Dining with wine is always delicious. I soon found out that dining with hard liquor is even more so! This liquor-themed restaurant located in River Oaks district is very impressive, considering that it just opened 12 days ago. Many of their dishes are cooked with whiskey and bourbon. Its original location is in Newport Beach and judging by the way things look and run, they were pretty much a success there too.
D is in whiskey heaven. We were told that the restaurant boasts more than 300 bottles of whiskey from all over the worldHe can literally live and die here….I had Kentucky mule made of Larceny Bourbon and D had a 38 Special which was made of Bulleit BourbonWe started with Bourbon Chicken Flatbread. I forgot to take a picture up-close…I got so flustered with the delicious drink we had…For my entree, I had CAJUN BRICK CHICKEN —Pasture-raised chicken, crispy skin, Charleston gold heirloom dirty rice. The rice is really good, spicy without being over-poweringD had CAROLINA BARBECUE SALMON Faroe Islands salmon, Carolina barbecue mustard, butter bean succotash.For sides, we had SWEET POTATO MAC + CHEESE Smoked ham chips.
There’s only two kinds of dessert, so naturally, we ordered both…
CHOCOLATE BOURBON POT DE CREMERED VELVET CHURROS — I bit into it to show the yummy red color inside. I really love this. Such a nice twist from the a dessert classic
Everything was good. All the liquor, both drank and eaten, did not make me drunk! This is why I really love dining out. There is so much to learn and discover. It’s the start of Spring Break so there’s a lot more dining adventures in the works. Can’t wait!!!
I’ve been a Texas gal close to ten years and the I’ve been living the phrase “everything is bigger in Texas” (my waistline attests to this). Cheesy as it may sound, it really is true. We live life here in the superlatives which is not really a good thing at all times, but seldom are things done half-scale. The World Championship Barbecue Cook-off is the biggest, baddest contest, drawing both local and international competitors. The wait-list just to compete is 4 years. All this is set on no less than the huge Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo which attracts more than 2million visitors each year.
We got our cowboy gear on! There’s a lot of walking to be done, and these boots are up to it!This is the tent that we got the invites toEach contestant has a tent which is roughly 4 times this size, my camera can’t pan the entire room.
The counters you see are the bars (open bar!). Because of the scale and magnitude of this competition, contestants have sponsors, and sponsors get invites to the event. And that is the only way to get into these tents, by invitation. No tickets are for sale. I was told there’s a black market for this with invites selling for more than a hundred bucks per invite. Seriously? What kind of appetite does it take to eat a hundred dollars worth of barbecue?
The open bar features a lot of local liquor. Particularly loved Tito’s Vodka. I can’t count how many trips I made to this bar.This is one big-ass hog. The tent can dish out three of these each night. It tastes nowhere like the Filipino lechon that I’m used too.Here are the other goodies –brisket, potato salad, barbecue chicken, mac n cheese, corn. As much as you can, all night long. Oh my…What’s a party without the band? I guess I got so food-logged that night, I totally forgot the name of the band
Outside the tents, festivities (and more food) abound. There is something for everyone (except the vegetarians…)
Everything fried. If it fits in the frying pan, we fry ’em and serve ’em…More carnival food treatsWhat a night!
That was quite an experience. For once the weather was great and so ideal for all the walking. Unfortunately, when we got back, Beans had a fever (flu!), so we did not go back the following night. Just as well because it rained all day. Will definitely make plans for the rodeo and carnival just so I can feature all the fried goodies. Ahhh…the life of a foodie….
