Welcome back to another installment of boozings, where we try all of Philly’s Top 15 Drinks! Next up we go to Village Whiskey. While Jose Garces is a celebrity chef, this place is definitely a place for the alcohol to shine. While I hear the food is also good (especially the burger), their menu clearly show that booze is where the heart is. The De Rigueur is made with rye, Aperol (an Italian aperitif made of bitter orange, rhubarb, and cinchona), grapefruit juice, lemon, honey, and mint, and is served in a champagne coupe type of glass.

Man, I don’t know how to describe this drink. But it is rather amazing. I want more. Like now. It’s a strong drink, but not overly so. It goes down super smooth. Although it’s orange and served in somewhat of a girley looking glass, it’s not a girley drink. Actually, it tastes pretty darn manly. But anyone would like this. It’s just sweet enough but not overly fruity or sugary, and you get a subtle hint of mint, without any of the horrible mint chunks. It is definitely my favorite of the top 15 drinks I’ve had so far. At $11, it’s also the most expensive one so far, but not the most expensive from the list. It’s definitely $11 well spent. I’d pay more.

Ok, 3 down, only 12 more to go!

I love any party that has shrimp cocktail, don’t you? I had the honor of attending another party by the ever gracious R, and this party had a theme. It was a holiday pollyanna, but the opposite of “healthy and clean”. I’ll let you all figure that out on your own. Shrimp cocktail. I could eat this all day. Grapes… and a lovely salad that A brought.
This bean dish was definitely the appetizer hit of the evening. A mix of pinto, black-eyeds, pimentos, white corn, onions, vinegar, sugar, etc… it was the perfect topping to the chips below. I could have eaten this whole thing. In fact, I probably did eat most of it. Sorry!

A variety of cheese and crackers, as usual, along with some other tapenade type stuff. Did I mention how many chips I ate?

This is where I always go wrong… I stuff my face with appetizers so that I’m already practically full when the main course comes around.  Here we have some roasted tomato and fennel soup (seriously, who makes this kind of stuff?) and a three meat lasagna. Both were excellent, as always with R’s gourmet cooking. He puts the rest of us to shame!

In keeping with the theme of this little party, E created a special dessert. Let’s just use our imaginations to figure out what this dessert is shaped like. It is banana wrapped in bacon (yes, this dessert had bacon in it!) with two scoops of ice cream. :-) And this whole thing was flambéed! Using cognac, we lit these puppies on fire to burn off the alcohol. The fire looks fake in this photo, but it is totally real! I saw it! I felt it! It was so fun! And even though the dessert sounds odd, it was delicious! Thanks for another great party!

Welcome back to another installment of boozings, where we try all of Philly’s Top 15 Drinks! Next up we go to Oyster House, for their famous / infamous oyster house punch. Unfortunately for us, this list came out right after the famed summer version of the oyster house punch was taken off the menu. So we were forced to go for the Mom’s  Ruin recipe. This version of the oyster house punch is made with gin, cinnamon/chai tea-infused sweet vermouth, grapefruit juice, lemon juice, and topped with champagne, and served in canning jar mugs.

I can describe this drink in four simple words. “It tastes like Fall”. I couldn’t be more succinct. The drink is spicy and cinnamony, yet slightly fruity, with of course, a boozy kick. I quite enjoyed this. If you like the spices that are typically associated with the fall and colder weather, then you will too. It’s sort of like mulled wine, but cold, and made with citrusy punch. And it’s deceptively strong. I wish I could try the summer version though, as that one sounds better to me. As soon as it’s back on the menu, I’ll try it and let you know!

Ok, 2 down, only 13 more to go!