… let’s normalize that a cocktail can be nonalcoholic …
No, let’s stick with the dictionary.
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I’m not usually one to support new phrases for existing food stuff but I do wish there was a concise shorthand for non-alcoholic drinks. “Non-alcoholic” is five syllables and clunks off the tongue as well as “anti-federalist party”. “NA” seems fussy and imprecise at the same time. “Mocktail” puts me in mind of a child drinking a virgin daiquiri and I’d be more likely to try a drink if it wasn’t trying to directly emulate an existing beverage anyway.
Definitely a first world gripe but I would like more non-alcoholic options from top notch bartenders like Austin Hennelly and Han Suk Cho and the vocabulary has never really sat right with me.
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sorry can’t hear you, I’m sipping my shrimp cocktail
honestly who cares, nonalcoholic cocktails rule
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for what it’s worth a lot of places use “spirit-free”
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That’s true, thanks! But I dunno, it’s weird to me that you can have subcategories for alcoholic drinks (like aperitif) but not one simple handle for a non-alcoholic drink. My wife just asked me if there was a word for the category of Muslim evening drinks…? I think an Indonesian coworker told us about something that sort of served like a sleepy time tea in the evening…?
Eh, my thoughts are not fully formed on this. Apologies for the tangent
EDIT: Jamu! That’s the word we were thinking of that’s prevalent in Indonesia. From what I remember it’s kind of a health drink like a tonic. I’d be down for some variation of the word tonic for the non-alcoholic section of a drinks menu (although I’m sure that term also has its issues like the association with tonic water specifically).
Had a good but not great meal at Kato. Some highs but also felt many of the flavors overpowered the ingredients and some dishes were over salted. However, I think all the ingredients were technically well prepared as everything was perfectly cooked . Sergio was in the house
Tried to do the @Clayfu pro tip of seafood supplement but apparently it’s only reserved for pescatarians who call in advance and they don’t have any additional portions on hand.
Drinks were on point as always still the best in the city. The diners at the first seating were slow AF and we had to wait about 25 min but they offered us a complimentary glass of wine which was nice. Service was very personal and professional.
NA pairings were just weird I’ve never done NA before but many of them just tasted like watery wine or sparkling juice, I applaud them for doing this though to give diners additional options. The way it was poured was also weird. The pacing was off, they would come out and pour the pairing way before serving the dish sometimes 10-15 minutes before which made it just basically a drink without any accompanying dish. It seemed as if I was doing a dinner tasting menu and drink tasting menu separately.
Highlights curry, fish maw custard, and rice and fish dish.
Less successful - uni dish is over powered by chili crunch texturally great though, our perfectly cooked lamb was over salted the crust was painfully salty however other flavors worked quite well with the Mala and cumin flavors reminiscent of western Chinese dishes. a5 supplement again perfectly cooked but the bean sauce was very salty and over powered the beef I feel like that sauce would be much better served as a lu rou fan type dish. Lava bun dessert just didn’t work with what ever soft cheese they used.
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I really enjoyed the uni dish. A play on hot savory soy milk. I found the chili crunch to not only add great texture but really worked as the main flavor element in what is usually a very plain dish.
My friends said the lamb crust was salty.
The beef supplement course. The sauce. Woo that’s a sauce.
It’s a rendition of the last few spoonfuls of Taiwanese noodle soup. With all the sour mustard and chili at the end. I just kept eating my friend’s sauce (since I didn’t get the beef dish). Might be the most faithful rendition of beef noodle soup I’ve had that isn’t a beef noodle soup ha. But it would have been killer over some noodles.
Still obsessed with this lobster shrimp toast dish.
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favorite thing on the menu right now. bestestttt
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We both feel the same way.
now taking reservations for drinks at the bar
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That’s more like it!
looks like they’re also taking reservations for their lunar new year collab
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Who are they collabing with?
Looks like they got rid of bar reservations I only see bar tasting now
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daisy ryan and matthew lightner for three nights and a drink collab with the Double Dragon crew (shawn and vay - shawn is the bev director for republique group) for two nights
DAMN that drink collab is sick, my two favorite cocktail places
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If anyone wants Kato’s custom made Old Fashioned cart it’s available here with a broader review of that and other carts here:
Apparently you can customize your own, although that’s more for hardware and finish, not dimensions.
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had a cool informal cocktail tasting menu last month.
Bees Knees into Cameron’s Kick into Brooklyn
sweettart and punchy into cracked and nutty into smooth weight
im guessing the zest was meyer lemon and it was worth saving it then eating in one bite at the end. the Maqaw pepper on the Kick is an ingredient Austin said they’d been trying to find the right source for for a while.
after that he mentioned the Brooklyn would be his finisher. i think he said between that or the sake cobbler, which my friend wound up having. didn’t matter though as i’d made up my mind on the Brooklyn from the beginning.
duck fat wash on the Brooklyn which came from roasted duck the kitchen was doing.
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Wow, that will be a lot of fun. For others, Double Dragon makes some insanely good cocktails that reference different Asian flavors. I remember the miso banana bread cocktail, pho with rye, and boozy halo halo the most from their recent pop up. Pairing with Kato’s food should be a good match.
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it’s coming back
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and it’s back
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