Aldine Getting in the Local Spirit
Jennifer Sabatino has the bar stocked with local spirits at Aldine | Photo via Jennifer Sabatino
Over the last several weeks, Jennifer Sabatino has been overhauling the liquor stock at Aldine. The former bar manager of Stateside (which specialized in American spirits), is remaking the liquor selection at Aldine to be all-local. Sabatino has more than twenty local spirits behind the second floor bar now and is working on overhauling the cocktails to take advantage of the recent explosion in Pennsylvania and New Jersey spirits.
During a visit yesterday, Sabatino was particularly “fired up” (in the parlance of her husband, chef George Sabatino) about Bluebird Distilling’s Juniperus Gin (Phoenixville), an aromatic spirit first distilled from rye. She also had nothing but praise for Manatawny Still Works’ small batch #7 whiskey (Pottstown). Despite its young age, the cask strength whiskey didn’t come across as harsh or burning.
Jennifer and her bar team her currently working on spring cocktail changes that will take advantage of the new inventory but in the meantime, the house cocktails are $7 during happy hour (5 p.m. to 7 p.m.) and George is plating happy hour snacks that include fried parsnips with buffalo sauce, chicharrones with aioli and chicken liver mousse. The chicharrones, beckon back to George’s early days at Barbuzzo, where “pig popcorn” was a hit.
When we stopped in we also sampled the day’s ceviche and a tasty small plate of fresh sausage.
More Food Photos from Aldine
Buffalo Parsnip
Fresh Sausage
Aldine [Foobooz]
