If You Mix It, They Will Come (and Drink This Corny, Championship Cocktail)

Caitlin Corcoran and her award winning cocktail.

Last weekend Port Fonda's Caitlin Corcoran took first place in the annual Paris of the Plains Bartending Competition. I won't feign surprise that a woman won a competition that is overrepresented by men as I've learned that some of the very best bartenders in this city hail from the fairer sex.

While I wouldn't call myself a regular, I have been hanging out at Caitlin's bar for as long as she's been there and have always been a fan. Creativity, consistency, and respect for the drink. A real charmer too.

Beyond Cocktails: Beertails vs. Winetails

I recently posted about the Paris of the Plains Cocktail Festival held in Kansas City a couple of weeks ago. One of the highlights of this five-day event was a very special dinner held at The American Restaurant. The theme was "Beertails vs. Winetails" and I was pretty intrigued by the invite (see below).

First of all, I had been looking for a good excuse to visit The American and try out new Executive Chef Michael Corvino's craftwork. Corvino is the latest in an impressive list of executive chef's at this storied Kansas City icon that includes James Beard Award winners Debbie Gold, Michael Smith, and Celina Tio. Corvino's menu for this event was a hybrid of items from his new dinner menu as well as a few courses designed specifically for this meal. Seeing items from the standard dinner menu was a nice surprise as it's not unusual for restaurants to simplify menu items when hosting a banquet-style event. A copy of our menu is below. None of the courses disappointed and the Cold Poached Lobster and Slow Roasted Pig were (IMHO) stellar.

Paris of the Plains Cocktail Festival 2013 - Bartending Competition

True story: Back in college and on one of the many occasions I was short on cash I had the bright idea to place a classified ad in the local paper (people, this was pre-internet) offering my bartending services for private parties. My qualifications for this service? Less than zero. Not only was I underage, but I had never mixed anything more complicated than a Screwdriver in my life. The foibles of youth. Anyway, someone actually calls me and I get a gig at some random, newly minted dentist's birthday party. I tried to memorize some cocktail recipes beforehand but ultimately wound up winging it all night long. I learned many things that night. Among them: