Bachi's Tennessee Whiskey Dinner

Pairing dinners have become very popular lately and although I have only attended a couple of them, they are something I find thoroughly enjoyable. So, when I had read that Bachi’s Ristorante in Torrington was having a pairing dinner I was excited. The idea of having one in my hometown was very appealing. As much as I love the idea there are normally a couple of problem with them. First you are matching up alcohol with various courses, usually between 4 – 6 courses, which means 4 – 6 drinks. Finding a driver further from home, paying for an Uber or doing your best to regulate a partial partaking of the alcohol to be sober and safe to drive home are all more difficult and riskier further away. Also, pairings are normally on off nights for restaurants to stimulate business and they are time intensive, meaning you are going out on a work night and a long drive back to home makes for a trying day at work the following day. But a local pairing reduces those problems greatly and Bachi’s has my appreciation for doing this. Especially since he said he hopes to have one every month with various pairings of alcohol and food.

Hiccups

It is my understanding this was their first attempt at a pairing and as is typical of the first time at anything there were a few hiccups. However, those hiccups were not enough to mask a very enjoyable evening and I know I will be lining up for the next one and the one after that and however many Bachi’s decides to have, especially if they learn and improve. If you haven’t been to Bachi’s I want to share a few things that are pertinent to the event. One of these days I will get around to reviewing the restaurant as a whole, but this is about this special night. Bachi’s is named after its owner Bachi Prevalla. If you have been in there more than once when he is there, and my experience is he is almost always there, chances are you will get to meet him, because he makes it a personal point to make sure his patrons are enjoying themselves. Actually, believe it or not, his taking such good care of his patrons was one of the hiccups from last night. As you can imagine a six-course meal coordinating specialty foods and drinks can be a challenge to serve to a group all at once for a restaurant. I have learned this the hard way from when our dinner group goes out with about 16 people and watch as some very good restaurants falter in their service. Well serving 32 people or what was supposed to be 32 people all at once, with some pretty fancy dishes and accompanying drinks on the first go around resulted in some lag. In and of itself this could have been a mixed blessing as the amount of alcohol and food served called for little respites to catch your breath, loosen your belt and see if you had your sea legs or not. However, this turned into a large hiccup mainly due to Bachi taking care of all of his patrons. The event was to have started at 7, yet by 9 one table had still not shown up. I think that most restaurants that have a scheduled dinner if people showed up over two hours late for that dinner the customers would at best be out of luck and if they expected to be served their meal would have been told to pound sand, or if the place is a little more delicate explain to them that the nearest beach is Burr Pond and that they could find plenty of sand there to hammer against their nether regions. Bachi however being the much too gracious host actually had his chef prepare them their meals, which did slow the rest of us down a little more, but you have to admire someone that is that concerned with making all of his customers happy.

Bargain

So much for the hiccups. Now let’s get to the part that makes those hiccups and any other afflictions that you could imagine worth it, the meal. If you like Jack Daniel’s or any Tennessee Whiskey and have been known to go out for an evening and have several such drinks this was a steal. If you like a couple cocktails with a full multi course meal, this was a bargain. If you like don’t drink, but still like good food over multiple courses it is still worth it. And if you don’t like any of those things, why they hell are you reading this? Just go to McDonalds and be done with it.

Glazed Rib Tips

My experience with pairings is that the alcohol portions are small. Half glasses of beer, a few sips of wine or liquor as you are usually having 4-6 drinks, so they economize. Not so here, the cocktails were full cocktails served in highball glasses. The first was a Winter Mimosa, which consisted of Jack Daniels Winter Jack, Prosecco and apple cider.  The mimosa glass was filled and a small bottle of prosecco accompanied it so you had more. The food matching that was a toasted bread on top of a cheese sauce served family style. People could grab a slice, use the accompanying spoons to scoop up the cheesy sauce to cover your bread and enjoy. The cheese sauce was very flavorful and was a great kick off to the night. The chef announced that there was a change in the menu for the next two items That the glazed rib tips, which were supposed to be firey, while the chicken meatballs that were going to be in honey changed partners. Apparently the chef, being a good matchmaker recognized that the two would be much happier and tastier with the others partner, and he was right. The glazed beef tips came out first accompanied by a honey lemon fizz. Two big beef tips on skewers over what was described as risotto. The beef tips were fantastic, sweet tasty, tender. The sweetness fit them perfectly. The risotto might have been the only miss of the night as it had none of the creamy flavor and tasted like bland rice. It didn’t matter. If they put cardboard under those beef tips I am not sure I would have done more than pointed out that there was cardboard underneath them.

BBQ Chicken Meatballs

Not wanting to be shown up by how well the tips did with their new partner, the BBQ chicken meatballs danced with the fire sauce to perfection. They added such a nice kick to the meatballs that the idea that honey could have done them justice was quickly forgotten. Even better the heat of the meatballs matched up perfectly with the spiced cranberry sour, which I thought was the best cocktail of the night. The heat from the Jack fire, mixed with the tartness of the cranberry and sour mix was a spectacular combination.

Steak Au Poivre

The next course was a vinaigrette dressing over fresh salad with goat cheese, accompanied by what they called an Apple Cart Mule, basically a Moscow Mule with Jack Daniels Apple. The salad was very good, although I would have liked more dressing, but than I always want more dressing. This led into the main course after the second long intermission that made you recognize how good the food and drink was, because I have never known Torrington customers to be this patient, yet they all were, maybe from being in either a food or alcohol trance.  Prior to the main course, which consisted of Steak Au Poivre, mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables, they sent out an Old #7 Fashioned. By this time, I had given up the drinking ghost. I tried a sip and left it there to admire. The Steak was in a nice crème sauce and the peppercorns that you expect from an Au Poivre added more flavor. My steak was cooked perfectly. Besides the pieces of steak on my plate, they also put a plate in the middle of each table so that people could take extra little cuts if they so desired. A very nice option. At the end of this a shot of Jack Daniels was given out to everyone. Like with the old fashioned I took a sip and set it down.

Maple Bourbon Ice Cream

I repeated the same when they brought out a snifter of Gentleman Jack. I am not the drinker I used to be, and when it comes to whiskey, I probably never was the drinker I used to be. Along with the Gentleman Jack a dessert of pumpkin Pie with whipped cream and smoked maple bourbon ice cream was served. The pumpkin pie was not bad, but the ice cream was excellent.

Can’t Wait Until Next Time

I hope they fix the timing issues, as I fear some will not be as willing to spend 3 and a half hours at a dinner no matter how good it is, and I want this to succeed. I want to be able to go to many more of these events at Bachi’s and I hope they perfect it to the point that it is a fantastic success for them. I love innovation and bringing things to our town and I applaud Bacchi for doing it. I cannot recommend this and future events like it enough. Bring a group, plan on a full night of good food, good drink and good company (make sure you bring the good company).