Village Whiskey

Tonight at 5pm Village Whiskey will be debuting Maker’s 46, the first new product from Maker’s Mark in 52 years. Maker’s Mark diplomat Nikki Smith will be on hand for the complimentary tasting of the new spirit. There will also be bourbon-friendly bar snacks and three $5 Maker’s 46 cocktails available that have been created by the Village Whiskey bar team.

Maker’s 46 is the first new whiskey produced by the legendary distillery in 52 years.  Featuring bourbon that is aged in barrels supplemented with seared French oak, it boasts intense caramel, vanilla and spice notes.

With all this beer talk it would be wrong not to mention beer’s BFF, the pretzel. Today’s Metro highlights some of the better pretzels around town.

Beer and Pretzels: So Happy Together [Metro Philadelphia]

The Beer Lass skips the burger at Village Whiskey and instead goes with the pork sandwich.

Chef Dave Conn tosses the pork in a whiskey barbecue sauce then adds a creamy coleslaw atop.  It was served with fried pickles as a side.

Village Whiskey’s Pork Sammy [Beer Lass]

The intriguing Konstantinos Pitsillides of Kanella has dropped his popular and long-running goat stew from the menu and replaced it with a suckling pig entree.

Twenty-five bucks gets you a plate featuring meat from 20-pound whole baby porkers Pitsillides rubs with lard and his own spice blend before slow-roasting for up to three hours; he serves up the pork with love letter pasta tossed with cheese and sweet peas.

Out with the goat, in with the pig at Kanella [Meal Ticket]

This week in Philadelphia Magazine’s Restaurant Club Newsletter.

• Joy Manning sees Chew Man Chu in a very different light than Craig LaBan
• Joy also moseyed over to Percy Street Barbecue for some barbecue that strays a little from tradition
• Food Faceoff: Burgers
  Rouge versus Village Whiskey in a hamburger duel
• Philly Cooks Contest: Six-Word Winners
  Winners of challenge to write about favorite restaurant, chef or meal in just six words

Restaurant Club Newsletter [Philadelphia Magazine]

Philadelphia Weekly’s Adam Erace ranks his best 10 dishes from 2009 and for good measure tosses in his 5 worst.

PW’s 10 Best Dishes of 2009 [Philadelphia Weekly]

Sly Fox Pikeland Pils is named one of the best beers in a can in the January issue of Bon Appetit. [Bon Appetit]

Bon Appetit names their ten best restaurant dishes for $10 or less and Paesano’s Arista pork sandwich comes in at number 3. [Bon Appetit]

The USA TODAY comes to Philadelphia looking for cost-conscious eats and shouts out to Sabrina’s, Honey’s Sit n’ Eat, Nam Phuong, Osteria and Chifa. [USA Today]

Tasting Table, an email newsletter in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco salutes Philadelphia’s “cocktail corridor” in its latest national edition. APO Bar and Lounge, Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co., Southwark and Village Whiskey all make the list. Hmm, sounds a lot like a bar crawl we did Labor Day weekend! [Tasting Table]

Just in time for last second Christmas shopping, The Secret is Salt breaks down the Must-Buy, I Liked and Not for Me  Marcie Blaine Chocolates at Verde. [The secret is Salt]

Femme Fermental and Philly Market Cafe both check in on the early days of Percy Street BBQ. Both come away admiring the flavor though Femme Fermental has a couple of reservations. [Femme Fermental and Philly Market Cafe]

Enough about that foie gras topped burger at Village Whiskey, Veggicurious focuses on the “banging” veggie burger. [Veggicurious]

Mac and Cheese enjoys the pizza slinging show at the bar at Stella. [Mac and Cheese]

Veggicurious checks out the Coup de Taco truck for its tortilla-wrapped fusion creations in University City. [Veggicurious]

Adam Erace reviews Village Whiskey and enjoys the service and cocktails but it is of course, really about the burger.

It was rapture on a roll, starring a patty given a thicker-than-average sear, a textural victory that held all the luscious juices hostage until my first bite liberated them a trickle at a time. The droplets of fat glistened like dew, quickly absorbed by a fluffy house-baked sesame-seeded bun cradling intensely beefy beef cooked a blushing medium. It was perfect—and wasn’t even the fancy foie gras-crowned Whiskey King. My burger was the $9 Village Burger, upgraded to $13 with a fried egg and cheddar, and if it isn’t the best burger in Philly, it’s at least my new favorite.

Village Whiskey [Philadelphia Weekly]
Village Whiskey [Official Site]

Craig LaBan reviews Jose Garces’ Village Whiskey and though he finds the burger singularly special, he has some problems with the rest of the menu. But about that burger….

One can top it with shaved white Alba truffles or creamy pads of seared foie gras, or a cool salad of sweet lump crab tossed with horseradish crème fraîche. But such gilding, aside from some cave-aged Vermont cheddar or smoky Oregon bleu, is hardly necessary. The liver, in fact, actually gets in the way of the primal satisfaction this $9 wonder already gives. With its ideal seasoning, meaty tenderness, and butter-crisped bun, its flavor lingers on my taste buds with the all-day mineral shine of a far more expensive cut of beef. The sweet amber sting of whiskey only intensifies the hum.

Two Bells – Very Good

Village Whiskey [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Village Whiskey [Official Site]

Craig LaBan reviews Village Whiskey this weekend, the bar of now Iron Chef, Jose Garces. What will LaBan think of the foie gras topped Whiskey King Burger? Will the liquor prices be too rich for his blood or will he focus on the thickness of the Sly Fox Cheddar sauce served with those duck fat french fries?

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