Artisan Coffe Archives - Page 8 of 29

Everything You Can Eat and Drink

Posted on11/09/202408/08/2023Author

“Does Dolly like the banana pudding?”

I’m on the phone with Nathaniel, one of the concierges from Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and he’s walking me through the menu options for a personalized dinner that I’ll be eating on her tour bus.

The classic menu features dishes like bacon-wrapped shrimp and mesquite-smoked brisket, and I notice three different dessert options. While they all sound appealing, I really just want to know what Dolly likes. I’m assured she does, in fact, love the banana pudding. And what’s good enough for Dolly is good enough for me.

The five-course dinner is included in a stay on Suite 1986, otherwise known as Dolly Parton’s tour bus. The superstar and philanthropist spent over a decade crossing North America on the custom Prevost tour bus, en route to concerts and award shows. The bus is outfitted with a bedazzled bedroom (complete with a hand-painted vanity, microwave, and wig closet) and a kitchen with a full-sized fridge that required the removal of the bus’s front window to install.

Courtesy of The Dollywood Company

The tour bus was retired and permanently docked in the same spot, it was parked whenever Parton would visit DreamMore. Now superfans can book the Dolly Tour Bus Experience. Starting at $10,000, it includes two nights on the bus for two guests, a suite inside the resort for up to four additional people, a welcome amenity, plenty of fun swag (plush bathrobes, signature Dolly perfume), and a highly-customized private dinner cooked by the resort’s chef, Tiffany Hicks. (Proceeds are donated to Parton’s Dollywood Foundation.)

RELATED: I Tried to Eat Everything at Dollywood in One Day

Courtesy of The Dollywood Company

Days before arriving for your stay, a concierge calls to hammer out the dinner menu so it’s exactly what you want. While the standard menu is full of Dolly’s favorites like biscuits, smoked ribs slathered in Cola barbecue sauce, and that banana pudding, Hicks says guests can choose their own adventure.

“We’ll tailor it to you — your preferences, the flavors you like,” says the chef. “If you want something else, by all means, we’re here to help you enjoy it. That’s what Dolly gets — whatever she wants.” It’s just part of an experience that, for a few magical, thrilling days, channels the country music legend’s life.

The first thing I noticed when we stepped onto the bus — besides the walls splashed in hand-painted murals of travelers and crystal balls, and the glossy faux-wood kitchen table where I imagined Parton drinking her morning coffee — was a cheese board. It’s overflowing with cheddar and blue cheese and fruit. Apparently, it’s the same spread the singer gets whenever she arrives at DreamMore. (According to the staff, she loves cheese, which is just one of the many things that makes the icon so relatable.) The full-sized fridge is filled with bottles of water, coke, and root beer, too.

Courtesy of The Dollywood Company

RELATED: Dolly Parton’s Popular Ice Cream Flavor Is Coming Back

While you’re staying on the bus, you can visit Dollywood and look out for some of the theme park’s most popular treats, including the funnel cake and iced cinnamon bread. But the made-to-order dinner, each course named for one of Parton’s songs or albums and paired with wine, is only available for Suite 1986 guests.

When it’s time for our dinner, we make our way to the Song & Hearth restaurant inside the hotel, and are led to a cozy banquet in a secluded section of the dining room. On each place setting is a rock imprinted with words like “blessed” and “grateful” along with wooden spoons tied with a recipe for Dolly’s famous Stone Soup as a souvenir.

Courtesy of The Dollywood Company

Chef Tiffany greets us and explains the first course: a cup of duck confit and dumpling soup, with a rich, turmeric-laced broth. It’s a riff on the Southern staple chicken and dumplings. “Turmeric is good for the soul,” Hicks says. “At least that’s what my great-grandma told me.”

RELATED: Dolly Parton Is Releasing Her Own Cake Mixes with Duncan Hines

Next up is a plate of cheddar biscuits sitting alongside a ramekin of roasted garlic and rosemary-whipped butter. (Biscuits are another Dolly favorite.) There’s fresh burrata with tomatoes that the chef cooks with brown sugar and finishes with a drizzle of balsamic reduced with honey.

Course three is bacon-wrapped shrimp and andouille sausage over yellow grits that the chef makes with smoked Gouda. And the fourth and final savory course is a feast unto itself. The procession of mains includes pan-seared catfish, crispy fried chicken, brisket, slow-smoked for 11 hours, pulled pork that’s been smoked for 12 hours, and — the star of the show — five-hour smoked ribs coated in

Where to Eat and Drink at Rockefeller Center

Posted on03/08/202408/08/2023Author

Pebble Bar | Photo by Cole Saladino for Thrillist

Rockefeller Center is waving goodbye to its reputation as a tourist-only attraction thanks to a million-dollar revitalization project currently underway at the iconic Midtown destination. A new wave of head-turning and big-name–backed eateries and bars is turning The Rock into the city’s latest culinary and nightlife destination.

From highly acclaimed debuts like NARO, by the founders of trailblazing eateries Atoboy and Atomix, and the swanky Pebble Bar to this week’s opening of chef Greg Baxtrom’s latest venture called Five Acres, there are plenty of spots that have New Yorkers reconsidering their stance on these Manhattan blocks.

So if you’re among the crowds who will be dropping by this season to catch a glimpse of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree or ice skate at The Rink at Rockefeller Center, we’ve got you covered with some of the coolest spots to eat and drink at Rockefeller Center in NYC right now.

Recent restaurant openings at Rockefeller Center

Crab Cake at Five Acres | Photo by Signe Birck

Chef Greg Baxtrom showcases his knowledge of fine dining and hyper-seasonal fare with his first Manhattan venture. Named for his family’s five-acre farm outside of Chicago, Five Acres highlights recipes and techniques Baxtrom learned while working at famous restaurants across the country, such as Paragraph in Chicago and Per Se in NYC. At the 65-seat, greenery-covered eatery, locally sourced ingredients are at the center of the all-day menu; Highlights include Delicata Squash Vase (whipped ricotta, prosciutto chips) and Crab Cake (bruleed bone marrow aioli), as well as larger plates like Grilled Guinea Hen (saltify hazelnut tart, juniper). On the beverage program, globally sourced wines are joined by house cocktails like the Vale of Cashmere (reposado, pear brandy, egg white).

21 Green point | Photo by Cole Saladino for Thrillist

Imaginative takes on American comfort classics are the specialty for NYC-native and chef Homer Murray. For his latest project, Murray launches a Manhattan counterpart to his popular Brooklyn-based 21 Greenpoint. Alongside guest favorites like the Cheeseburger, location exclusive plates include the Crunchy Broccoli Salad (apple, cajun pecans) and Open Faced Crab Toast (mayo, lemon, parsley). Drinks-wise there’s specialty cocktails like Homer’s Day Off (tequila, hibiscus), as well as a selection of beer and wine.

Risotto Di Mare at Jupiter | Photo by Marcus Nilsson

The team behind the popular downtown Italian restaurant King, recently debuted a spacious, 140-seat sibling dubbed Jupiter. Helmed by partners Clare de Boer, Jess Shadbolt, and Annie Shi, as well as executive chef Gaz Herbert (River Cafe in London), the food program features a large all-day menu of regional Italian classics like Beef Sott’olio (chargrilled beef filet, horseradish) and Risotto Di Mare (saffron, whole langoustine, squid), as well as pasta signatures such as Tagliarini al Pomodoro (tomato, marjoram, ricotta). Pair them with an extensive list of predominantly Italian wines as well as house cocktails like the Jupiter Vesper (gin, vodka, fig leaf). Guests can sit within the dining room or opt for a more casual experience at the 12-seater, red-marble bar.

This elegant new French brasserie is from the team behind Tribeca’s highly-lauded Frenchette. At Le Rock, the culinary program is helmed by chef Walker Stern’s (Dover) and offers guests a selection of weekly specials along with permanent Touts Le Temps menu items in a spacious 130-seat eatery. Among the highlights are Steak Haché and Escargots plus elaborate desserts like the Plateau de Dessert (confection stand filled with seasonal treats).

Creative takes on traditional Korean cuisine reign supreme at NARO. Led by the trailblazing team behind eateries Atoboy and Atomix and named after Korea’s first space launch, NARO sheds a contemporary spotlight on hansik (customary Korean food), made using hyper-seasonal ingredients. Led by chef Nate Kuester (Cafe Boulud, BAPBAP), the current multi-course tasting menu features plates like Pyeonyuk (beef shank, tomato, caviar) and King Crab Bibimbap (rice, soybean paste stew, pickled bamboo), alongside desserts like Pear Pavlova (blood orange coulis, pear hibiscus sorbet). For plant-forward diners, a vegetarian tasting menu is also available. Currently, the dining room is reservation only, but the bar is open for walk-ins with an a la carte program.

Rockefeller Martini at Lodi | Photo courtesy of Lodi

Since opening last year, this elevated restaurant/bar has commanded a steady fan base for its classic Italian plates and expert cocktails. Led by chef Ignacio Mattos (Estela, Altro Paradiso), the all-day menu offers from in-house baked breads and croissants to paninis and pastas. Standout dishes include house made Ricotta, Crostini di Fegato (liver pâté), and Salsiccia (pork sausage, turnips). Pair plates with a selection of spritzes, the house Rockefeller Martini, or wine.

Exciting new bars at Rockefeller

Boilo Is the Most American Yuletide Drink

Posted on26/06/202408/08/2023Author

Boilo mulled drink with all its ingredients — Photo: Chris Hatler

The Pennsylvania coal region isn’t just known as the home of America’s oldest brewery or for its ever-burning underground fire and resulting ghost town. It’s also home to a delicious holiday drink worth adding to your Yuletide repertoire: boilo.

I first tried the stuff at a friend’s bridal shower in Pennsylvania’s Schuylkill (pronounced skoo-kill) County. As the warm autumn afternoon faded into a chilly late-September night, her parents broke out some Crockpots and ladles, pouring everyone willing to hang out in the blustery cold a lowball glass full of the hot, spiced beverage. My palate jumped at what seemed at first to be a familiar, infamous taste—think Fireball—until the citrus fruit and honey aftertaste mellowed my tongue and warmed me in a way the adjacent bonfire couldn’t. I grew up just a few hours away in northwestern New Jersey, but I’d never had anything like it before. What was this drink, and where did it come from?

What is boilo and how is it made?

Boilo is the grandchild of krupnik, the eastern European liqueur that melds strong grain alcohol with clover honey and a blend of herbs and spices. When settlers from countries like Lithuania and Poland emigrated to the Pennsylvania coal counties looking for work, krupnik came with them, evolving over time to incorporate citrus fruits and favor bottom-shelf whiskey over grain alcohol.

There are two widely accepted ways to make it: Crockpot style and stovetop style. Both go something like this: Cut up some peeled oranges and lemons, squeeze them into a pot of waterand toss in the fruit along with it. Add spices of choice: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, caraway, and/or anise. Dump in a lot of honey. Let it simmer and cook down. Discard the fruits and spices, then turn off the heat. Pour the concoction into a pitcher or just leave it in the pot, then add your whiskey to the mixture and serve hot.

News sources list the New Jersey–distilled Four Queens as the proper boilo whiskey, but as long as it’s something high-proof, no one will bat an eye.

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But those are just the general guidelines; there are as many boilo recipes as there are families in the coal region. Some added raisinsothers include cherries or apples or cranberries, still others use moonshine—the very original boilo add-in—instead of whiskey. As long as it’s sweet, boozy, and piping hot, you did your job correct.

So conjure up some boilo, fill up a few pitchers, and serve it at your next holiday party. Next thing you know, your guests will be requesting a refill in”coal speak.”