Beer Alcohol Cocktails cocktail recipe beer festivals Restaurant Review

It's time to celebrate the holidays with feasts, bright colors, drinking, and good friends. Thanks to the folks at Fogo de Chao, I was invited to check out their new holiday offerings and of course, I jumped at the opportunity! At most restaurants right now you're going to find a menu matching the winter weather that we're all starting to dread. For those in the Southern Hemisphere like our friends in Brazil though, this is the beginning of summer! This means that you'll find not only traditional holiday treats like sweet potato casserole but also fresh watermelon, pears, mangoes, and other fruit on the harvest table.

I'm a huge fan of cocktails, but as much as I love pushing the envelope with fancy bitters and exotic alcohol - nothing beats the pure simplicity of a classic Manhattan or an Old Fashioned. Last month I spent some time in Vegas Las Vegas (where I sampled many many Old Fashioned derivatives). I realized that there was really no reason why you had to stick with tradition. Old Fashioned Or Manhattan might be the name... but really, there's no reason why you can't swap bourbon for rye or even cachaca!

One of my favorite parts about traveling is experiencing new foods. There's an unspoken sense of truth and honesty that comes only by experiencing what a different culture loves to eat and drink. That's true when you travel overseas... but it's also true even while traveling through this country as I did a few weeks ago during a road trip through North Dakota.

In honor of Mexican Independence Day, I'm sharing a tasty little recipe from Zinum Mezcal for their Basil Margarita!

We talked about Lobsterfest a few months ago, but now it's time for Crabfest at Red Lobster and it's a perfect opportunity to treat someone special to a great dinner! In my case, Heather and I celebrated her birthday a couple days early with a big heaping portion of Bairdi Crab Legs and I had the Crab Lover's Dream featuring King Crab, Snow Crab and a delicious Crab Linguine Alfredo.

Happy Scotch Day everybody! Even though Scotch is better known as a sipping spirit, it's exciting to see more and more mixologists breaking with convention and creating new experiences for our pallets like this Tartan Collins by Jordan Felix of Portland, Oregon featuring Laphroaig Select.

Most of us have at one point or another enjoyed a Brazilian steakhouse. Typically it's an expensive experience reserved for those celebratory dinners for holidays, birthdays, promotions etc. Recently though, Fogo de Chao has launched two new twists on this including their amazing brunch and also a "gaucho lunch". As a man who loves my meat I couldn't pass up the opportunity when they invited me to check out their new Brazilian Brunch!

Whether you are looking to impress your neighbors or to turn up your BBQ skills, no summertime soiree should be without cocktails. What’s is perfect about adding cocktails to the scene is you don’t need to be a mixologist in order to add some fun, excitement, and flavor to your drinks. All you need is a little guidance, creativity, liquor, and BBQ and you’ll be well on your way to hosting the perfect BBQ party.

North Dakota is a natural wonderland filled with tons of great natural as well as urban adventures to discover. After a long day exploring history sites and museums, I can't think of much better than relaxing a pint of local craft beer. Luckily, I can do that in North Dakota! It's no surprise that as one of the top wheat producers that they are experiencing a boom in micro-breweries as well. Along with small-scale wineries and a handful of distilleries, this is a region that you won't want to miss.

As someone who hails from one of the top beer areas in the US, it's easy to forget that beer has a heritage that spans for hundreds of years. Despite the popularity of some of my "West Coast" favorites, it's refreshing to step back in time and try something that's been being brewed for hundreds of years like I did recently with Gulden Draak out of Belgium. 

Every man should know how to throw a solid party. No gathering is complete without some adult beverages to get the good times rolling, but if you want to take things a step beyond generic beers and wines it might be time to try the world of crafting cocktails. While there's nothing wrong with sipping a fine tequila neat, cocktails can bring out interesting flavors that are simply not doable otherwise. If you think about it, it's the difference between enjoying the taste of sugar - and enjoying the sight, smell, taste, and overall excitement of looking at a delicious fresh baked scone.

There's something magical about lobster, just the mention if it brings visions of wealth, status, and a lifestyle of luxury. As someone who once lived in a lobster town in Massachusetts, lobster was always an affordable luxury - similar in cost to a great pork chop or a nice steak. Even though the cost was equivalent, the mention of lobster meant we were having a special dinner. Years later and on a different coast, that's pretty much how I feel each time I walk into Red Lobster today too.

San Diego is the craft beer capital of the country as far as I am concerned. While there are many towns across the country where there are fine people brewing great beer, no town has a culture of beer quite like San Diego. With more than 100 breweries in the county, there is something for everyone from large breweries like Stone, Ballast Point, and Green Flash to tiny ones like Intergalactic you are sure to find one that matches your personality. While I dream of one day having been to every brewery in San Diego, last weekend I took two friends on a whirlwind tour of five of my favorites.

Everyone should have a neighborhood bar. It's one of those places that can be a home away from home where the bartenders welcome you warmly when you enter the door and you feel comfortable before you even have a chance to order a drink. That's what San Diego's The Whiskey House is to me, so when I got the opportunity to join them for a Glenfiddich tasting a few weeks ago I jumped at the opportunity. Then I discovered that they were opening a $4,000 bottle of Glenfiddich 40 year and I cleared my schedule for the rest of the evening!

One of the things I love about Vegas is all the amazing restaurants. It seems there is a never ending supply of creativity that is both pushing the culinary as well as architectural arts. What I didn't expect was to find an astonishingly awesome dinner at the top of Delano on the far south end of the strip. That's where Rivea sits and offers diners an unparalleled view of the entire strip. They say retail is location, location, location and this is absolutely true for Rivea. Luckily for us, the service and food was equally fantastic - making for one of the best dinners I've experienced in a long while.

The start of a new year is always exciting. Somehow you've managed to survive another year and hopefully you've learned a few things along the way. That's certainly true for me and while we're already 8% of the way into the year, that means that we have 92% of the year left to do amazing things with incredible people. Here are some of the things I'm looking forward to in 2016...

I'm in love with the seasonal Mike's flavor - Glacier Berry, but I also love the classic Lemonade. It's a tough time to be a fan I guess, but regardless of how your taste buds guide you, one thing is for certain. Mike's are great to share with friends this holiday season. To help celebrate, I created a special cocktail to settle my dilemma and make something extra special for the holiday party I had this weekend [modify based on posting date].

Old Vegas may have slipped behind the curtain over the past decade to make way for hipsters and people looking for upscale luxury experiences but below the surface there are still a few Vegas treasures that will transport you back to the golden age of Vegas when being a "celebrity" meant something more than just how many Instagram followers you have. 

Vodka is one of those spirits that moves easily among the seasons. It’s versatile, making for cool cocktails during warmer months, while effortlessly accepting spicy flavors over many a chilly evening.