Foodie Friday, featuring the nation's tastiest après ski food.
Last night I had the pleasure of attending a High West Distillery whiskey tasting dinner at a local barbecue restaurant, Surf BBQ. I know this may seem like a stretch because technically, Surf BBQ, located in Rumson, NJ is not an après ski location and therefore does not serve après ski food. However, since High West Distillery is the nation's only ski in, ski out gastro-distillery and a notable après ski location I figured that this would work just fine for Foodie Friday.
The dinner included a three course barbecue meal, plus dessert, with each course paired with a specific whiskey from High West. As someone who is used to pairing wine with food and even beer with food, it is a rare occasion that I pair whiskey with food. However, whiskey works really well with barbecue and, after last night, I will be doing this more often. The three courses consisted of Crispy Brussel Sprouts and Pork Belly, Tostada, Pastrami Beef Rib and then finished off with a Pumpkin Cheese cake was quite tasty while being served with High West's American Prairie Bourbon, Rendezvous Rye, and Campfire. Although each whiskey worked well with its respective dish, no pairing was better than the Campfire and Surf BBQ's award winning Pastrami Beef Rib. The smokiness of the whiskey stood up to and cut through the the saltiness of the rib and the combination of smoke on smoke blended seamlessly, which kind of surprised me.
My astonishment aside, the dinner was so worth it. The food was quite tasty, particularly the pork belly and crispy brussel sprouts. As far as barbecue goes, Surf BBQ was much more upscale than I am used to. However, upscale barbecue works for them and they seem to have that category locked down. Additionally, each course paired really well with the High West whiskey they were serving which further amplified the fact that this dinner was well worth the price of admission.
