Chocolate raspberry truffle martini from William Morse at the Fish House. (Tony Giberson/GoPensacola.com)
With the vast array of liqueurs and flavor-infused liquors available today, one can create an unlimited assortment of savory cocktails. Long gone are the days of the simple gin and tonic, bourbon and water and Scotch and soda.
If you can think of a flavor, then I can almost guarantee there is a liquor or liqueur produced that portrays that same profile.
It is with this limitless range of products that your favorite bartender can so effectively combine two, three, even four or more ingredients to ultimately offer you a drink that tastes like a peppermint patty, a pineapple upside down cake or even a caramel-coated apple.
Here at The Fish House, we have taken advantage of this assortment of ingredients to create a tempting dessert drink menu (among others). On this menu you’ll find drinks such as a tiramisu martini, a white chocolate-blueberry martini and my favorite, the chocolate raspberry truffle, which combines a coffee and chocolate liqueur and a black raspberry liqueur as the main flavor-imparting ingredients.
CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY TRUFFLE
Tall glass of ice
1 ounce Stolichnaya vodka
.75 ounce Kahlua
.75 ounce Chambord
Cream or whole milk, to fill glass
Combine all ingredients and shake to thoroughly mix. Top off with a bit of whipped cream.
If you are inclined to try a cocktail with some more exotic and truly unique liqueurs, come down to The Fish House or Atlas Oyster House and ask for our full drink menu. I’m sure you’ll find something to suit your taste.
The Fish House, 600 S. Barracks St. 470-0003, or visit www.goodgrits.com.
The American Pickers Frank and Mike with the Merrill brothers. Click this photo to view the entire episode!
One of Pensacola’s most popular restaurants got picked.
Don’t worry. It’s not a crime.
On Monday, July 25th, 2011, the History Channel’s hit cable show “American Pickers” will feature a segment from Pensacola, focusing on The Fish House restaurant in downtown Pensacola.
In January, the show’s two stars, Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz, stopped at the Fish House for lunch on the way back from a South Florida “picking session” — featuring fearsome negotiating for antiques and collectibles.
The pair, who attract more than 5 million viewers per episode, didn’t go unnoticed for long.
Fish House employees recognized the two and told them that the three restaurant owners — brothers Collier, Burney and Will Merrill — had a large collection of items they might be interested in selling or trading.
Collier Merrill was in the restaurant, so he went to meet Wolfe and Fritz. He told them that he and his brothers had collected massive amounts throughout the years, from old movie props to stuffed animals to nautical items to props from old “Star Wars” movies. (more…)
This summer, GoPensacola.com, Cat Country 98.7 FM, Pepsi and The Fish House are presenting the 2011 Summer Country Jam, a free concert series featuring country music’s hottest up-and-coming chart toppers.
This eight-week series features a different national recording artist each Thursday on stage at the picturesque Fish House Deck Bar. Support for each show will be from local favorite Lucas Crutchfield, who takes the stage at 6 p.m. each Thursday. The national acts follow at 8 p.m. Shows are for ages 21 and older, and GoPensacola.com will be present at each show, taking photos and giving away swag.
The series kicks off this Thursday with a performance by Chuck Wicks, who competed on “Dancing With the Stars” in 2009 and whose hits include “Stealing Cinderella,” “All I Ever Wanted,” “Man of the House” and “Hold That Thought.”
For more information on the series, including video, photos and music from all of the performers, visit www.summercountryjam.com.
Everyone has heard the phrase “practice makes perfect” and though it’s a mantra more often associated with sports than songwriting, it’s just as apropos for that vocation as any other endeavor–just ask singer/songwriter Chuck Wicks.Though he took the country format by storm with his Top 5 debut single, “Stealing Cinderella,” and his Top 15 follow-up hit, “All I Ever Wanted” (and earned a whole new audience of fans as a celebrity contestant on the ABC mega-hit Dancing with the Stars),it hasn’t all come easy.
Wicks spent several years paying his dues by parking cars and writing songs. He developed his craft, apprenticing with some of the top songwriters on Music Row. That hard work paid off on Starting Now, Wicks’ RCA Nashville debut album, which showcases the depth of his artistry as a vocalist and songwriter.“If it wasn’t for the Music Row community and a lot of the songwriters around town,there’s no way I would be where I’m at now,” said Wicks, who wrote or co-wrote every song on his debut album, except one. Growing up on his family’s farm in Smyrna, Delaware, Wicks immersed himself in a variety of music, from traditional country to R&B, and cites a diverse array of influences, among them Alan Jackson, Kenny Rogers and Brian McKnight.
The grits girl has decided to get out into the community to explore what makes us tick, who inspires us, and what’s going on around here. This new blog series will be called “Why I love Grits.” Does it really have to do with grits? The grits girl replies: Doesn’t everything? But truly, it’s just fun to meet people and find out what they like and what they spend their time doing. We hope you’ll agree.
Recently she had the pleasure to meet with Mr. Bruce Baldwin, president of the Pensacola Blue Wahoos AA baseball team to learn more about him, what he thinks about baseball, Pensacola, and, of course, grits.
Bruce Baldwin when he was Gwinnett Braves general manager - Courtesy of accessnorthga.com
GG: Who do you consider to be the best player in major league baseball today?
BB: That’s a tough one. There are a lot of great players out there.
GG: That’s fair. What is your best memory from your twenty-five years with the Braves?
BB: My favorite part of the job is watching talent develop. A great thrill for me, when I was with the Braves, was watching players like Chipper Jones, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and many others, begin their careers and watch their talents mature as they came up through the Braves system.
GG: So, for example, our championship team from UWF, the Argonauts, are young players full of potential and talent. Will they move through the process that you are speaking about?
BB: Yes — I mean some will. Tens of thousands of kids want to play pro ball. Only a small percentage is fortunate enough to have that opportunity. There’s a complex and deliberate process to professional baseball. There are steps that players go through that help them hone their skills and develop. That’s on purpose, as it’s a difficult process. It takes more than natural talent, hard work, and determination. Sometimes it’s as simple as being in the right place. However, when they do make it — to be able to watch them grow — it’s incredible. That’s what I enjoy about the business side of baseball.
NEW YORK — Five Pensacola chefs brought tastes of Grits a Ya Ya, crab cakes and other Southern delights to the Big Apple Tuesday as they entertained a group of gourmets at the James Beard House.
The Pensacola chefs — Dan Dunn of H2O of the Hilton Pensacola Beach Gulf Front, Irv Miller of Jackson’s Steakhouse, Jim Shirley of The Fish House, Gus Silivos of Nancy’s Haute Affairs and Frank Taylor of Global Grill — are part of a mission to let the New York food community know that Gulf seafood is back from the effects of last year’s BP oil spill, is safe to eat — and delicious.
“I’m a surfer, and I’ve not seen a tar ball since last October,” Miller said. “We need people to get back on the bandwagon of supporting the Gulf Coast.”
“Morning Joe” host and Pensacola resident Joe Scarborough aired a segment about the visit on his show this morning. Watch it in the player embedded at left.
The chefs prepared a tasting for journalists Tuesday afternoon, followed by a five-course dinner. The dinner sold out at $170 a pop. The chefs donated their time to get the word out about Pensacola and help promote tourism.
“It’s all about promoting our culinary heritage,” said Silivos, who prepared Scamp Cervantes, which gained notoriety when President George H.W. Bush ordered the dish at Silivos’ former restaurant, Skopelos. “We want to showcase to tourists that Pensacola has some of the best seafood in the world.”
The event was sponsored by Visit Pensacola, which received funds from BP following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill last year for marketing efforts. The money has allowed the tourism group to air national television commercials, shown on the Weather Channel and the Travel Channel, as well as participate in events like this dinner to lure in potential visitors.
Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Jim Hizer used the event to host a group of economic development site selectors, while Visit Pensacola officials feted travel writers from publications like Travel and Leisure and the New York Daily News.
Pensacola Chamber Chairman Collier Merrill and his wife, Cate, attended the event, along with Innisfree Hotels CEO Julian MacQueen and his wife, Kim.
MacQueen flew up 770 pounds of wine and ingredients for the dinner on his plane from Pensacola.
“We’ve read about the James Beard House for decades and always wanted to be a part of it,” MacQueen said. “We wanted them to have the best of the best and the freshest of the fresh.”
In addition to Silivos’ dish and The Fish House’s signature Grits a Ya Ya, diners got a taste of asparagus-crusted soft shell crab from H20 and andouille-crusted Apalachicola oysters from Global Grill among other dishes.
“When I saw the menu with all the seafood in all these creative ways, I was drooling,” said Jane Kendall, who divides her time between Greenwich Village in Manhattan and Harding Township in New Jersey.
Kendall was part of a party invited by James Beard Chairman’s Circle member Micky Mayfield. A favorite of the table was an appetizer by Shirley with pickled okra and Alligator Point clams.
“All those flavors together were very interesting,” Kendall said.
Watch Collier and Jim’s appearance on Morning Joe here:
Recently, Shelley Yates, our very own marketing director, won a very important contest. The name she entered was chosen as Pensacola’s new minor league baseball team, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. Since I didn’t name the team, I decided to do the next best thing: Name and create the official drink for the Wahoos. The Blue Wahoo easily came to mind. The drink had to satisfy four requirements:
1. Be delicious 2. Be blue 3. Make Shelley proud 4. Include some Bacardi rum and Finlandia vodka
Given the above, I sought to create a drink that encompassed all of these, yet would be easy enough to make at home, or try at the game (wink to the owners). Let’s begin with the Bacardi flavored rum. I chose the newest addition to their lineup, Bacardi Arctic Grape. Made from the Arctic berry — also known as the lingonberry — it’s native to the Arctic tundra throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from Europe and Asia to North America.
Next, I added Finlandia Mango Vodka to give the drink a little tang.
We live in Florida, so I have to throw in some fresh orange and pineapple juices to add a tropical flavor.
The color will come from Blue Curaçao, a blue liqueur flavored with the dried peel of the laraha citrus fruit grown on the island of Curaçao.
A fresh flavor to add is Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur. Don’t be thrown off by the name; this rich orange complement will certainly match well with the orange juice and mango flavors.
Top off with a splash of Sprite, and you are ready to catch a ballgame and cheer on your new favorite local team.
THE BLUE WAHOO
1&1/4 ounces Bacardi Arctic Grape
1&1/4 ounces Finlandia Mango Vodka
1/2 ounce Blue Curaçao
2 ounces pineapple juice
2 ounces orange juice
Splash of Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur
Splash of Sprite
For an extra dimension, add some St. Germain, a botanical spirit derived from the elderflower.
Enjoy, and PLAY BALL!
The Fish House, 600 S. Barracks St. 470-0003, or visitwww.goodgrits.com.
