New Trends in Bar Food

[slkinsey]

Julia Moskin has an article in today's NY Times entitled "Drop the Swizzle Stick, Grab a Fork" wherein she discusses the trend for cocktail bars to serve "thoughtful, tasty food beyind the usual burgers, bowls of pretzels and cheese plates." Several top cocktail spots in NYC are mentioned.

It has long been possible to get "advanced bar food" while sitting at the bar of a restaurant or at a swanky hotel bar such as Bemmelmans Bar at the Carlyle, but the movement in this direction for stand-along cocktail bars really began in earnest with the opening of Pegu Club in 2005. And Pegu Club's current menu garners some attention from Moskin as "the most elaborate and successful in the city." It's no surprise by now that the kitchen is now under the direction of Philip Kirschen-Clark formerly of wd-50 and more recently of Jimmy's No. 43. They're offering food along the lines of snail-stuffed pancakes with fennel seeds, nigella seeds, Pernod and spicy mayonnaise. Says the chef, "I wanted really bold flavors because cocktails are so explosive." Moskin calls his duck confit, slow-cooked in a paste of ginger, garlic, kaffir lime leaves and cilantro, shredded over polenta and served with pickled cherries, radish and shiso "one of the great flavor compositions of the year." I haven't tried these two dishes, but I've had the chance to sample a number of dishes-in-process at Pegu, and have been quite favorably impressed. It's great to see the bar that started the trend taking it up to the next level.

As one could imagine, PDT gets a nice mention as well for taking more traditional, "non-haute" bar food (namely, deep fried hot dogs) and bringing it to a level of "high and low" sophistication with a touch of the modern, unexpected and recontextualized with offerings like their John John Deragon with cream cheese, scallions and everything bagel seasonings, and of course the Wylie Dog with its iconic deep fried mayonnaise.

I know that Clover Club and Death & Company are offering interesting and innovative food. Perhaps people would like to post about what they've liked there, and I'm sure we'd also like to hear about the "advanced bar food" offerings at other cocktail bars across the country.

If I had one "complaint" about some of the "advanced bar food" on offer, it's that I find much of it portioned too small. Economically, I can understand that they have to charge, say, 15 dollars a plate just to pay for the kitchen to run. I don't mind paying that price. But if I am going to spend 30 bucks on two plates of food, it should be enough food that I don't need dinner afterwards. For me, it's definitely a barrier to ordering bar food if I'm going to spend "dinner money" but still need a meal later. For example, Brandy Library's merguez sausage "lambs in a blanket" wrapped in puff pastry with harissa and dijon mustard is $14 for 8 smallish pieces. Others may know better than I whether food cost is a significant concern in these contexts, or whether they could put more food on the plate.

Edited August 28, 2008 by slkinsey (log)

[tsquare]

Five favorites in Seattle:

Spur - sous vide and other mg components in play - Belltown

http://spurseattle.com/

Oliver's Twist - not much of a kitchen, but the food is good - Phinney Ridge

http://www.oliverstwistseattle.com/

Copper Gate - modern Scandalnavian (sic) - Ballard

http://www.thecoppergate.com/

Sambar - adjacent a very traditional French restaurant, but much more fun - Ballard

? website ?

Licorous - across the parking lot from Lark - Central District

http://www.licorous.com/

Then there is that whole izakaya thing - really prevalent in Vancouver, BC.

[eje]

A lot of San Francisco's best bars are restaurants and most offer at least a limited menu for bar seating.

Personally, I really enjoy to show up early and sit at the bar for a couple cocktails, appetizers, some dinner, and a nice glass of wine at places like Absinthe, Beretta, Flora, NOPA, range, and Slanted Door.

About the only bar I can think of that is really trying to do the food thing seriously is Alembic. It's definitely small and rather expensive plates of more or less finger food. They do have a new-ish chef(s?) who is into messy food and variety meats. I've seen bone marrow on the specials menu a couple times now. Not sure how that works at the bar, but I'd like to find out.

Edited August 27, 2008 by eje (log)

[daisy17]

Whether "advanced" or not, bar food is kind of essential in my book. I can't have more than a couple of cocktails without food if I want to be able to stand when I get off the bar stool.

I've always been a fan of the food at Death & Co. The duck quesadillas have gotten me through many evenings. Haven't had anything off the new menu yet.

If I had one "complaint" about some of the "advanced bar food" on offer, it's that I find much of it portioned too small. 

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My issue, which I was faced with just this Monday at PDT, is the lack of healthier options. Deep fried hotdogs and tater tots are indeed delicious, but not exactly what I should be eating on a night on which I skipped the gym AND had cocktails.

Edited August 27, 2008 by daisy17 (log)

[weinoo]

Deep fried hotdogs and tater tots are indeed delicious, but not exactly what I should be eating on a night on which I skipped the gym AND had cocktails.

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Actually, aren't they just about perfect for that type of night?

Seriously though, I do agree with Sam's issue about the price/value thing, but also realize that by having a chef and probably one or two other kitchen helpers, the food production cost at a place like Pegu or Death & Co. is probably pretty high.

[Dave the Cook]

Just to show how far bar food has come, Atlanta's Holeman & Finch Public House recently won Atlanta Magazine's "Restaurant of the Year" award:

Just because the space feels more like a bar than a dining room proper doesn’t mean the cooking isn’t serious. Pork belly, hog jowl, pig’s ears and tails, fried bologna, and gratin of marrow are the kind of macho (and delicious) dishes that separate the truly omnivorous from their meeker table companions. British oddities such as gentleman’s relish—a mixture of anchovies, butter, and herbs—take no prisoners, and the charcuterie plates feature more varieties of homemade salami and Southern hams than any menu in town . . . here are also inspired vegetable and seafood preparations, and everyone can agree on desserts such as warm sugar-glazed doughnuts . . .

Full story here (scroll to bottom).

My report on H&F is here.

[slkinsey]

Seriously though, I do agree with Sam's issue about the price/value thing, but also realize that by having a chef and probably one or two other kitchen helpers, the food production cost at a place like Pegu or Death & Co. is probably pretty high.

I agree that the cost of having a kitchen on that level is probably pretty high, so they probably have to charge 14 to 16 bucks a plate no matter what is on the plate. What I'm wondering is what it would do to the bottom line to make the portions of some of these things twice as big. My guess is that the majority of the cost isn't in the ingredients. And, for me, I find the price/value is a barrier to ordering. If two $14 plates isn't going to fill me up, it's not like I'm going to order three $14 plates. Instead, I'm likely to order zero plates. Most of the time, when I've had two $14 dollar plates, I've still needed to eat dinner afterwards. So, at that size, they really are snacks. $14 is pretty steep for snacks.

I guess I'm suggesting that some of these places might actually move more food and ultimately make more money from the kitchen if the plates were larger. Maybe I'm completely wrong about that. I don't know the economics. But, for the sake of comparison, you can get a generous plate of bucatini all'amatriciana at Lupa -- enough to call "dinner" -- for 16 dollars.