The cocktails at 116 Crown aren’t just the best in New Haven—they might be the best in the state of Connecticut. The bartenders are equal parts chef and parfumeurs; their palette of aromatics and herbs, elixirs and potions, small-batch liquors, and juices are culled from the very finest producers. Even the tonic water is artisanal.
The cocktail list is divided into helpful subheadings, like “Aromatic & Subtle,” where you’ll find the “Eli Sunday”—heady Bourbon with chamomile-infused grappa—whose sea salt rim gives the flora a bracing bite. The “Gin Garden,” with lychee-sweet elderflower liqueur, a wisp of cucumber peel, and apple cider, is garnished with a translucent, tart Cape gooseberry perched on the rim of your glass like a delicate yellow bird. We love the delicate potency of the “Dr. No,” with Miller’s gin, Zubrówka bisongrass vodka, and white Lillet (now this is what a “vodka martini” should be: gin plus vodka!),… [More]
9.4 Caseus
9.3 Ibiza
9.1 Union League Café
9.1 116 Crown
9.1 Bar (Brü Room)
9.1 Frank Pepe’s
9.1 East Japanese Restaurant
9.1 Sally’s Apizza
9.0 Heirloom
Top Burgers: [More]
The new Fearless Critic Portland Restaurant Guide (paperback, 384 pages, $14.95, ISBN 978-1-6081600-4-4) is now available online at Powell’s, Amazon.com, and other local and national bookstores, as well as New Seasons, Whole Foods, and other food and wine stores.
The book features brutally honest full-page reviews of 300 restaurants, coffeeshops, food carts, and food stores in Portland and its suburbs, including Beaverton, McMinnville, and more, plus more than 40 pages of extensive cross-referenced lists, including a special vegetarian dining guide and late-night dining guide.
Each restaurant in the book is rated on a rigorous 1-to-10 scale for food and feel. Reviews are based on the evaluations of an independent team of local food bloggers, food critics, and chefs, who visit restaurants incognito and don’t accept free meals. Fearless Critic is reader-supported, not ad-supported, and we don’t accept print or online ads from restaurants.
Also now live is the online version of the Portland guide offers a complete, searchable database of Fearless Critic ratings and… [More]
In wake of some of the latest chatter about The Wine Trials 2010 (this one from Joe Briand, wine buyer for New Orleans’ excellent Link Restaurant Group, e.g. Cochon, Herbsaint, with a response from Wine Spectator executive editor Thomas Matthews), I thought it was time for a quick clarification of first principles here.
People have sometimes (often, maybe) misinterpreted The Wine Trials (and The Wine Trials 2010) as making the claim that no expensive wines are worth the money, or that cheap wine is generally “better” than expensive wine. In fact, I make neither one of those claims in the book.
Rather, my basic points are these:
(1) Evidence has shown that most everyday wine drinkers (not wine professionals) don’t prefer more expensive wines to cheaper wines in blind tastings. This is separate from the question of whether the properties of expensive wines are aesthetically superior in… [More]
