Every day we’re shuffling… through the always jam-packed Village Whiskey. One, because they have some stellar food and two because the size of the restaurant. Connected to adjoining fellow Jose Garces tapas restaurant Tinto, this railroad style restaurant doesn’t have much room to move around. The sidewalk cafe helps expand the space a bit but they claim they never accept reservations… unless you do a buyout for large parties. However, they just started accepting reservations during lunch and brunch until 3:3o p.m. so lucky you!
Featuring a stellar selection of more than 200 whiskeys alongside what they claim is the country’s best burger, Village Whiskey is a Garces classic and Philly staple. Envisioned by Chef Garces as a spot where he and his team could enjoy a drink and a snack after a long night in the kitchen, the restaurant’s focal point is the central bar that is home to their near-encyclopedic catalogue of Chef Garces’ favorite spirit, whiskey. The outstanding bartenders shake up classic and contemporary cocktails in a space that whispers Prohibition-era speakeasy.
Since opening his first restaurant less than a decade ago, Chef Jose Garces has emerged as an enormous talent and one of the nation’s most gifted chefs and restaurateurs.Today, he is the owner and operator of more than a dozen restaurants across the country, plus a thriving event planning division and 40-acre Luna Farm. He is a 2009 winner of the James Beard Foundation’s prestigious “Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic” award and one of only a few chefs in the country to hold the coveted title of Iron Chef. Chef Garces is also the author of two cookbooks, The Latin Road Home (Lake Isle Press, October 2012), a culinary and cultural tour of Ecuador, Spain, Mexico, Cuba and Peru, and his stunning first cookbook, Latin Evolution (Lake Isle Press, Fall 2008) which we highly recommend having on your book shelves.
Throughout September, Village Whiskey featured five different bourbon flights in honor of National Bourbon Heritage Month. This is what lured is in to dine.The surprisingly delicious shrimp poppers on the bar snack list, tasty and tangy and just enough protein to tide you over until dinner at Village Whiskey.Forget salads when you come here, go for the pickled truffled cauliflower with olive and whipped butter spread for the bread at Village Whiskey.Maybe you like rocking those beets better at Village Whiskey, on perfect pickled pare with the cauliflower.Or perhaps you like your pickled veggies just pickled… with some cabbage and onions at Village Whiskey, in third place.Our guest was not a whiskey gal but a gin lover, so she went with this bee charmer with lavender infused gin, yellow chartreuse, honey syrup and lemon – a lightly sweet cocktail.This whiskey gal loves her spirits and went with what the new GM Matt recommended, the Willett family flight with option for a drop of water to bring out the flavor and ice chunks to finish. Not my favorite flight but still tasty, it was a little too unrefined flavor wise for my tongue.The aviation was up next for our gin loving guest, with Philly’s own Bluecoat gin, lemon, maraschino liqueur and creme de violette – perfect for a lady who lunches. Not overly sweet but the delicate flavors shined through.Obsessed with french fries, when the GM suggested these short rib cheddar fries, we though shreds of meat not whole delicious, melt-in-your-mouth slabs! It was outstanding and a meal in itself.Always a sucker for a pulled pork BBQ sandwich, we added jalapeno bacon because why not and found this to be outstanding in taste with a sweet sauce and soft brioche bun.The Whiskey King burger is supposed to 8 ounces of the best burger around but honestly this lady fell in love with that BBQ more. Maybe it was the rogue bleu cheese but that maple bourbon glazed cipollini, applewood bacon and foie gras we weren’t hating. And for $26, I better be having a foodgasm with my burger!Having to taste the duck fat fries in all their glory there were hearty little carb sticks.What started as a 3 flight tasting soon turned to two as things started getting fuzzier with the Cask Strength flight at Village Whiskey. Certainly my favorite flight and with Garces Knob Creek as my fave, this man has excellent taste.Forcing our guest to try one more cocktail, the idea of mixing sparkling rose, bitters and gin blew our mind with this magical mix for this Ginger Rogers.Always say yes to a baked Alaska, this one was flaming when it arrived full of chocolate cake, vanilla and chocolate chip ice cream and meringue which I slurped up every last drop at Village Whiskey. A slight alcohol flavor coated the creation for the fire which we didn’t hate.Forced to eat this dessert at Village Whiskey, the vanilla bourbon milkshake with Maker’s Mark and butterscotch was a creamy, milky treat with just a barely there taste of booze. But we wary, it packs a punch!
