5 American Distilleries Where You Can Also Dine

Food & Drinks

5 American Distilleries Where You Can Also Dine

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Fancy having dinner among the stills? After you tour the distillery and taste through a flight of your favorite booze, linger over elevated fare at one of these craft spirit producers.

Bottle & Bond Kitchen and Bar at Bardstown Bourbon Company (Bardstown, Ky.)

Bottle & Bond
 

This new-generation distillery focuses on creative collaborations such as bourbon finished in cabernet sauvignon barrels. The restaurant is described as a “scratch kitchen with a dash of Southern flair,” characterized by dishes such as cast-iron buttermilk fried chicken and grilled salmon with bourbon glaze. Its cocktail menu pours the distillery’s offerings and those from the extensive spirits library stocked with more than 400 vintage American whiskeys curated by renowned whiskey author Fred Minnick. A new Distilled Dinner Series held quarterly for just 20 guests lets chef John Castro flex his culinary chops through a three-course menu of bourbon-infused dishes and Kentucky favorites; upcoming events will showcase joint projects like a wine-finished bourbon made in conjunction with The Prisoner Wine Company. “Dining tables are steps from our stills, and private events are surrounded by barrels,” says vice president of hospitality Dan Calloway. “This is the modern bourbon experience.”

Distill Table at Western Reserve Distillers (Lakewood, Ohio)

Distill Table
Adjacent to the husband-and-wife-run distillery outside Cleveland (the duo have a penchant for whiskey made with spelled and other relic grains) is this restaurant and cocktail bar that complements the farm-to-glass offerings made next door. Highlights include pork belly croquettes with smoked cherry barbecue sauce and Twin Peaks Farm meatloaf; alongside, try a flight, classic cocktail, or original creation like the I Menta Turn on Euclid, made using the distillery’s own bourbon, Branca Menta and lemon. “We’re committed to local sourcing; we understand the value of seeing our grains grow,” says cofounder Ann Thomas. All of the distillery’s spirits are distilled from heirloom seed stock grown organically in the region’s rich soil, and the mash byproduct is added to the feed program for the farmers’ livestock and sold to their farm-to-table restaurant. “Here you can enjoy expertly crafted dishes prepared with locally sourced ingredients,” says Thomas.

Lula Restaurant–Distillery (New Orleans)

Barrel Room at Lula
This NOLA distillery is the result of a collaboration between friends and business partners Jess Bourgeois and Bera Caffery, who met in 2009 during a two-week trip across New Zealand. Their three small-batch products—rum, vodka, and gin—are an ode to Louisiana’s sugar cane production, which dates back 200 years, and made in a copper still manufactured in Eislingen, Germany. As for the food? This is The Big Easy, so it’s fab. Look for shrimp boils in three iterations (ginger lemongrass, garlic butter, and hot garlic), grilled Gulf fish with green onion popcorn rice, and pork Osso Bucco grillades. Free-flowing tap cocktails, like the Cucumber Vodka Collins or the Bee’s Knees, go down just as easily. The Barrel Room is a perfect nook for large events or intimate gatherings.

Farmhouse at Pacific Coast Spirits (San Diego)

Farmhouse at Pacific Coast Spirits
Using ingredients sourced as close to the West Coast as possible, California’s first combination distillery and restaurant make a signature American single malt whiskey, as well as brandies in the style of pisco and Cognac and those distilled from singular grape varietals. The Farmhouse serves up family-style pozole, fresh-catch ceviche, barrio salad, and other SoCal/Mexican-fusion dishes. It also endeavors to be sustainable whenever possible, using spent grains in its crackers and waffles, botanicals in the dressings, and spirits in the bacon and fish cures. “We’re a distillery, but the food is not a second thought for us, [and] we have a unique opportunity with the synergy of spirits production and cuisine,” says founder and head distiller Nicholas Hammond. “Our synergy is purposeful, and we work hard to execute this harmony.”

Rye Street Tavern at Sagamore Spirit (Baltimore)
Rye Street Tavern
 At this distillery, which pays homage to the mid-Atlantic state’s storied history of rye whiskey and the corner taverns of Baltimore’s industrial era, is an American restaurant overseen by chef Andrew Carmellini and chef de cuisine Brian Plante. Its cuisine speaks to the Chesapeake Bay’s influence on the region; signature dishes include wood-broiled Choptank oysters, ember-roasted beets, wood-grilled red drum, braised beef cheek, and crispy kabocha squash. The menu also features the chef’s famous fried chicken and a rotating “crab of the day” special, with offerings such as blue crab salad and crispy crab fritters. Beverage director Josh Nadel’s cocktail list shows off Maryland rye whiskey in drinks like the Brown Derby, Flor de Sagamore, and Into the Woods, which stirs Sagamore Spirit rye with Don Ciccio & Figli nocino, black walnut bitters and Vya sweet vermouth.

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