The pours were hefty and the cuisine top-notch at the recent Dad’s Hat Rye Whiskey Dinner at Ella’s American Bistro. My colleague and I drank in the Mad Men-inspired scene (quite literally) and came away with a newfound appreciation for whiskey, those who make it and the fabulous team at Ella’s.
John Cooper, co-founder of Dad’s Hat, was on hand to discuss the distillery’s history and the various cocktails we’d be imbibing for the evening, which were paired to perfection with dishes crafted by Ella’s Executive Chef, Jay Chadwick.
The hand-crafted, small-batch Dad’s Hat whiskeys are distilled with locally sourced ingredients and an emphasis on tradition and quality. This is a natural fit with Ella’s upscale-yet-casual atmosphere featuring equestrian memorabilia and a menu that is both sophisticated and approachable with an emphasis on classic, seasonal flavors.
The first course to hit the table, Oysters Rockefeller, was matched up with my favorite cocktail creation of the evening: the White Rye Corpse Reviver #2, a mix of Dad’s Hat’s white rye, Lillet (a French aperitif wine) and lemon. Citrusy, bright and smooth with definite notes of tequila—a characteristic, I learned, of white rye—the cocktail was an ideal partner for Chef Jay’s masterful rendition of the rich shellfish classic.
We continued our cocktail journey with a Vermouth Barrel-Aged Rye Sazerac, a straight-up hit of rye, simple syrup, absinthe and Peychaud’s bitters. The rye is aged first in American white oak, then in California vermouth barrels, imparting an essence of wine into the whiskey. This wine-y aura provided a complementary backdrop for our second course, Quail “Au Vin,” which boasted a savory sauce heaped with baby onions, carrots and mushrooms.
Moving along with our 1950s throwback theme, the third dish was a perfectly cooked New York Strip steak topped by buttermilk onion rings, with a bacon and blue cheese-drenched iceberg wedge on the side. I never order steak when dining out because it’s just so hard to get it “right,” but Chef Jay hit this one out of the park. My companion and I relished every last delectable bite of this course and offered our rave reviews. And what better to pair with this hearty dose of nostalgia than a classic Manhattan (rye, Cocchi and peach bitters)?
We finished our meal with an impressive Pistachio Baked Alaska, a dreamboat of a dessert grounded by a moist, spongy pistachio cake layered with cool pistachio ice cream and ensconced in ooey-gooey meringue. The chill of the ice cream was a pleasant wake-up after three whiskey-laden courses, but our education in spirits was not to end with just a trio of cocktails. Rounding out the evening was a substantial pour of Port Barrel-Aged Rye, another Dad’s Hat double-finished whiskey, this one aged for an additional three months in barrels that previously contained port wine, known for its fruitiness and sweetness.
Kudos all around, to both Ella’s and Dad’s Hat, for their modern, finely crafted takes on classic dishes and spirits. When you next visit this intimate spot in Wayne, be sure to look for the Dad’s Hat Barrel that’s aging at Ella’s, and stay tuned for the restaurant’s launch of its very own barrel-aged cocktails in the future.
Ella’s American Bistro is located at 214 Sugartown Road in Wayne; phone: (610) 964-3552. Visit the Dad’s Hat distillery in Bristol, Pa., for a one-hour tour on Saturdays (by appointment only; fill out this form to save your place).
Photo credits: Michele Kornegay.
