Meat Market's Culinary & Cocktail Dinner with Mixologist John Lermayer
Where: Meat Market
When: Monday, June 25, 2012
Cost: $65 per person (plus tax and gratuity)
Rundown: World-renowned mixologist John Lermayer, who has lived in Miami for the past six years while spearheading cocktail programs and preparing to open his own bar on South Beach, is teaming up with Meat Market's executive chef and co-owner, Sean Brasel, to introduce new creations and challenge wine connoisseurs to try a Johns Ginger Apple Julep instead of a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.
"My goal at Meat Market is to reintroduce people to cocktails and add a new layer to restaurant drinking," Lermayer says. "A lot of wine consumers are scared of cocktails because they think they're going to get too drunk... but a properly made cocktail has the same [alcohol] content as a glass of wine."
Lermayer also points out that improvements in distillation over the past decade have changed the face of cocktails and have helped drive the liquor trend. "A lot of people say, 'I don't drink tequila, I don't drink this or that,'" he says. "A lot of [the hesitation] relates back to... a bad college experience."
Lermayer has created original libations to pair with Brasel's "savory, heavy, intense flavors."
"It's gonna be a fun time," he says. "I love working with chefs -- it's the real core of the cocktail renaissance."
