FROM FINE & RARE, AMERICA'S RARE DISTILLATES • MVC Magazine

In 2017, after his first fling with the Flatiron Room, Tommy Tardie opened Fine & Rare in Murray Hill. A place that has consolidated over the years as a destination for high-level culinary adventures combined with particular and impressively curated cocktails. Indeed as a kind of perk for the experts, Fine & Rare has launched a “secret menu”, available only on request, and this offers opulent and captivating cocktails and food. Along with a selection of rare vintage liqueurs.

But let’s get back to cocktails. The most exciting of the three cocktails with the “secret menu” is the White Star Line. Named after the shipping company that operated the Titanic, the drink features an “iceberg” of champagne meringue in the center, along with a sprinkling of gold flakes. Perhaps a tribute to the affluent passengers on the ill-fated cruise. It is made with 21-year-old Appleton rum and 25-year-old Delord Bas-Armagnac, together with grapefruit and lemon juice and an oleo Saccharum of cinnamon, orange, and handmade lemon. A fascinating version of a tropical cocktail that mixes summer and winter flavors.

The second worth mentioning is The Light as a Feather cocktail. A combination of three Glenfiddich whiskeys paired each with a pickled quail egg that highlights the flavor. To complete the journey to Speyside, a bowl of Glenfiddich-fortified cock-a-leekie soup is also prepared. However, the most surprising drink is a vodka martini called From Russia With Love. It is made with a Siberian vodka distilled from malted barley and Lillet Blanc instead of vermouth. It is garnished with a spoonful of Beluga caviar. The brackish notes play beautifully on the freshness of the vodka and the light sweetness of the Lillet.

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For fans of vintage spirits, some of the rarest American whiskey labels from the 1940s to 1960s are available. The 6-year-old bourbon Old Grand-Dad bottled in 1963; I.W. 7-year-old Harper bourbon bottled in 1968; 6-year-old Kentucky Tavern Bourbon bottled in 1953; and, most intriguingly, rye from the famous Four Roses bourbon distillery, bottled in the 1940s.

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Accompanying the spirits, the American culinary experience is seasoned with a delicious menu created by Executive Chef Philip Sireci. For example, we have burrata ravioli cooked on parchment paper with truffle oil and served in a mushroom broth; a quirky, truffle-laden surf-and-turf pairing called Land and Sea, with a Wagyu beef tenderloin and poached lobster claws, each cooked in a truffle sauce, along with a crispy potato dipped in edible gold; to conclude an extraordinary chocolate dessert designed to look like a porcini mushroom, to the chocolate soil and the cotton candy grass on which it rests.

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Fine & Rare is reminiscent of old New York. From the 1940s / 1950s, Chesterfield sofas to Art Deco wallpaper, to vintage cashier windows from nearby Grand Central Terminal. Located on a quiet street near the Morgan Library & Museum, this sophisticated haunt of spirits exudes glam and fun. All accompanied by exuberant live performances of jazz shows. For some, such a venue may seem “out of place” in 2021, but it’s perfect if you want to feel like you’re in a Peaky Blinders scene.