some of the most amazing food we had ever eaten. I now know exactly why he won Top Chef because I have experienced that creativity, skillset and ability to execute myself. Chef Michael: If you're ever in Seattle, hit us up and we'll take you out to delicious places to eat.

Nick: You are the best boyfriend ever and this was the most fantastic 30th birthday a girl could hope for. You even let me ogle at another man. :) But you're the man for me!

Phở me completely

I'm Vietnamese so I get asked about phở a lot. And no, my family does NOT own a phở restaurant or a nail salon. Mostly, people ask me where can they get the best phở in town. Unfortunately, I am a pescatarian so I don't always know where to get the best meaty phở.  When I crave phở, I typically go home to my mother's or my grandma's for some amazing homemade phở. You know, the kind made with lots of love.

But here is a handy guide to phở based on interviews with my family, friends and personal experience.

What the phở is phở?

I hope you already know the answer to this and if you don't, I might have to slap you upside the head. Phở is a noodle soup made with a specific type of flat rice noodle, meat, a clear beefy broth and some garnishes. Phở is typically served with beef (phở bò) which may be served cooked or raw and then cooked in the hot broth but can also be served with chicken (phở gà) and in chicken stock. 

Phở originated from Hanoi or North Vietnam in the early 20th century incorporating both French and Vietnamese tastes so it's an original fusion food. There are ton of Phở Bắc restaurants all over which translates to "Northern Phở."

What the phở? There are regional variations?

Phở originated in the north and so northern phở is regarded to be a bit purer and simple. If you go to Phở Bắc or a restaurant specializing in northern-style phở, you'll notice some common characteristics:

• The broth tends to be pretty clear with a crisp beef and onion taste
• It will be garnished with some cilantro and green onion and you'll be provided lime, chilies and some greens like Thai basil but generally not a ton of other stuff and no bean sprouts
•  The two options for beef tend to be raw or cooked but will be thin slices of beef

Regional differences have blended a bit over time, cooks may be from southern Vietnam and diners have influenced tastes so northern phở may not be as purely northern anymore. But northern Vietnamese diners tend not to season their phở with sauces so hot sauce and hoisin sauce is out for true phở-philes.

Phở wasn't introduced or popularized in the south until the country was split and many northerners moved south. Vietnam is a long, skinny country and the climate and people are incredibly diverse.
Food in the hot, tropical south tends to be on the sweeter side and is more densely spiced. Saigon-style phở tends to have:

• Sweeter, cloudier broth. Southerners add more spices like Saigon cinnamon, a smokier onion flavor from charred onions, star anise, coriander seed and more.
• More varied cuts of beef. Southerners tend to have options for tripe, tendon and sometimes even meatballs.
• More garnish! Southerners will sprinkle more stuff on top of the phở and will serve more topping options on the side, including bean sprouts.

Southerners are the folks who add sriracha sauce, dip the meatballs in hoisin and load up on greens to pile in their phở like a salad swimming on top of a noodle soup. Since the climate is exceedingly hot and humid in Saigon, it's refreshing to have a bit of crisp, cold bean sprouts, basil and cilantro on top of a hot mouthful of soup.

Phở nam or phở Saigon. It might look the same but it tastes different!

My family is actually from the north, but moved to the south during that 1954 exodus so my family sometimes reveals its food allegiance in interesting ways. My grandmother tends to cook a much more pure phở bắc while my parents more often heavily spice up their phở in the style of phở Saigon. My mom refuses to admit this and points out that she has to spice up her broth because we're vegetarians and therefore are missing out on the richness of a beef stock but I think her palate has gone a bit southern.

How do I eat phở?

Very carefully so you don't splash broth all over yourself? Eat it the way you want to and with whichever garnishes sound good to you. You'll at least want to squeeze some lime over it which really brings out the broth's flavors. Try to use chopsticks and those big spoons if you can rather than using a fork please.

Where can I get the best phở?

At my family's. But if you can't come over to visit my parents, the best phở is apparently at this place in Hanoi.

Most people seemed to refer to it as Phở Bat Dan. Phở places typically are referred to by their street name or address, hence Phở 99, Phở 50 or Phở Pasteur.

The phở in Vietnam is cheap! When this photo was taken, 21,000 Vietnamese dong equaled one USD. But Phở should be inexpensive anywhere you go and if you're paying more than $5-6 for it, you're paying too much. In California, a bowl should only set you back $2-4.

You can add an egg for 5000 dong.

This place is also where Anthony Bourdain has eaten phở. All you hear inside this little hole-in-the-wall are the sounds of slurping of noodles and broth and clunking of chopsticks against bowls.

Nick slurping his phở.

The guy hacking up bits of beef for your soup.

 If the amount of scooters out front or the silent diners are any indication, it's the best phở in Vietnam. Here is Nick in front of the sea of scooters.

In general, my opinion is that the best Vietnamese food can be found in the US; I can personally attest that the food in the OC on Bolsa or in San Jose is tastier than the food in Vietnam and less likely to give you food poisoning. Following the Vietnam war, most of the best chefs fled to the US and took their recipes with them. I'm sure the Vietnamese food in Houston is magical as well although I haven't eaten it.

In Seattle, apparently Phở Bắc is the best northern-style phở around. It's that brightly colored, triangular restaurant in the Little Saigon neighborhood of the ID that looks like an obnoxious boat.

My uncle says that the best southern-style phở might be Phở Cyclo. He swears by the one in Sodo across from Starbucks headquarters but I think that's just because that's the one he frequents for lunch.

BONUS: A lot of my pals are eating gluten free diets and guess what? Phở is gluten free! So enjoy.

The Most Expensive Meal of My Life

I love food and experiences - I would rather share an incredible meal with friends in a foreign country after an adventure than have a bunch of giant flat screen TV's, a flashy car and bunch of Hermes Birkin bags (which is probably why you should never rob me since you probably don't want to steal a 35 inch CRT TV).

But I somewhat inadventently spent a fortune on dinner one night with some co-workers in Chicago. We knew we wanted to eat somewhere special while we were in Chi-town for training which meant that we were ready to throw down some serious coin. Nick and I had gone to Moto, after all. Kumar on my team suggested that we go to Charlie Trotters since this amazing Chicago culinary institution was closing this summer after 25 years of service.

Charlie Trotters is a pioneering restaurant which some say had put Chicago on the culinary map. It's a classic Mecca to fine dining and has launched the careers of some of the best and most avant garde chefs around. Unlike the casualness of Seattle dining establishments, it required jackets as well as exceptionally good manners. There were two incredible tasting menus: a meat one and a vegetarian one. I opted for the meat one with seafood only, which they were happy to accomodate.

Then, my former teammate Paul talked me into getting the wine pairings. "I don't really drink wine except when it's paired with dinner, " he said and then added convincingly, "And think about how amazing each course here would go with the right wine. This isn't something you do all the time, it's an experience and this place is closing." So rather than a single glass of wine or a cocktail, I chose to go with the pairing. "What the heck, this is a special experience," I thought... but I should have looked at the wine menu.

This kushi oyster first course was decadent, unctuous and almost obscene. It was paired with a crisp champagne - and I got several glasses of it. 

Unagi terrine with grapefruit. Seriously? This thing was pure art and foam. The crispness of the lime and grapefruit cut into the sweetness and richness of the unagi.

The guys got quail but I think I got trout. Whatever this was, it was delicious. Kumar got the vegetarian menu and for whatever reason, his plate always looked prettier. Not only was the meal more artfully arranged, but the actual china itself was cooler! However, the server informed me that this plate was specially gifted to Charlie so I won this round.

Here is another look at the plate - you can see that it has names of some of the most prominent restaurants around - Le Bernadin and French Laundry to name a couple.

This next plate reminded me of the Top Chef Texas Charlize Theron evil queen challenge - it was a beautiful plate with a violent splash of carmine-colored beet and the most buttery-rich Maine lobster.

This was Kumar's plate, which I had to take a photo of since it was so awesome looking. Below this slotted plate were other ingredients whose smoky vapors got up to what was on top. I don't know what it was but it sure looked awesome.

More lovely yumminess - I am a fan of a perfectly seared scallop.

This was the first dessert course which was refreshing and a bit of a palate cleanser. I am a fan of places that sprinkle crumbs on dessert since, let's face it, a little bit of crumbles go a long way.

More yummy desserts.

Each of these courses included generous pours of delicious wines. One course paired a sweet riesling but when coupled with the rich food, it was balanced and left a buttery mouthfeel. We had sweet wines and ports for dessert. Everything was phenomenally delicious. 

And then the check came. I choked a little bit. $420! That included tax and gratuity but I looked at it incredulously, realizing that the wine pairing was expensive enough to be its own meal... or two. I signed the bill, shrugged and texted Nick, "ZOMG, I just spent $420 on dinner!" 

He was in Austin, eating at Uchiko and texted back, "Oh that's not too bad, my dinner was $640." 

My reply was, "No, not dinner for the whole table. My dinner was $420 for just ME." Ouch.

Needless to say, I forked over my own BECU Visa and did not expense this dinner. I have never spent so much money on food but it was a worthy experience and one that people won't be able to have after this summer. I am sure someone forked over tens of thousands to dine at El Bulli before it closed its doors; this isn't even in the same stratosphere as El Bulli but it was for my price range. And if we hadn't gone to eat there, we all would never had learned how well riesling and bacon pairs together.

Mixing It Up At Revel

It's no secret that Revel is one of our favorite restaurants so I wasn't terribly surprised when Nick registered us for a series of classes there as a Christmas present.

The first class in the series was a cocktail-making class with the description, "Our Quoin bartender will teach a few tricks for fun cocktails and infused spirits."
What's more fun than sitting down to as many drinks as you wanted, along with a personal step by step description of the concoction? We knew the class would be epic when we were seated at the bar and our friendly bartender/professor Brian told us that we could order any drink. "Order what you want. It's included. We'll teach you how we make it too." As Brian mixed up the cocktail, he poured little tasting glasses of some of the ingredients for me - antica, which is a sweet, rich vermouth for example and could almost work on its own over ice.
Mojito expert Jesse told us, "We asked about how much we were allowed to serve and decided we'd just let you all drink as much as we could serve you. You two were very smart to have walked here."

Legen.... wait for it.... dary.


Infusions
Once class got started, we learned about infusions, which aren't a silly novelty at Quoin, but something they put an incredible amount of care into. The Quoin bartenders expressed their giddiness at the fact they had access to the Revel walk-in, which meant they had access to amazing, fresh and exotic ingredients to play with. The bartenders stepped us through the process of making syrup infusions like earl gray tea and simple syrups and how they can play a part in cocktails. Afterwards, we stepped through some of the available ingredients to make an infused syrup or soju infusion like the ones Quoin is famous for. Their best-known soju infusion was the pho infusion, which includes some pho ingredients sans beefy broth. (Although they had some extraneous ingredients - there is no lemongrass or ginger in pho!)


We decided to make soju infusions with some of the awesome ingredients and are steeping them in little mason jars. Nick's aromatic infusion has cardamom, asian pear, cloves, star anise and ginger. Mine is spicy with lemongrass, ginger, lemon zest and thai basil.


The Manhattan

The gang stepped us through some important bar tools and techniques including notable gems such as:

• Wood muddlers are the best. If you get a heavy or fancy one, you'll end up with a glass shattering in your hand.
• You don't need a fancy shaker - a pint glass and metal shaker cup works best
• Other essential bar tools include microplanes, cocktail strainers, a micromesh strainer, a stir spoon and vegetable peelers to make twists. If the equipment is expensive or heavy-handed, it's probably not very good.
• When you add ingredients to the pint glass end of the shaker, ice is the last thing you should top it off with before shaking.

We went through the basics of making a stirred manhattan, which originally was made with rye and served with a twist, not with cherries. They showed us many different bitters which can be used rather than the usual Agostura bitters. Who knew there were grapefruit bitters, lavender bitters and celery bitters?

The Mojito

Bartender Jesse was the mojito man - although they admitted that on a busy night, the mojito is the worse drink you can order. Nothing will piss off a bartender more than one of those in the midst of a rush. Duly noted.

This was fun to make and muddle so here are the delicious results:

The Margarita

They make margaritas like I make mine - with a smidge of orange juice! That's definitely the secret to delicious margs. Obviously, they use fresh and so clean-clean ingredients and great reposado tequila rather than the sweet fake margarita mixes and Cuervo crap that we're used to. The bartenders also swore by real Cointreau or Grand Marnier over Triple Sec, which they said doesn't have as much intense flavor.

I'm ready to throw a margarita party and bake a margarita flan cake. It's great for your taste buds, bad for your waistline.

Winning!

The cherry on the sundae was that got to play around and invent our own cocktails with full access to their collection of liquors and pantry items. The team's concoctions would be judged by the bartenders and the winning drink would be the special of the week. Inspired both by the pho infusion, the mojito and our trip to Vietnam, Nick and I decided to create a drink reminiscent of bun bo hue, a spicy beef noodle soup. It would be tangy, sweet, spicy and full of our cocktail-concocting passion!

Say hello to the Hue Jude:

The base is light rum with a ginger liqueur over muddled lemongrass, thai basil and pineapple, pineapple juice, all extremely well-shaken and topped with some soda water. We garnished it with a stick of lemongrass and a slice of pineapple dipped in chili powder for a spicy kick.

The judges tasted the cocktails although only Jesse and Brian got to have a bite of the chili dipped pineapple.

And we won by a slim margin! The Hue Jude was zippy and refreshing but not too cloyingly sweet. We were awarded with a trophy and a card for a free Hue Jude cocktail. Winning felt wonderful - or maybe it was the fact that we just had a few cocktails and a boatload of fun. Either way, we left feeling happy, extremely satisfied and ready for a little afternoon nap.