New Spring Sliders!

New Drink!

"The Greenpoint"

A puree of strawberries and fresh jalapeno over sake!
This will also be available virgin style. I made a batch and drank every last bit of it (it is so good it hurts! Literally, this was a reeally spicy batch.)

Named after and inspired by a drink from the now defunct "Relish" restaurant in Greenpoint Brooklyn. I used to spend evenings talking about this drink! We once sat with Langhorne Slim and drank this in the Summer, oh maaan! They made it with jalapeno vodka and were 10 bucks a pop!
I'll post a picture if the new batch survives.

♥
k

I can't believe it's not, not vegan!

One recipe I've been formulating in the Winter months is Mocha Pumpkin Fudge Cookies. It needs no eggs and it needs no milk. It's far tastier with pumpkin and almond milk! They are almost brownie like, really fudgy, with a bite of 72% dark chocolate chunks, and espresso adds an almost earthy background. Spring's a comin' (maybe), and so I tried a Springy version of these cookies, using bananas instead of pumpkin. Even better!!!

 new Banana Mocha Fudge Cookies

third transformation,

Ok ok...then! I made a vegan frosting and sandwichitized them!! The "frosting" is more like a pudding and made with almond milk, less sugar than a traditional frosting, and lots of cocoa powder, it comes out decadent like a pudding, smooth with no bite of sugary grit.

I put the cookies in the freezer so they can set. They make incredible "flying saucers" too, oh man. But as they defrost they get even more fudgy...

 

don't worry, I ate that one!

These might just be a staple menu item for awhile, so come and git 'em! Rosewater or maybe strawberry for Summer!

Why yes, we dooo have mixed drinks!

This post is for those who know what I'm talking about when I mention the collage like menu wall behind our bar (and to prepare those who haven't)

I can tell when it's someone's first (or second or third...) time seeing it. The wide open mouth, the look of confusion, the leaning in for a good while and then finally asking if we sell beer (!!)

(Answer is yes)

So, mixed drinks though. I'm including here a menu of current and soon to be Sake Cocktails and other Mixed Drinks!

Sake is actually an amazing "liquor". I didn't used to be a big sake person either, but it adds so much complexity to a mixed drink and has a nice astringency like vodka. I've been constantly surprised at how well it blends.

We'll be printing up drink menus soon that one can hold and love and contemplate over.

So here it is folks and folksas..

O+A Mixed Drink Menu

Hot Sake Cider  
(has become our signature drink!)

Hot local apple cider and sake

Spicy Sake Cider 

Made with Sake infused with Chilis, Lemongrass, and honey in Hot Cider

Vegan S.S.C

Made with Sake infused with Chilis, Lemongrass, and local Maple Syrup in Hot Cider

Bloody Mary

Spiked with Sake,

Homemade & Spicy!

Eclipse 
Sake with OJ

& orange slice

Simonne 
Sparkling Apple Cider and Sake


Alphonse 
Sparkling Cranberry juice and Sake

Mimosa 
Champagne & OJ
withe slices of clementine


Full Moon
White Wine and OJ with slice of orange 


Kittywitch
Cardamom, Clove, Mint, Orange Peel, Ginger, Cinnamon, Black Tea (decaf available)
steeped in Hot Apple Cider with honey...$4
Spiked generously with Sake...$5

Kahlua
served over ice or with coffee
*add organic chocolate syrup  .50


"Olas"
Spiced tea steeped in Hot Cider over Red Wine
 
Night Cap
Secret Garden Tea (Rose Petals & Buds, Mint, Lavendar, Chamomile, Rooibos) 
steeped in Hot Apple Cider

Coming for Spring!!

Lua Saka 
Pineapple, Coconut milk, Agave nectar over a shot of sake

Sake Temple 
Grenadine, Lemon Lime Soda, and Sake 


Greenpoint 
Strawberry puree & Jalepeno over Sake
with strawberry ice cubes!


Papi 
OJ, Infused Spicy Sake, and muddled Mint leaves


Guiness Float
(or beer o' choice)
over homemade Ice Cream


*Flavor of the Day* 

TEA!

We've been trying to slowly build our tea selection. We just opened a new batch of "Secret Garden" and it's filled with whole dried roses, it's really gorgeous! We also just got in "Winter Solstice" and you can very nearly snack on it. It has big pieces of spicy, aromatic dried fruit, my favorite so far.

Our tea menu so far looks like this..

Secret Garden (Organic, Fair Trade)  -herbal tisane

Mint, Lavender, Rose (Buds & Petals), Chamomile, Rooibos

Mandela Masala (Organic, Fair Trade) (decaf)

Cloves, Cardamom, Ginger, Cinnamon, Rooibos

Nilgiri (Organic)

Black Tea Origin:  India, Dunsandle Estate

Temple of Heaven (Organic, Fair Trade)

Gunpowder Green Tea
Origin: China 
Estate: Zhejiang Province

Colonille

Vanilla, Vietnamese Black Tea

Autumn to Winter

Peppermint, Mint, Cloves, Cardamom, Ginger, Spearmint, Orange Peel, Chinese Black Tea

Fiji

Pineapple, Papaya, Chinese Green Tea

Ginger (Organic)

Peppermint (Organic) 

Origin: Egypt

Yerba Mate

"Yerba Mate, a ubiquitous S. American herb with deep cultural roots is native to Argentina, Brazil & Paraguay. The wild-grown holly shrub (Ilex paraguariensis), now formally cultivated, is found in the rainforest. Highly nutritious, loaded with anti-oxidants & numerous essential vitamins, like tea, Yerba Mate was used by indigenous people as food, beverage, medicine, a show of hospitality & even as currency. It contains matteine, a stimulant similar to caffeine yet much milder on the body with an energizing effect that doesn’t disrupt sleep or negatively react with the nervous system. Green Yerba Mate is grassy & herbaceous; Roasted is toasty & mellow."

Winter Solstice (decaf)
Apple, Cloves, Orange Peel, Apricot, Rosemary, Hops, Red Currant, Allspice

winter flavor

I think there's a delicate balance that needs to be struck in the Winter in Maine to coast through it with all mental hinges still intact. I'm sick of the vaguely Fall flavors hanging around our menu...polenta, pumpkin, cinnamon.
I love Winter! It's getting colder and I need deeper flavors...heat, textures need to change. Instinctively I went to my roots. The Fall was an expression of mainly Italian flavors, my roots but a different side.  My other side is mainly Armenian. Armenia is darker, it's people are so warm but tough because of a repetitively harsh past, I think dark meats, earthy spices, and fire blackened flavors cooked into the air over long periods of time. Oooh, it brings to mind ancient mysticism!
Anyway, I have to tell you about this soup I just read about....copied:
khash, is considered an Armenian institution. Songs and poems have been written about this one dish, which is made from cow's feet and herbs made into a clear broth. Tradition holds that khash can only be cooked by men, who spend the entire night cooking, and can be eaten only in the early morning in the dead of winter, where it served with heaps of fresh garlic and dried lavash.
Oh man....
Here's what I'm thinking...a "Wonton" or "Lamb Meatball" Soup- vegetarian ground meat- seasonings will sound something like garlic, alleppo, mint, and tarragon, lots of onion, maybe dried celery. Meatballs rolled in bulghur wheat and fried and served with sesame onion lavash.

Karshm- It's a local soup made in the town of Vaik in the Shirak Province. It'a a walnut based soup with red and green beans, chick peas, spices, garnished with red pepper and fresh garlic.

I've been craving a stew! My mom sometimes cooks a stew in a crockpot in the winter, with potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, beans, cracked pepper. The smell is the most comforting thing. And it builds all day long peaking your appetite. I'd like to do a beautiful, hearty stew like that with rosemary potatoes, "chicken" stock, homeade veg. sausages sliced and pan-fried then slow cooked in, kale and more and more.

Lahmajoun.......
Pelmeni!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

play and posting soon to come!


k

taralucci