There are few things more interesting than seeing someone rise to a challenge. A bartender at a cocktail competition, a head chef at a new site, an new exhibition by an artist. It’s a fascinating look into the creative at work, where their thoughts have taken them and where they’ve gained inspiration from.
Take my recent visit to the River Restaurant at The Lowry Hotel. Both the restaurant and the bar were challenged to create a menu based around Copperhead Gin. The original Copperhead Gin has a citrus and cardamom base with a juniper led finish, whilst the Black has the addition of black Ceylon tea and Elderberry, giving it a heavier deeper spiced flavour to it.
The hope is, that alongside their regular wine centred dinners, they’ll offer gin paired evenings. So for £55 you can enjoy a G&T on arrival, an introduction from a gin brand or someone like me, then enjoy a three course dinner paired with gin cocktails. Having eaten here before, I knew the food was excellent, but this added an extra element of challenge. With wine, you select a theme and pair the wine to the food. This involved creating both the drinks and the food.
So how did they do?
Our starter cocktail involved the Black batch gin – using apricot liqueur and a little chutney that went to make up one of the components of our starter course, acting like a shrub – balancing the sweetness of the liqueur and the deep notes of the gin with a little acidity. The result was a well balanced drink with a good sweet and sour element to it.
This was paired with a beautiful rabbit terrine, soft quails eggs and brioche. Both the chutney and the cocktail were well paired with the chilled rabbit, the fruity acidity softening the earthier flavours of the rabbit, whilst still letting the meat itself shine.
Our main was my favourite dish of the evening. Plaice with whole grain mustard, asparagus and fondant potato, paired with a Martini.
The cocktail was perhaps the one that Mr GFB approached with a little trepidation. When I drink a Martini, it’s often dry, pretty often dirty – and such a style isn’t to everyone’s tastes. This, though deeply herbal in nature having been layered with liqueurs, including Benedictine, was softer and ‘wetter’ and the herbal flavours, with the sweet crisp asparagus and the perfectly cooked asparagus was an ideal accompaniment.
All too soon, dessert beckoned, and arrived much to the jealousy of our fellow diners.
Let’s try that from another angle shall we?
Spun sugar sat atop Chantilly cream and vanilla ice cream, peaches, raspberry compote and the remainder of the glass was filled with a gently wobbly panna cotta. A fitting tribute to a Peach Melba.
To accompany, a raspberry cocktail featuring the original Copperhead Gin. It would have been all to simple to go for something very similar to the dessert itself – raspberry and peaches are a match made in heaven, however this was kept drier and the acidity was kept a little higher than in the dessert, bringing out the brought our the vanilla and the creaminess.
Thoroughly satisfied, we nonetheless lingered after dinner with a drink in the bar. Still one of the prettiest, and most modern bars in the city, it’s stylish without being cold – still retaining a warmth of welcome and comfort. And of course, as it was on my ‘to be sampled for Gin Pokemon‘ list, I had to try the Copperhead Black on it’s own.
Pairing cocktails with food isn’t new, but it’s still something that’s being explored on a wider stage and it that offers an alternative to wine, or even beer. I think this type of evening would only show the adaptability of gin and the variety of flavour you can get from one spirit.
But let me know what you think. I think £55 for three courses and four drinks is a pretty good deal, so if you fancy it, maybe I’ll drop them an email and we can create and event.
What do you think?
