Grey Goose has been my favorite Vodka for a long time, but I’ve rarely ordered Grey Goose cocktails as I usually drink it with ice and two slices of lemon. Moreover, I’ve never had Vodka with a meal, as I usually go for white or red wine, so I was pretty excited to attend the Grey Goose Taste By Appointment and try out vodka-based cocktails with various dishes.
The event took place at “Les Caves de Taillevent” which is located in “Les Jardins de Tabaris”, Achrafieh. It was the first time I go there and I absolutely loved the place, from the wine boutique to the wine bar and specially the wine storage room that you can see in the picture above. Before starting the food tasting, a welcome drink (Le Fizz) was served by Richard Irwin, Grey Goose’s Brand Ambassador for the Middle East and Africa. it was a mixture of Grey Goose vodka, ST-Germain elderflower liqueur, freshly squeezed lime juice and chilled soda. It’s a fine aperitif which I enjoyed.
The food menu was prepared by the awesome Chef Rouba Khalil and consisted of the following:
Sticky Salmon, Sweet Corn Purée, Corn Crunch
Tamarind Roasted Carrot, Lemon Cream, Sumac
Grilled Beef, Dandelion Puree, Olives, Bitters Vinaigrette.
Parmesan Custard, Wild Mushroom Ragout, Anchovy Crouton
Anise Cookie Crumble, Orange Sorbet, Whipped Citrus Curd Mascarpone.
Trigeminal Chocolates Truffles: Coffee, Black Pepper, Mint
I unfortunately didn’t have enough battery to take shots of all the dishes, but the ones I enjoyed most were the Grilled Beef with Dandelion Puree, Olives and Bitters Vinaigrette, and the Parmesan custard with wild mushroom ragout and anchovy crouton. The chocolate truffles were also quite good even though the presentation wasn’t the best ever. As far as the drinks are concerned, I enjoyed most of them except for the Umami Bomb which I didn’t appreciate much, maybe because I am not a big fan of Bloody Marys. I uploaded below a list of cocktails that you can try out. My favorites are the Dry Martini and the French Negroni.
All in all, it was one of the nicest events I’ve attended this year. The venue, the food, the cocktails and the atmosphere were all great. I will probably keep drinking my Grey Goose with just ice and lemon slices but I will definitely give some of these cocktails a try.
