We here at Pasadena Magazine used to consider ourselves somewhat knowledgeable, or at least competent, when it came to our awareness of Japanese whiskey. If you took us to Little Tokyo we’d know to ask for Yamazaki single malt, without any prompting.
Then, last week, we checked out celebrity chef Michael Mina’s new Bourbon Steak at the Americana at Brand in Glendale. As Donald Rumsfeld famously said: “There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.”
We’re actually not exactly sure what Rumsfeld was talking about…but the point is this: Bourbon Steak has a Japanese whiskey cart stocked with 18 different brands of exotic blends.
It’s a revelation. And not just the selection-specifically, what Mina’s cocktail program director, Carco Splendorini, has done with a simple Nikka Coffey Grain Whiskey on the rocks.
Splendorini was in Glendale last week to give us a demonstration of his technique. And it is a technique. Before he even pours your drink, Splendorini extracts a slice of strawberry from a jar of crème de cacao he’s been marinating it in. He then places the strawberry on a plate and proceeds to caramelize it with a butane torch. But that’s not all—as he’s caramelizing, he holds a tulip glass upside-down over the strawberry, so it inhales the condensation from the burning fruit.
“When you get close to the glass, you smell the aroma,” he explained.
After the blowtorching comes the “tornado,” a single cube of ice swirled around the glass to properly chill it. Finally, Splendorini was ready to pour the Nikka.
The scent of chocolate and strawberries lingered in the glass while we drank—giving the whiskey a fruity, caramel finish. The torched, marinated strawberry was also left on a plate with a pair of chopsticks for us to nibble while we drank.
It was by far the most decadent whiskey experience we have ever enjoyed. We had our drink as an aperitif, but it could easily work with dessert as well.
It doesn’t really matter how you try it, though. Just try it.
Bourbon Steak: 237 S Brand Blvd, Glendale