June 2015 - The Connected Table

Vision Through a Glass – Ann Tuennerman, Tales of the Cocktail

Post author By Melanie Young
Post date June 20, 2015

New Orleans has long been considered the birthplace of the cocktail. In fact there is a Museum of Cocktail located in the city. Eating and drinking is an essential part of New Orleans’ rich culinary culture, from its storied bars and restaurants and iconic Creole and Cajun dishes to the cocktails that were created there: the Sazerac, the Hurricane, the Grasshopper and New Orleans Ramos Gin Fizz.

New Orleans is also the birthplace of the largest gathering of people who work in and for the cocktail and bar profession. Tales of the Cocktail® is the world’s premier cocktail festival, bringing together the international spirits community for five days of what’s now, what’s new and what’s next in bartending. The city heats up even more in July when the cocktail cognoscenti arrive. This year’s Tales of the Cocktail® takes place July 15-19.

The brains behind Tales of the Cocktail® is Founder Ann Tuennerman. A New Orleans native and marketing pro, she first started organizing walking tours of the city’s fabled bars in 2002. The following year she launched the first Tales of the Cocktail®. The rest is cocktail industry history. This event has grown into a global gathering with international offspring events in cities like Buenos Aires, Vancouver and Mexico City…and more to come.

Ann Tuennerman, Founder, Tales of the Cocktail

David and I first attended Tales in 2008 and we haven’t missed one since. We’ve connected with so wonderful industry people through Tales, all in the spirit of supporting the industry while having an amazingly fun time. Hey! After all it takes place in New Orleans!

David and Melanie with Tom Bulleit, Bulleit Whiskey (2014 TOTC)

Throughout the year Ann and her team organize events like Tales of the Toddy and a Cocktail Film Festival. More recently they created Tales 365, an exclusive membership service providing bartenders and spirits professionals access to special programs, networking events and distillery tours.

Tales also gives back to support the community who serves the industry. In 2006, Ann and her husband Paul founded the New Orleans Culinary & Cultural Preservation Society (NOCCPS), which has funded more than half a million dollars in programs to support the hospitality industry through grants, scholarships, cocktail apprenticeships and other programs.

I like to say there are three kinds of people: Those who see the glass half empty; those who see the glass half full and those who seize the opportunity and drink up what’s in the glass. Ann saw opportunity in a glass, drank it up and served more to share with others. – Melanie Young

Ann Tuennerman and Melanie with Sazerac, our Maltese

Connect:

www.talesofthecocktail.com

twitter.com/totc

facebook.com/TalesoftheCocktail

instagram.com/tales_of_the_cocktail/

Hear from Ann Tuennerman June 24 on The Connected Table LIVE, 2pmET/1pmCT on W4CY.com, iHeart.com and the iHeart App. Each week we bring you the dynamic people who work front and center and behind the scenes in food, wine, spirits and hospitality. Follow ups on Twitter@connectedtable and Facebook/TheConnectedTable

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Tags bars, bartenders, bartending, cocktails, David Ransom, Melanie Young, mixology. drinks. drinking, New Orleans, Tales of the Cocktail, The Connected Table LIVE

David Ransom Drink Melanie Young THE CONNECTED TABLE RADIO SHOW

Modern Mixology with Tony Abou-Ganim

Post author By Melanie Young
Post date June 10, 2015

He’s a Modern Mixologist and creator of numerous signature cocktails featured on bar menus throughout the U.S. and elsewhere. What are the craft and creative process for developing a memorable and perfectly balanced cocktail?

We pose this question to Tony Abou-Ganim (a.k.a. The Modern Mixologist) on The Connected Table LIVE! June 10th. Tony’s amazing career has spanned the heights- from Harry Denton’s Starlight Room atop the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco- to the lights of Las Vegas working with hotel and resort kingpin, Steve Wynn (Bellagio, Wynn Resorts).

Wherever you go and whenever you order a cocktail on a bar menu, Tony’s hand is probably in the mix.

Connect and follow Tony on Twitter and Facebook.

Tony Abou-Ganim’s Signature Cable Car Cocktail

(courtesy of www.themodernmixologist.com)

The Cable Car was created in 1996 as a signature cocktail for the Starlight Room, a stunning nightclub and cocktail lounge atop the historic Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco. Its name comes from the geographic location of its house of origin … One of the city’s landmark properties, the Sir Francis Drake is located along the world famous Nob Hill cable car tracks, and its Starlight Room is affectionately referred to as the lounge that can be found “between the stars and the cable cars.”

Ingredients:

1 ½ ounce Captain Morgan Spiced Rum
¾ ounce Marie Brizard orange Curacao
1 ½ ounce fresh lemon sour *

Directions: In an ice filled mixing glass add Captain Morgan, orange curacao and fresh sour; shake until well blended. Strain into a chilled sugar-cinnamon frosted cocktail glass* and garnish with an orange spiral – (Orange spirals can be easily cut fresh using a citrus zester, also known as a channel knife). Mixing 2 parts fresh squeezed lemon juice with one part simple syrup will easily make fresh lemon sour.

Hint: To sugar-cinnamon frost a cocktail glass, first chill the glass, rub the rim’s circumference approximately ¾ inch in depth with a lemon wedge, then dip into a bowl of superfine sugar – (regular granulated sugar does not adhere as well).

Join Melanie and David Wednesdays, 2omET on W4CY for The Connected Table LIVE and anytime on iHeart.com and the iHeart App. Hear from the dynamic people who work front and center and behind the scenes in food, wine, spirits and hospitality.

Follow, Like and Share Twitter and Facebook

Would you like to sponsor our radio show? We offer a great package. Please email melanie@www.theconnectedtable.com

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Tags cocktails, drinks, Las vegas, mixologist, mixology

David Ransom Drink Melanie Young THE CONNECTED TABLE RADIO SHOW

Lettie Teague’s Wit & Wisdom on Wine- June 10

Post author By Melanie Young
Post date June 10, 2015

She’s the wine columnist for The Wall Street Journal and former executive wine editor for Food & Wine Magazine, Lettie Teague is one of the most articulate and straightforward wine writers in the industry, and her numerous James Beard Foundation Journalism awards attest to this.

Wine journalist and author, Lettie Teague.

We visit with Lettie June 10th on The Connected Table LIVE! fresh from being honored by the Wine Media Guild and on the heels of the release of her new – and third -book, Wine in Words (Rizzoli). This book is a collection of witty ruminations on wine from “Fun To Know,” “Need To Know” and “Who Knows?” It’s a pleasurable read best paired with a glass of milk(?) at bedtime (Ha! Ha! Not!). Perhaps a port instead

Lettie believes insatiably curious oenophiles should drink what they don’t know versus just what they like to pleasure their senses and expand their palates (There is an essay on being “a palate” in Wine in Words.

This book is a great gift for wine lovers. Here are also some other wine gifting ideas from Lettie:

Lettie Teague’s Rules for Wine Gifting:

Give a magnum.

Better red than white

Avoid the obscure.

Sparkling is best.

Resist the gift set.

Connect with Lettie Teague on Twitter and Facebook

– posted by Melanie

Listen to David and Melanie every week Wednesdays, 2pmET on The Connected Table LIVE at www.W4CY.com and always- anytime- at www.iHeart.com and the iHeart App.

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Tags books, Drink, wine, wine writing

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The King of Cocktails and Master of Mixology- Dale DeGroff

Post author By Melanie Young
Post date June 1, 2015

When you ask almost any bartender in America who they admire most in the industry, one name tops them all- Master Mixologist Dale DeGroff, aka King Cocktail. Dale is credited with reinventing the bartending profession, setting off a cocktail revival that continues to flourish. Dale’s enormous influence in the bar world has spanned three decades and many crafted cocktails.

I had the pleasure of getting to know Dale when he was making a name for himself behind the bar at New York City’s Rainbow Room when I was working with the late Joe Baum to launch New York Restaurant Week. Dale’s charm was magnetic; his drinks impeccable; his bar moves captivating.

A 2015 inductee into The James Beard Foundation Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America and recipient of the #JBFAward for Outstanding Wine & Spirits Professional, Dale is author of The Essential Cocktail and The Craft of the Cocktail (Random House). He is also a partner in the award-winning bar training program, Beverage Alcohol Resource (BAR) and founding president of the Museum of the American Cocktail.

Dale DeGroff cariacature by his talented wife, the artist, Jill DeGroff

Saloon singing and storytelling is another passion of Dale’s. His popular presentation: ON THE TOWN; Bars, Speaks, & Legendary Saloons has been performed in over two dozen cities around the world. Dale also offers a bourbon & bitters tasting presentation I’LL TAKE MANHATTANS! – an exploration of aromatic bitters.

Speaking of aromatic bitters, Dale now has his own line. Crafted entirely from whole botanicals, without commercial flavorings or artificial dyes, Dale DeGroff’s Aromatic Bitters™enhances cocktails without overpowering.

Dale reminisces about working with Joe Baum and his current role as an educator in this June 3 iHeart segment of The Connected Table LIVE!

–posted by Melanie

Connect:

www.kingcocktail.com

Twitter.com/kingcocktl

Facebook.com/DaleDeGroff

Melanie Young and David Ransom, Hosts, The Connected Table LIVE! W4CY and iHeart Radio

Listen to all our shows anytime, anywhere on iHeart.com and the iHeart App. Here is the direct link: http://www.iheart.com/show/209-The-Connected-Table-Live

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Tags bartenders, bartending, bitters, cocktails, Dale DeGroff, drinks, King Cocktail, mixology

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She’s Got Game – D’Artagnan’s Ariane Daguin- June 3

Post author By Melanie Young
Post date June 1, 2015

One of the best things I’ve ever popped in my mouth is a D’Artagnan French Kiss (prunes soaked in Armagnac filled with silky foie gras mousse). I can’t resist them! On June 3 on The Connected Table LIVE! we visited with Ariane Daguin, owner, Co-Founder, and CEO of D’Artagnan, the leading gourmet food purveyor of all-natural and organic meats, charcuterie, and mushrooms in the United States, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.

Click here to listen to the episode on iHeart.

Revered as a culinary innovator among America’s top chefs, Ariane has been at the forefront of the organic and sustainable movement in America, pioneering organic, free-range meats (years before the USDA allowed the word “organic” on the label), preservative free foods, and humanely-raised livestock for over 25 years. Ariane and D’Artagnan have since become renowned for putting the finest foie gras, meat, game, truffles, and mushrooms on the tables of American gastronomes, whether at home or in 4-star restaurants.

Born into a world of great food, Ariane’s father, Chef André Daguin, is famous throughout France for his artistry with foie gras and other Gascon specialties. Ariane was expert at deboning ducks, rendering duck fat, preparing terrines and cooking game birds by the time she was ten. Her creation of D’Artagnan in 1985 has since introduced new epicurean foods to chefs and contributed to the growing sophistication in American cuisine. Today, D’Artagnan’s products are served at leading restaurants and Ariane continues to infuse the indusry- and new generations of chefs- with her unbridled enthusiasm.

Among her many industry accolades, Ariane was recognized in 1994 by The James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America. In 2005, she received the “Lifetime Achievement Award” from Bon Appétit magazine. In September 2006, she was awarded the prestigious French Legion d’Honneur for her work making French cuisine a part of American life. Ariane is also the founding president of Les Nouvelles Mères Cuisinières, an international association of prestigious women chefs and Les Dames d’Escoffier International.

Ariane’s segment with us was once of the best explanations of how D’Artagnan works to closely replicate the natural feeding habits of geese to produce D’Artagan’s world renowned foie gras.

Melanie Young

Connect:

www.dartagnan.com

Twitter.com/ArianeDaguin

Twitter.com/DArtagnanFoods

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