Sip and Savor at Bourbon Steak: Michael Mina and Bulleit Bourbon
As part of the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess' special Sip and Savor series, guests were invited for a special event on March 29th. The AAA Five-Diamond resort welcomed James Beard award-winning Chef Michael Mina to his Bourbon Steak restaurant as they introduced a new menu and their private-label Bulleit Bourbon 10-Year. Our evening started with a reception of passed plates and a chance to try this one-of-a-kind bourbon. Matt Doerr, Resort Beverage Manager, and Andrew McLaughlin, Bourbon Steak General Manager, traveled to Kentucky and met with distillers and proprietor Tom Bulleit to taste and select an exclusive barrel. This makes Bourbon Steak the first account in the country to have a private bottling of Bulleit 10-year bourbon. Masters of Whiskey Tom Turner and Alastair Menzies were on hand to pour, and educate the crowd.
We mingled and sipped on the selected reserve 10-year bourbon neat, over ice, and in a refreshing Bulleit Buck cocktail.
It was a lovely spring night to enjoy whiskey with Bourbon Steakhouse passed bites.
We were then seated in the dining room for dinner as Chef-Owner Michael Mina and Executive Chef Jeremy McMillan described the new menu direction. Winning accolades since helming the kitchen of San Francisco's Aqua in the 1990s, acclaimed Chef Michael Mina now has 18 restaurants across the country as part of the Michael Mina Group. Chef Mina tells us that at Bourbon Steak Scottsdale, "We are really going to start to push the envelope with flavors and take the restaurant to the next level." We would be treated to new dishes featuring global accents including Mina family favorites. "What you are going to be seeing in the next few months here at Bourbon Steak is more tableside and really unique flavors. We're taking traditional items that people know and love and turning them upside down, like taking a slow-cooked prime rib and coating it in crazy Middle Eastern and Yemenite spices."
Michael Mina and Jeremy McMillan
Chef McMillan tells us about our menu comprised of dishes spanning the globe, including Ligurian focaccia di recco, muhammara (a dip made with walnuts, pepper, and pomegranate molasses), grilled flatbread made with fermented potatoes, yogurt, and flour, falafel inspired by Chef Mina’s mother's recipe, and cioppino. Our entree would showcase three styles of beef: American wagyu brisket coated with Yemenite spices, Japanese A-5 Wagyu bathed in sake and white soy, and butter-poached dry-aged Arizona beef. As an added treat, Beverage Manager Matthew Doerr had created cocktail pairings with Bourbon Steak's Bulleit 10-Year.
“You’ve all had great confidence in us as we stayed true to Americana, and now just be with us as we grow the globe a bit," Chef Michael Mina says. I'm on board!
Meet Chef Richard Sandoval at the next Sip and Savor event on April 14th at Toro. Details at this link.
I received a complimentary media invitation.