Bambara * – To have a little fun with the buzz surrounding the 2015 Academy Awards, Bambara is featuring original specialty drinks, each designed for an Oscar “Best Picture” nominee and crafted by the expert bartenders in Bambara’s popular gathering hotspot, “The Vault.” Available now through Feb. 22 when the awards are bestowed, every vote (order) will be tallied until the big night when patrons are invited to see how their selections fare against the Academy’s awardees. Bambara’s resident bartenders will issue their predictions on Wednesday, Feb. 18 in the Vault.
“Our Oscar-themed cocktails are a big hit in The Vault” said Bambara’s expert bartender, Austin Craig. “This year’s inspiration came from locations, and also pays homage to personalities and ages of the characters.”
With prices ranging from $14 to $26, the “Vault” is offering eight different Oscar-inspired specialty drinks until Oscar night on Feb. 22, including:
American Sniper (pictured top of page)
Tito’s Vodka, blueberries, ginger beer. A blueberry mule made with vodka from CPO Kyle’s home state of Texas ($14)
Imitation Game
Beefeater Martini with Ransom Dry Vermouth. A British standard created with vermouth which has the complexity of the Enigma Code ($14)
Birdman
Don Julio Anejo Margarita. Aged tequila for the aged action star ($20)
Selma
Southern Comfort mint julep, the drink of the south ($12)
Boyhood
Smoky Nail, scotch and Drambuie. Made with Laphroaig 18 for Mason Evans, Jr.’s age at the end of the film ($26)
The Theory of Everything
Iron Horse’s Neck, Remy Martin VSOP, St. Germain, ginger ale. Also pays homage to Lou Gehrig, the ‘Iron Horse’ of baseball, who also suffered from ALS ($16)
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Jagermeister, Malibu, and pineapple. Jagermeister to represent the film’s production location of Germany ($14)
Whiplash (pictured above)
Perfect Manhattan from the current cocktail list. In honor of Buddy Rich, one of Andrew Neiman’s heroes ($16)
202 S Main St, Salt Lake City, UT 84101
(801) 363-5454
www.bambara-slc.com
Beehive Distilling What would happen if Beehive aged their gin in a hand-charred French oak barrel? The answer is a smokey and perfumed product hitting DABC shelves as I write.
The “Limited Production” Beehive Barrel Reserve is priced $38.99 – and can be found using the handy DABC product finder, here with code 029326. Our Local Partners Vine Lore * have the full skinny:
Strict rules and standards are adhered to when producing bourbon, scotch and tequila, but gin producers have a lot more freedom to experiment. Craft distilleries like Beehive have begun aging gin in barrels for a totally new experience.
They say anything worth having is worth waiting for. Beehive distills their premium gin with a blend of seven botanicals, then they let it rest in hand-charred French oak barrels. After spending some quality time together, the pine notes of juniper combine with the vanilla finish from the oak to create a flavor that’s unique, but familiar.
If you’ve been enjoying Jack Rabbit you’ll need to try their Barrel Reserve. The alchemy of a botanical gin aged in hand charred French oak barrels is something you’ll need to taste for yourself.
Avenues Proper – If beer is more your pace, Avenues Proper continue to push the envelope as 2015 progresses. Avenues recently partnered with their next door neighbors, Hatch Family Chocolates. In co-owner Liam Connelly’s own words, “We gave them 1/2 gallon of our Oatmeal Red Ale and they gave us back Oatmeal Red ice cream with chunks of oatmeal cookie dough in it. Needless to say its unique, and fantastic.” The Oatmeal Red Ale is just one of Avenues’ 11 house brews currently on draught. These include, in rough order of lightest to darkest:
Little Sister Cerveza
* A light easy drinking lager brewed with flaked blue corn, specially ordered for this lager. This was first brewed by Rio (Connelly) and Liam for their little sister’s 21st birthday.
Fever Pitch Saison
* Light and crisp, almost wine-like, brewed with grains of paradise lending a slight peppery background.
Skittle Brau
* Avenues homage to Homer Simpson’s genius, a light saison brewed with fruit. No extracts are used, actual fruit contributes to the fermentable sugars in the beer. The current batch was brewed with peach.
Gose the Gozerian
* A seldom made style of beer brewed with salt and coriander. One of the most unique of the lineup.
Patersbier
* A golden colored dry Belgian single, Liam’s favorite too he tells me.
Ro-Rye
* Similar to a pale ale, with a beautiful rye finish.
Hopspital IPA
* A session IPA, perfectly bittered and then dry hopped for aroma and flavor.
Oatmeal Red
* Served on nitro for a creamy smooth and delicious finish.
Bluegrass Brown
* This style of brown is called a Kentucky Brown ale, and is seldom brewed. All the lovely malty, nutty, chewiness you might expect from a brown, but this brown ale is ever so slightly soured, making for a complex brew.
Foreign Gentleman Coffee Stout
* As we previously covered, Avenue’s linked up with Charming Beard Coffee. The result is strong notes of coffee and roasted barley, for a counterpoint to the creamy mouth-feel the nitro provides. And if you need it – a good dollop of caffeine for a pick me up too.
376 8th Avenue, Suite C, Salt Lake City, UT 84103
(385) 227-8628
www.avenuesproper.com
* Gastronomic SLC is a proud local partner of both Bambara and Vine Lore.
Hi, I’m Stuart, nice to meet you! I’m the founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic SLC. I’m a multiple-award winning journalist and have written in myopic detail about the Salt Lake City dining scene for the better part of seventeen years.
I’ve worked extensively with multiple local publications from Visit Salt Lake to Salt Lake Magazine, not least helped to consult on national TV. Pause those credits, yep, that’s me! I’m also a former restaurant critic of more than five years, working for the Salt Lake Tribune. I’m largely fueled by a critical obsession with rice, alliteration and the use of big words I don’t understand. What they’re saying about me: “Not inaccurate”, “I thought he was older”, “I don’t share his feelings”.
Want to know more? This is why I am the way I am.
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