MySideOfTheBar

Ok, one last post before the final push into Key West. As noted we stayed 3 nights on Sugarloaf Key and also as noted not much in the ways of places to eat. (glad we had lots of (leftovers)  There was however, one notable exception. On Saddlebunch Key (about 2 miles from out lodge) we found, thanks to adds on Pirate Radio, Fish Restaurant. Fish = The freshest. Great food and great friendly staff. Well worth the trip and only 14 miles from Key West. Next and I have to say a great surprise was Babalu's Southern Cafe. Some of the best, if not the best Blacken Mahi, Mahi I have ever had. and they make a great Bloody Mary as well. I was also in the right place at the right time to assist the bartender in creating Christmas Cocktails for her party. I suggested the Grinch (from my Nephew's repertoire) Midori, Vodka, and pineapple juice with a cherry for the Grinch's tiny heart. My reward was a free "Santa's Milk" which she had just inven...

Continuing down the Keys we were focusing on a few areas to see if we may be interested in living there. The first stop was Cudjoe Key which is about 77 miles from Key Largo. We knew of a place for lunch and drinks, The Square Grouper and My New Joint.  The latter not open till 4 or so we sat at the bar in the Square Grouper. The adds did not do the place justice as the food was phenomenal. (I may need to develop a rating system as the food only gets better from here. Not finding much around that was interesting to us we continued our journey onto Sugarloaf Key.  A distance of only about 7 miles. We were pleasantly pleased to find a rustic place to stay called Sugarloaf Lodge. It is hard to describe the Lodge and it is really the only thing on this Key. It consist of main office building and restaurant (Currently closed :) )right off HWY 1, a building consisting of rooms (only about 30 or so) The place was very well kept and clean. Oh and did I forget to mention ...

Yes it is true that I have at least on other post with the same name, however this seems appropriate for the next few posts. Especially in light of where we are traveling to. Yes it is Key West once again and I am happy to report that we have been most fortuitous to be able to spend so much time on the Rock in the last few years. If  you recall this past March Central Patti  and I visited around 130 different establishments in the Keys. We have set our goal to 150 this year since we have a couple of extra weeks. The title of one of Hemingway's classics and one of my personal favorites as well.  Also  a couple of my favorite quotes are from this book. “If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a movable feast.”  (I feel the same about the Florida Keys) and “We ate well and cheaply and drank well and cheaply and slept well and warm together and loved e...

Best commercial ever!

This is one great series and if you are a fan of Don, it is a must see. Great to binge during a happy hour. We watched a couple of weeks back on a #KCWW

WTH? So last summer I was bragging to a couple of the "Usual Suspects" about O'Dowd's Irish Pub here on the beautiful K.C. Plaza. We have been frequenting this establishment for more years that I care to recall. On this one particular day when I was full of hope for the newbies, I found it to be closed for remodeling. Keep in mind that the original Irish Pub was transported piece by piece from Ireland and at one time rankled as one of the top ten Irish Pubs in the U.S. Well last Saturday Central Patti and I finally went inside to check it out. While the atmosphere was very sterile compared to the old antique look, it was definitely more spacious and warm. We went up to the upstairs deck for a couple of V.T's and to have a cigar. It was a beautiful day so we asked for a menu to look it over. All of the standbys (boxty's, shepherds pie, fish and chips etc.) They also added many new items. We choose a few from the appetizer list: Parmesan zucchini chip...

As usual they had me at bacon A couple of weeks back I was in the liquor store and stumbled across Ol' Major Bacon Bloody Mary Mix. So naturally I had to take it back to the lab and give it a try. WOW! Without a doubt this is the best mix I have every stumbled across. Very much bacon! The only thing I could recommend is maybe adding a little hot sauce. However, be careful and not choose a hot sauce that has very defined characteristics. I used just a simple ghost hot sauce to give it a little spice. I also found that this same company has a bacon bourbon that I am going to give a try this weekend. Speaking of a little spice I also tried this Bloody Mary Mix about the same time Hot Pepper Bloody Mary Mix is as advertised, HOT! I recommend using just a splash with other ingredients as shown here. Cheers The Professor

So it is no secret that MySideOfTheBar was on the Rock for the  month of march. I am hoping to recap a few places of interest that we visited. The Gato Village Pocket Park is one such place. You are probably wondering what a Pocket Park is? (I know I did) Well simply put a Pocket Park is a small green space that has been set aside for public enjoyment. We were listening to Pirate Radio one morning and found out they had a fund raiser, coincidentally enough on a Whiskey Wednesday at this Pocket Park. The fund raiser was to raise money to pay for the recently refurbished giant cigar sculpture.  Need I say more? No, but I will anyway :) We arrived a little late for the free cigars but did get to sample some of my favorite rum from the Key West Distillery that produces what I think is the best rum on the island (or anywhere else for that matter), Pappa's Pillar. But I digress: The Gatto Pocket Park is This park has a special history as it was part of a un...

After spending 66 days in Key West in the last year I am growing tired of hearing people say, "You have to go to the Blue Heaven!" Yes while it is a cool  place, it simply is not worth going to more than once. The prices and the waiting, not to mention cocktails that are phoned in. So with that in mind here are 5 places worth visiting over the Blue Heaven for fine dining while on the Rock. 5. The Commodore Waterfront Restaurant - While it is true the outside seating is limited the food here is excellent. Service is also a priority at the Commodore. In addition the wharf in Key West provides some excellent scenery. 4. Latrattoria in Old Town - The only reason this establishment was not higher on the list is because we have only visited it once. The bartender recommended the snapper and the hog fish and since she made an excellent Old Fashioned we took her advice. We were NOT disappointed. While you do not have the views here as with the other restaurants, it is cool si...

I discovered this Cocktail from a link to another link :) Kind of like I know a guy who knows a guy. But hey, most things you find online are like this, right? Anyway I was very surprised on how great this Cocktail was and would make a great addition to your next A.M. Cocktail Party. Ingredients 1 1/2 oz Tequila (I used Reposado) 1/2 oz Cointreau 1 oz Carrot Juice 1 oz Orange Juice 1/2 oz. Cilantro Simple Syrup* 3 Slices Jalapeno Pepper Rub a lime wedge on the outside of a Collins Glass and coat with kosher salt Add ingredients to a shaker with ice an shake well Strain into Collins Glass Garnish with a lime wedge *Cilantro Simple Syrup. Just make a batch of simple syrup and muddle in a handful of cilantro. I could not find carrot juice and was not really sure I would like it anyway so I used V8 Juice. I also recommend using more V8 and skipping the Cointreau. Otherwise it was a great morning cocktail and will be a great addition to my next book. Cheers The Profes...

As most of you know that follow this blog or imbibe at MySideOfTheBar I do not like the use of Bloody Mary Mixes. When I see a bar use them I just think they are being lazy. However, there are times when they make sense. When traveling is the main time I use them and yes they are convenient.  As MySideOfTheBar has been on the road for a large part of the last year I thought it would be a good time to share some of the ones I have found that will do in  your travels. The latest is this Jack's Smokey Marty Mix - Brought to you by Jack Stacks BBQ of Kansas City. This is a mild mix that in my opinion needs more spice. While it does have a nice flavor and a smoke taste it falls a little short in my opinion. Adding a hot sauce to it could be that answer. Powell & Mahoney Cocktail Mixer Bloody Mary Sriracha - This is an excellent mix and as you may expect that a nice spice. Also has other ingredients like Worcester Sauce that would expect in a high end Bloody Mary Mix....

Made in a Cave Just before the holidays a new member of the KCTobacPack brought us a couple of offerings from the S.D. Strong Distillery . Now to be honest this is one distillery that I had not heard much about. They advertise as "made in a cave" and my the looks of the website this is true. While I plan on a future outing to this distillery, I can tell you that for the Big Boom Bourbon they advertise as such "After nearly three years in American white oak barrels, Big Boom bursts with spice, fresh oak and soft corn notes, all underscored by a rich layer of caramel" I find this to be extremely accurate and I could have written exactly as they did after tasting. I would rate this slightly better that the Restless Distillery Whiskey that I recently tried and much, much better than the Badlands Whiskey I tried earlier this year. For the Vodka you also get a light corn flavor and according to MySideOfTheBars resident Martini expert, "It makes an excel...

Or as I like to call them "Bartender's Friends). With the Holiday Season once again upon us I thought you might be interested in a little item that will make you a hit at YourSideOfTheBar with you group of "Usual Suspects." These are great and very easy for making top shelf Cocktails. Each box contains 8 packets and you mix one packet with 1 1/2 oz. alcohol and 1 1/2 oz water. Shake in a Cocktail Shaker and pour into your favorite glass. Tip: I use 4 oz. of alcohol and 3 oz. water which makes about two cocktails and still very tasty. I have only tried the Whisky Sour, Lemon Drop, and Margarita as in the picture. (there is also a daiquiri mix) but have received great feedback from my "Usual Suspects." Priced at about a dollar each they are more expensive than you normal mixes, but in my opinion are worth the little extra. Check you local liquor store and they are also available online (Amazon) Cheers The Professor

I have tried about half of these and for the most part agree. If you are looking for Christmas gifts for your Cigar Smoker, start here. Cheers The Professor

I was reading (for the second time) A Classic Novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, "This Side of Paradise." The protagonist, Amory Blaine, on one of his benders went into a bar and ordered a Bronx. Of course having the inquiring mind that I do I had to find out if this was a real cocktail and if it were how to make one. I really should have not been surprised considering the time period of this novel that this cocktail contained Gin. I have to say I was really surprised how good this was and I will be making them again.  For the Gin I chose Hayman's Old Tom Gin as it is a little sweeter. The Bronx Ingredients: 1 1/2 ounces gin 1/4 ounce dry vermouth 1/4 ounce sweet vermouth 3/4 ounce orange juice Orange slice, to garnish Directions: Shake the gin, dry vermouth, sweet vermouth and orange juice in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain the contents of the shaker into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with the orange slice and serve. Cheers The Professor

Ode to Drinking Whiskey If I could have one then I would be fine Two would suffice and I would stay in line Three always makes me feel grand Four makes it a little hard to stand Five and I really feel alive Six and I really start to thrive Seven is where things start to blur Eight and I start to slur Nine drinks and I always say I will abstain Ten I fall asleep and dream of starting over again Cheers The Professor 

I was sitting here @MySideOfTheBar drinking Bourbon and listening to the 70's station. Boston - More than a Feeling Fleetwood Mac - Say that you Love Me Charlie Daniels - The Devil Went Down to Georgia etc... As I was getting my grove on I realized that this station to the kids of today is as much of an oldies station as the 50's and 60's stations I listened to as a kid. So my question is, "When the hell did I get old?" I know that 50 is far in my tail lights and 60 is the second off ramp ahead, but still. I am beginning to remember why I drink. Speaking of remembering, it seems the older I get the more I forget. Now this does not mean my memory is going it is just that the older I get the more there is to remember. Now what was I talking about? Cheers The Professor