The Martin Miller’s Citrus Sparkle shined brightly at the pairing dinner!
Just a few weeks ago, we hosted an intimate pairing dinner for Martin Miller’s Gin at the three Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park on NYC’s fashionable east side. We loved greeting guests with bespoke gin and tonics topped with cucumber foam and seeing their reactions to a variety of cocktail pairings over the course of the evening.
Celebrity mixologist Kathy Casey co-hosted this fun evening along with David Bromige and Jacob Ereknrona, Founder and CEO of Martin Miller’s Gin, respectively. Food & Wine, Forbes, Martha Stewart Living, Saveur and CNN were just a sampling of the press that got to enjoy the custom cocktails and fine fare that evening!
Cocktails Are the Real Stars of Evening
Food pairings are hot right now; however, the best pairing dinners strike a perfect balance and never let the food overshadow the libations. The Martin Miller’s Gin pairing dinner did just that, with delectable fare created by the brilliant culinary minds at Eleven Madison Park that perfectly highlighted the versatility of each gin cocktail.
Precision, Poise and Perfection
The differences between a good restaurant and a great restaurant can be found in quality of the cuisine and above all, the service. The private room where the event took place was just above the hustle and bustle of the main dining room but still provided a birds-eye view into the comings and goings of the restaurant. When we were seated, all guests received their plates at precisely the same time throughout the meal, doors swinging open and legions of wait staff coming in to deliver them. The service at Eleven Madison Park is truly unrivaled and the food almost otherworldly.
Bringing Out the Subtleties of the Drinks Key to Pairing
Every course at the pairing dinner was customized to pair with a bespoke cocktail created by gintologist Kathy Casey for Martin Miller’s Gin. The starter of salmon smoked with juniper, nasturtium and lime kicked things off by utilizing key ingredients in the London dry gin, Martin Miller’s Gin (Juniper berries and lime peel). The cocktail? The fabulous Citrus Sparkle with a hint of mandarin and a dash of champagne – served, of course, with a rosemary spring for the holidays!
The bespoke Snow Drift sauntered over to the table to perfectly pair with a lemon parfait with ginger gelato.
Then the most divine scallops appeared, delicately seared with cauliflower, lemon and almond to accompany Kathy Casey’s inspired Golden Martini. The luxurious Golden Martini, made with Martin Miller’s Gin, lillet and 24 karat gold flakes, shimmered unlike anything we’ve ever seen, moving throughout the glass in artistic swirls and strokes.
The next treat of the evening came with a tender, moist guinea fowl, roasted with huckleberry and turnip. The tart huckleberries were a perfect way to highlight the bittersweet wonder of the Martin Miller’s Spiced Negroni.
The last magical cocktail to arrive was the Martin Miller’s Snow Drift, and my personal favorite. This lovely libation, made with Martin Miller’s Gin, fresh lemon juice, a custom (easily pre-batched) cranberry-ginger syrup and topped with a frothy egg white concoction, was served with a splendid desert. A lemon parfait with candied cranberries, meringue and ginger gelato was a perfect way to round off an amazing meal!
The cuisine, service, and atmosphere of Eleven Madison Park is truly unparalleled; if you haven’t been, you must! And the evening was utterly memorable, with lively conversation, laughter, and LOTS of Instagramming around the table! One of the guests, Baroness Sheri de Borchgrave of Hamptons Cottages & Gardens, said, “This is the finest event I’ve been to all year bar none!”
We’ll drink to that!