Prohibition Day celebration at Whiskey Cake on December 5th.

Join us at Whiskey Cake for Repeal Day on December 5th. $5 cocktails?  Cool!  Costume contest? Meh.

Whiskey Cake 

3601 Dallas Parkway 

Plano, TX 75093

Legacy Hall Grand Opening

If this facility is even moderately close to the hype it will still be a great debauchery destination. We look forward to it's opening on December 6th and you can find us at the brewery. Cheers, Bon

Legacy Hall Makes Highly Anticipated Debut

Innovative three-story culinary and entertainment destination set for

Dec. 6 grand opening in Legacy West

PLANO, Texas (Nov. 27, 2017) – The wait is finally over. Legacy Hall – one of the nation’s largest and most unique new food halls – is making its highly anticipated debut on Wednesday, Dec. 6. 

Dedicated to serving the best-of food trends prepared by premier chefs and local artisans, the three-story, 55,000-square-foot European-style food hall, brewery and live music and entertainment venue is opening its doors on Dec. 6 at 7800 Windrose Ave. in Plano’s acclaimed Legacy West development. 

“Legacy Hall is the first of its kind, and it’s one of the most extraordinary food halls on the planet,” said Jack Gibbons, President & COO of Front Burner Restaurants. “Legacy Hall offers the very best in food theater, showcasing the sights, smells, sounds and tastes of delicious cuisines presented by a blue-chip collection of culinary experts who are passionate about turning each meal into an experience. Conceiving, designing and building a concept of this magnitude takes a lot of work – including visits to many of the top food halls across the globe – and we can’t wait to show off the results at this incredible dining and entertainment destination.”

Gensler designed Legacy Hall, and like the food hall’s cuisine, the architecture is simple, honest and well crafted. Raw wood, concrete, steel, modified shipping containers, exposed ductwork, conduits and pipes are all carefully and purposefully arranged to create a functional artistic expression of what a building is. 

Legacy Hall will open with an eclectic collection of 20 artisanal food stalls featuring everything from elevated Neapolitan pizzas, gourmet burgers and Baja-style tacos, to worldly selections like shawarma, yakitori and bao steam buns. As guests explore the modern industrial first floor, they will encounter a natural wine and charcuterie bar, a rotating food stall with an ever-changing menu and a sprawling craft cocktail bar called Bar Main. To see the full list of food stalls and the chefs and restaurateurs behind them, visit legacyfoodhall.com/food-stalls.

The second floor comprises Legacy Hall’s main seating area, comfortably accommodating 250 or more guests. A single food stall, Sea Breeze Lobsta’ & Chowda’ House, can also be found here, along with an indoor/outdoor bar – the Good View Bar – that opens onto a balcony overlooking the Box Garden. 

The third floor houses a fully functioning craft brewery – Unlawful Assembly Brewery & Tap Room – featuring classic pub fare and 21 operating tanks used to crank out its portfolio of premium year-round beers, along with a rotating tap selection of highly creative, collaborative and seasonal beers. The brewery will open with six premium beers – The Antagonist Amber Lager, Public Dissent Pale Ale, Deviant Behavior Belgian Wit, Real American Brown Ale, Idol Time Passion Pineapple Wheat and Barrel Aged Brown Ale. Starting in January, UABC will commission the canning line and prepare for distribution off-site. 

Gensler’s strategic architectural design had to accompany the beer tanks’ atypical placement on the second and third floors. “The weight of the brewing tanks is equal to supporting roughly 100 elephants,” said Gensler Principal Barry Hand. “The load-bearing requirements and codes for a brewery of this capacity were an interesting puzzle to solve.”

Guests will also enjoy the eye-catching tap room within the brewery that serves as an ideal gathering place for people looking to enjoy the sights and sounds of a working brewery while hanging out with friends. The UABC Tap Room will host private parties and acoustic live music shows in a unique and intimate setting. Tours and tastings will be available for private events.

The Box Garden – opening spring 2018 – will be located ground level adjacent to the food hall. Constructed from reclaimed shipping containers, this expansive courtyard will hold more than 1,500 people and house Carlton Provisions BBQ along with multiple bars including a tiki bar, Texas stillhouse bar, margarita cantina, rotating pop-ups and even a Hawaiian shaved ice stand. The heart of the Box Garden will be the 600-square-foot event stage with an LED screen that will provide constant entertainment for Legacy Hall’s guests.

Legacy Hall will be open Monday through Wednesday from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. With accommodations and event packages available for groups from 25 to 2,000, Legacy Hall is the go-to spot for an unforgettable party. For more information, visit legacyfoodhall.com/groups-parties or send an email to sales@legacyfoodhall.com.  

Our Pairing Suggestions for Thanksgiving 2017

Hello Snobs, and welcome to the beginning of the season of debauchery where some of us ... many of us .... OK, most of us will stuff everything in our fat faces that we can get our hands on.  We must admit that Thanksgiving is our favorite holiday, because it is an honest holiday with no hidden meanings, no religious connotations, no commercialism, just simply getting together with family and friends and enjoying a feast of thanks. 
Frankly, some of us .... many of us .... OK, most of us will overdo the feasting part a tad .... some ... OK, we will way overdo the face stuffing bit so you don't want to fill up on liquids, do you?  You also don't want to drink something that will kill you palate so that you can't enjoy the oral delights that you are jamming into your pie hole.  Love the high IBU Ipa's?  Well, this is not the holiday for those as you will damage your taste buds and not be able to enjoy Grandma's delicate Jello casserole. Bud Light will be fine, won't it? Are you nuts? Those highly carbonated mass market beers will fill you up so much that you may miss out on the Pumpkin Pie.
So let's talk low carbonated, lightly flavored accompaniments, shall we? "Like water?" you ask. Oh hell no, it's much easier to paste on a fake smile while we hear, for the 24th year in a row, Uncle Walt's story of how he told President Clinton off at a meet and greet. Your family's ignorance is much more tolerable with a mild buzz.

Beer - The flavors of the Thanksgiving feast are all over the place, so it is important to choose a beer style with a broad flavor spectrum.  As always we will recommend Saison DuPont (6.5% ABV) as the premier beer to pair with the meal. Low carbonation, wonderfully earthy flavor, decent alcohol content makes this a perfect accompaniment.  We do acknowledge that many of you don't particularly like the barnyardy taste of saisons, so as a substitute we recommend that you use a British style bitter (no, they are not bitter to the taste, the British just love to name things in a confusing manner, for instance black pudding isn't a pudding at all, it's frigging blood sausage .... erk) or a fine brown ale. Think Fuller's ESB (5.9% ABV) or Newcastle Brown Ale (4.7% ABV) which are malty, with low carbonation and even ever so slightly sweet.

Cider - Didn't think about ciders, did you? That's why we are here for you. Ciders have very low carbonation and are sneaky.  That asshat Uncle Walt will think that he is drinking apple juice up until the moment he passes out on the sofa watching football. Stfu, Walt.  We are lucky enough to have a fine cidery right here in town that makes a dandy cider, if you can get it.  High and Dry (6.8% ABV) by Bishop Cider Company is about as perfect as you can get for the dinner pairing, but you may have trouble finding it.  If you want a cider more readily accessible try Crispin Ciders, especially the Crispin  Artisinal Reserve Lansdowne (6.9% ABV) which tastes like cider mixed with Scotch ale and molasses, which, to be honest, will either be loved or hated or perhaps Crispin's The Saint (6.8% ABV), which smells and tastes like a Belgian trippel.

Wines - Beaujolais nouveau is a red wine made from Gamay grapes produced in the Beaujolais region of France. It is the most popular vin de primeur, fermented for just a few weeks before being released for sale on the third Thursday of November. This light and fruity delight is what we typically pair with our Thanksgiving dinner (ikr?) and is so easy to drink even your overly plump, soda swilling cousin from Alabama will find herself sipping a glass or two. Wine snobs are even bigger asses than we are and if you lucky enough to have one in the family you will hear 'Red wine? With poultry? Are you mad?".  For this pompous ass we suggest that you hand them a glass (that you spit into, first) of dry riesling like the Chateau Ste. Michelle Columbia Valley Riesling which is inexpensive and subtle and pairs with almost anything.

Hard Liquor -  We really don't recommend strong liquor until after everyone has said their goodbyes, then you can pour yourself a stiff one and thank god that you won't have to see them again for a year.

Cheers, Bon

International Stout Day 2017

HEY! It's November 2nd which means that today is International Stout Day!

http://www.stoutday.com/

Yummy, yummy, yum. There are some fine, fine stouts being produced locally for sure, I mean, who hasn't tried The Temptress (9.1% ABV) from Lakewood (http://lakewoodbrewing.com/)? Solid performer for those guys for sure.

Maybe your tastes are aching for something a bit more potent? Perhaps the Barrel Aged Legion (11.6% ABV) from those fine brewers at Community Beer Company (http://www.communitybeer.com/)? Whooeee, that will make going to work tomorrow a bit difficult.

We are going to go a bit farther afield for our fix. We have gotten our hands on the Mole Stout (5.8% ABV) from Ska Brewing (http://skabrewing.com/) brewed with cocoa nibs, spices and three varieties of chile peppers: Ancho, Guajillo and Hatch green chiles (also known as Anaheim peppers). Mmmmmmmm.

Rumor has it that they will soon be releasing a coffee cream stout that is divine.

Cheers, Bon

Oktoberfest Bier

If you are even vaguely the same as us in the love of beer, you will change your beer selection with the seasons. Stouts and porters in the winter, holiday ales during the holiday blitz at the end of the year, saisons in the spring, and of course, Oktoberfest beers in the fall. Mmmmmm, Oktoberfest beers. There are several Oktoberfest beers available right now at your local vendor, but did you know that there are actually 2 types of Oktoberfest beers?

The one that is sold here in the U.S. is the Märzen (5.8% ABV) style beer.  It is an amber beer style that was developed over 200 years ago to celebrate the original Oktoberfest. The Märzen name comes from “March beer” because it was historically brewed in March to be at peak flavor for the Oktoberfest celebration. Today this style is available year round in the US due to popular demand. This full bodied beer with its rich malt flavor and dark toffee note, has an underlying fruitiness and masterful hop balance.

The second Oktoberfest beer is less well known because it is not sold here, but is only available at the festival in Munich. This golden Oktoberfest lager is the only beer served in Paulaner Oktoberfest tents today. It also happens to be the best-selling Oktoberfest beer in Germany.  Brewed once a year, and only available while supplies last, Oktoberfest Wiesn is the pinnacle of German brewing: deep golden color, full-bodied and wonderfully mellow, with a balanced harmonious taste and the pleasant fragrance of hops. At 6% ABV, it is stronger and bolder that the usual lager.  I drank 7 liters of this delight while in Munich and was so very proud that I was still vaguely functional at the end of the evening.

Whichever beer brand you choose is irrelevant in that all of the German Oktoberfest beers are fairly similar, but try them while they are still available.

Great American Beer Festival 2017

Another GABF on the books and Texas is again well represented with medals of excellence.  The Dallas/Fort Worth/North Texas area also has a smattering of breweries scoring medals and making us proud.  Rahr and Sons, however, are a perennial winner at the GABF with multiple awards virtually every year.  Love those guys.  Here are the local winners and please take the time to visit these breweries, drink their beer, and congratulate them on their success.

Metroplex Winners:

Silver - It's Always Something, Peticolus Brewing Company, Dallas         
Belgian Strong Spec.Ale

Silver - Oktoberfest, Rahr and Sons Brewing Co. , Fort Worth 
German Style Marzen

Bronze - Honey Please, Armadillo Ale Works, Denton         
Honey Beer

Gold - Real Heavy, Rahr and Sons Brewing Co. , Fort Worth   
Scotch Ale

Texas Winners:

Gold - La Muerta, Freetail Brewing Company, San Antonio     
Aged Beer

Silver - Shiner Bock, Spoetzl Brewery, Shiner               
American Amber Lager

Bronze - Blue Bridge, Galveston Island Brewing Co., Galveston         
Amer. Amber/Red Ale

Gold - Buckle Bunny. Eureka Heights Brewing Co., Houston           
American Cream Ale

Gold - Rocket 100, The Austin Beer Garden Brewing Company, Austin
American or International Style Pilsener

Gold - Amandus, Lazarus Brewing Company. Austin             
Belgian Style Strong Ale

Gold - Velvet Revolution, The Austin Beer Garden Brewing Company, Austin             
Bohemian Style Pilsener

Gold - Bearded Seal, Pinthouse Pizza North, Austin             
Classic Irish Dry Stout

Bronze - Holler ESB, Holler Brewing Company, Houston           
Extra Special Bitter

Bronze - Weedwacker, St. Arnold Brewing Company, Houston            

German Wheat Ale

Silver - Firemans 4, Real Ale Brewing Company, Blanco              

Golden or Blonde Ale

Silver - Luchesa Lager, Oasis Brewing Company, Austin

Kellerbier / Zwickelbier

Gold - Super Awesome Lager, Austin Beer Works, Austin, 

Light Lager

Silver - Lux Mundi, Save the World Brewing Company, Marble Falls    

'Other' Belgian Style Ale

Gold - Pumpinator, St. Arnold Brewing Company, Houston          

Pumpkin/Pumpkin Spice

Bronze - Barrel-aged Marfa Light  Big Bend Brewing Company, Alpine              

Wood or Barrel Aged Strong Stout

Shield Biter Scotch Ale

Our friends at Rabbit Hole Brewing has a new release that you may wish to find and try.  Shield Biter Scotch Ale (8% ABV) is a draught only release available now. Cheers, Bon.

Ready to go beerserk?

Old Norse literature paints the picture of a Berserker, a near mythical warrior, as wild and fierce as an animal. So resilient their skin was said to be able to resist fire and iron, so savage they are traditionally depicted as gnawing on their own shields!

Join us in welcoming our newest beer to the Rabbit Hole catalog: Shield Biter. An animalistic 8% ABV Strong Scotch Ale. Lightly toasted bread and biscuit notes compliment the ruthlessly rich caramel and dark fruit flavors.

Strong Scotch Ales are high gravity versions of the traditional Scottish session beers. They typically showcase a full-body with strong caramel malt flavors, low bitterness and higher alcohol levels. We believe you'll enjoy Shield Biter best with soft buttery cheeses, braised pork, smoked ham, and/or salmon. Just try not to go too wild!

"Shield Biter"

Beer Stats:

Style:  Strong Scotch Ale
ABV: 8%
IBU: 26
Grain: Pale, Munich, Victory, Crystal 60, Crystal 150
Hops: Target