Lawrence bars serving up cocktails for charity during Negroni Week
This Negroni cocktail at John Brown's Underground features a twist on the classic recipe by adding Herbsaint and orange essential oil along with the traditional ingredients of gin, vermouth and Campari with a lemon twist. John Brown's is one of several Lawrence bars participating in Negroni Week to raise money for local charities through June 7.
About a dozen Lawrence restaurants and bars are inviting customers to drink for a good cause this week.
Negroni Week, a yearly event presented by Campari and Imbibe Magazine, enlists the help of bars around the world to mix up their favorite variations of the timeless cocktail that traditionally features gin, Campari and sweet vermouth. For each Negroni sold at participating bars, a portion of the proceeds will go toward a local charity of the bar's choice.
At Mariscos, bartenders are doing a standard Negroni with a splash of gin-barrel-aged orange bitters plus a garnish of "flamed orange twist," all served with an extra large ice cube. (The restaurant is donating $1 per drink to Just Food; a few other participants said they hadn't decided on a precise number.)
The Bourgeois Pig, John Brown's Underground and 715 are all teaming up to benefit the Lawrence Humane Society by creating different twists on the drink.
715 will feature the classic Negroni all week long, with new variations offered each day. Tuesday, bartenders will be serving up The Jasmine (with rum and Cointreau orange liqueur). The next day, it's the Perfect Sherroni (sherry instead of the standard gin, plus both sweet and dry vermouths).
On Monday, John Brown's was serving a "New Orleans twist" on the drink, with Herbsaint and orange essential oil mixed in with the traditional ingredients. The bar also plans to add a new take on the drink for a $5 special each day this week.
Other Lawrence locations, like Genovese and The Burger Stand, are sticking with the classic recipe.
From now until June 7, you can stop by any of these local establishments for a refreshing Negroni — and a bit of positive karma (the local charity each location is benefiting is in parenthesis):
• 715 (Lawrence Humane Society)
• The Burger Stand (Lawrence Humane Society)
• Genovese (Help Nepal Foundation)
• Henry's (Lawrence Humane Society)
• John Brown's Underground (Lawrence Humane Society)
• Legends (Boys & Girls Club)
• Mariscos (Just Food)
• Minsky's (March of Dimes)
• The Salty Iguana (Newhouse Shelter)
• Six Mile Tavern (Newhouse Shelter)
• The Bourgeois Pig (Lawrence Humane Society)
For more information on Negroni Week, including a full list of participants, check out the event's website.
Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with restaurant specials
Happy Cinco de Mayo, readers! If you're anything like me, you've probably never met a Mexican foodstuff you didn't like. To help you celebrate the day, I've compiled a list of restaurants in town offering Cinco de Mayo specials.
This isn't a complete list, of course, and if I'm missing any places, make sure to let me know. As you might've guessed, all the restaurants mentioned here are running some kind of special on margaritas or imported beers, but I thought I'd focus on what's truly important: the food.
Genovese, 941 Massachusetts St.
Genovese's annual Cinco de Mayo Tequila Dinner is slated for 6:30 p.m. Four different varieties from Mexico's Don Julio brand will be served, paired with dishes from the Yucatan Peninsula. The menu includes shrimp ceviche, a traditional thin chicken tamale wrapped in banana leaves and cochinita pibil, a pulled-pork dish marinated in sour orange, red onions, garlic, tomatoes and achiote.
The cost of the meal is $59 per person. Call 842-0300 for reservations.
Tortas Jalisco, 534 Frontier Road
The west Lawrence eatery is celebrating Cinco de Mayo with "all the traditional dishes from Mexico" throughout the month, says Tortas owner Angel Alvarez. Expect tasty south-of-the-border classics like tamales, pozole, chicken and mole sauce, and potato tacos. If you're in the mood for something super patriotic, try the "Mexican flag enchiladas." Green tomatillo sauce, melted white cheese and red salsa mimic the color's Mexico's flag, while a dollop of sour cream and pico de gallo symbolize the eagle in the center of the flag.
Mexquisito, 712 Massachusetts St.
Over at Mexquisito, Tortas' sister restaurant, specials also include bandera (Spanish for "flag") enchiladas, available in pork, chicken or beef.
El Potro, 3333 Iowa St.
Order up a "Cinco Burrito" in honor of the holiday. Along with meat (you can choose between chicken or steak), the burrito is stuffed with veggies and topped with chorizo.
La Parilla, 724 Massachusetts St.
Festive Mexican favorites abound today at La Parilla, such as the tri-color nachos (chicken, peppers and onions, topped with pico de gallo, sour cream and guacamole), shrimp diablo and chicken mole.
La Familia, 733 New Hampshire St.
Perennial downtown Mexican cafe and cantina La Familia is serving mole with rice, beans and tortillas to pair with its margarita and Mexican beer specials.
Wash down your meal with a festive drink. Guava juice and reposada tequila flavor the Guavarita from Tortas Jalisco, 534 Frontier Rd. by Sara Shepherd
As morels spring up, so do restaurant specials
It's springtime in northeast Kansas, and for the past few weeks, the Journal-World newsroom has been abuzz with talk of a very special fungus: the morel mushroom.
Journal-World photographer and resident mushroom hunter Richard Gwin is particularly enthused, and every few days he'll show off iPhone snapshots of his most recent morel haul. You may remember this gem of a video from 2011, in which he illustrates how to track down and cook morels.
A number of restaurants in town share Richard's appreciation for the elusive (but richly flavored) mushroom, serving up a variety of morel-centric dishes while they're still plentiful along Lawrence-area river banks and hillsides.
At Merchants Pub and Plate, chef/owner T.K. Peterson has been foraging for morels for about a week now, though he estimates it'll be another week before the mushrooms start popping up on the Merchants menu. The plan is to rotate morel specials for the duration of the season, Peterson says.
Right now, he's got a few ideas: a simple pasta with shallots, wine wine, butter, garlic and maybe a bit of cream; perhaps a flatbread with fresh herbs and cheese. He's also made a jam from the mushrooms and served it with grilled meats in the past.
Rick Martin, chef-owner of Limestone Pizza, plans to offer a morel pizza topped with Gruyere cheese and cream. It was a big hit last year with customers, he says.
Last Tuesday, Genovese offered a lunch special of house-made spinach ricotta gnocchi with locally foraged morels and beef short ribs. I also saw a Facebook post from 715 on Monday advertising a dish of shiitakes and morels. Hank Charcuterie introduced a morel special of its own: sherry agave cream, poached egg, charred carrot and roasted pepitas via Facebook last Friday.
Have you tried any of these specials yet? Any I missed out on? We've still got at least a few weeks until morel season ends — when temperatures hit 80 degrees, from what Richard tells me — so I'll keep an eye on social media to see what dishes pop up at local restaurants.
A morel from one of T.K. Peterson's recent mushroom-hunting jaunts. by Photo courtesy of T.K. Peterson
Tasting notes: Sandbar Subs, grape stomp, wine dinner, Free State fries and squealers
The newly opened Sandbar Sub Shop: 745 New Hampshire St., 785-842-0111, sandbarsubs.com by Jessica Pauly/Special to the Journal-World
A few notes from Lawrence's food and drink scene.
Downtown Sandbar Sub Shop
The new, downtown Sandbar Sub Shop is up and running at 745 New Hampshire St., across the street from the Sandbar. Mrs. Mass checked it out for this week’s edition of CheckOut and gave the shop’s fresh, unprocessed ingredients a thumb’s up. Besides sandwiches with names like The Cyclone and the Pirate Steak, Sandbar Sub Shop has mini-mart stuff downtown-goers might need (gum or aspirin, anyone?).
Rock Chalk grape stomp
Kansas University’s student body president, Marcus C.L. Tetwiler of Paola, will represent our town at this year’s Kansas Grape Stomp, according to an announcement from the Kansas Department of Agriculture. The annual stomp — designed to celebrate and highlight the state’s grape and wine industry — goes down at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson. For the first time this year, the stomp also will be open to fair visitors who want to give it a whirl.
Wine dinner
Genovese’s September wine dinner is set for 6 p.m. Sept. 17 at the restaurant, 941 Massachusetts St. Cost is $49 per person, and reservations should be made by calling 842-0300. Featured wines will come from Dierberg Winery of Santa Barbara, Calif., and be paired with a four-course menu of shrimp, scallops, salmon and squab.
Fry switch-a-roo and Free State 'squealers'
Larryville Chronciles reports that Free State has changed its fries. And Chip is less than thrilled about it. Change is tough! In a change probably no one will complain about, Free State is now selling 32-ounce beers to-go — these adorable mini-growlers of beer are called "squealers."
Tips welcome!
Try something unusual or know of something interesting going on at a Lawrence restaurant? Send me an email at sshepherd@ljworld.com or contact me on Twitter @saramarieshep. For more local food and restaurant news, click here.
Tasting notes: Organic wines at the Oread, Sicilian wines at Genovese and the Elvis Burger
Elvis Presley performing in 1972. (AP file photo) by Sara Shepherd
There are two wine dinners next week in Lawrence. They’re both happening the same night, though, so you’ll have to choose — organic or Sicilian? Plus, Elvis (Burger) lives.
Thursday
Organic Wines of the World is the title of the Oread’s next quarterly wine dinner, planned Thursday at the hotel’s Terrace on Fifth.
The reception — featuring an appetizer of poached fig with goat cheese and prosciutto paired with Italian wine — begins at 6:30 p.m. Dinner begins at 7 p.m. and features bass, chicken, duck and steak courses with wines from North and South Americas and France. The planned dessert is coffee crepes suzette with coffee from Lawrence’s J&S Coffee Co.
Cost is $65 per person. Reservations are required and can be made by contacting Kristyn Maloney at 830-3945 or Kristyn@oliviacollection.com.
Also Thursday
Sicilian food and wine will highlight Genovese’s August wine dinner, set for 6 p.m. Thursday at the restaurant. Cost is $48 per person, and reservations should be made by calling 842-0300.
The four featured wines come from Sicily’s Fuedo Arancio Winery and include grillo and Nero d’Avola. Chef Armando’s planned menu features native Sicilian foods such as tuna, bottarga (salted, pressed and dried fish roe), caponata and lamb.
Based on the winery’s website, which touts its commitment to green growing and winemaking principles, the place looks breathtakingly beautiful. If you can’t tele-transport (which sadly you can’t, last I checked), maybe drinking wine from the place is second-best!
All month
The Elvis Burger is back in the building at Burger Stand, an occasional special that seems far-out enough it's worth mentioning. This burger has everything Elvis would have wanted: creamy peanut butter, banana puree and — if you order it Vegas style — bacon.
Chris Hoffman, general manager at Burger Stand, says the special is in conjunction with the month Elvis died — "or went into hiding ... whatever you believe!"
Tips welcome!
Try something unusual or know of something interesting going on at a Lawrence restaurant? Send me an email at sshepherd@ljworld.com or contact me on Twitter @saramarieshep. For more local food and restaurant news, click here.
Cinco de Mayo dinner to highlight refined side of tequila
There is a tequila world beyond “lick, shoot, suck” (and, inevitably, burn), and an upcoming event provides a good opportunity to foray into it.
Genovese’s annual Cinco de Mayo Tequila Tasting Dinner is planned for 6 p.m. Sunday at the restaurant, 941 Massachusetts St.
Genovese plans to serve a selection of Avión and Familia Camarena brand tequilas — silver, reposado and añejo, all produced in the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico — paired with a four-course dinner menu. Geneovese chef and co-owner Armando Paniagua’s Mexican heritage is reflected in his planned dishes: shrimp and octopus cocktail, grilled mahi mahi tacos, barbacoa and chocolate Kahlua panna cotta.
The cost of the dinner is $50 per person, not including tax and gratuity. For reservations, call Genovese at 842-0300.
