September Centerfold: Lobster Roll Sliders

The 35-day Dry Aged Rib Eye

According to Wikipedia, the rib eye steak is “a beef steak from the rib section.” It also says that the cut of meat spans ribs six through twelve and includes the longis...a whole bunch of muscles.

Let's take a different tack here. Rib eye steak is delicious. It's one of the more flavorful cuts of beef because it's from around the ribs, where the muscles get a lot of use and the fat gets marbled in such a way as to basically beg to be slow-roasted or grilled. All-told, most chefs will tell you that it's pretty hard to screw up a rib eye.

Of course, just because it's hard to screw up doesn't mean you can't do it really, really well.

Chef James Wilschke takes dry-aged rib eyes to build the rib eye entree at 320 Main. “That's really the key to how we make an awesome steak,” says Wilschke. The beef that gets picked to serve has been dry-aged for 35 days. That's 35 days of letting the beef hang in a “hot box” (which is actually cold inside, but who can worry about semantics when you're dealing with a massive side of beef?) so that the natural flavor of the meat is allowed to concentrate. This is an expensive process and one that is only ever performed on the choicest cuts of beef.

Once Chef Wilschke has his cuts, he cooks them (at 12 ounces a piece) with a rub of spices and sea salt. After the steak is cooked to perfection it is laid atop a bed of oyster mushrooms and fingerling potatoes. The final touch is a tarragon compound butter laid atop the steak to add an extra dimension of herbal and savory notes.

The rib eye is succulent and rich, complemented exquisitely by the potatoes and mushrooms – and probably with an excellent cocktail like the Earl Grey Martinez or a Manhattan.

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Matt “RumDood” Robold is a bartender at 320 Main and, in his spare time, runs RumDood.com, where he writes about rum, rum cocktails, and rum history.

Three Dots & A Dash

As World War II drew to a close, folks back home in the USA were ecstatic. Evil had been vanquished and their boys (and girls) were coming home. 

This excitement wasn't lost on people like Don The Beachcomber. Don had actually served in the US Army during the war. The War Department, aware of his success running one of the most famous chains of restaurants and bars in the world, put him to work setting up and managing rest and relaxation centers for GI's at the front. Don even received two medals – the Purple Heart and the Bronze star for his work in aiding fatigued combat units in Europe.

Upon the war's end, Don returned home and immediately decided to commemorate the allied victory in the war in the a way only he could – with a drink.

Three Dots & A Dash a la 320 Main
1 1/2 oz Amber Martinician Rum
1/2 oz Demerara Rum
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Orange Juice
1/2 oz Honey Mix
1/4 oz Pimento Dram
1/4 oz Falernum
1 dash Angostura Bitters
5 oz Crushed Ice
1/2 oz Water

Combine all in a mixing tin and shake vigorously until the tin is ice-cold. Pour into a chimney glass and top with fresh crushed ice. Garnish with three cherries and a pineapple spear.

The garnish is the thing with this drink. The three cherries and the pineapple spear represent the three dots and the dash of the name of this drink – which also happens to be the code for the letter “V” in Morse Code and was used to signify “VICTORY!”

Don's original recipe calls for the use of a blender to make this drink. We don't have blenders at 320 Main, so we've cut back on the crushed ice a tad and added some water to give the drink its proper dilution without requiring your bartender to shake your drink for over a minute.

This is especially important for Tuesdays.

Why are Tuesdays so special? Because 320 Main is going tropical every week with Tiki Tuesdays! 

Every Tuesday night you can enjoy a selection of tropical libations from our bartenders for only $8, including the Three Dots & A Dash, Planter's Punch, and Navy Grog.

So be sure to come on in and lose yourself in the tropical paradise of 320 Main every Tuesday night, starting September 25th!

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Matt “RumDood” Robold is a bartender at 320 Main and, in his spare time, runs RumDood.com, where he writes about rum, rum cocktails, and rum history.

The Dessert Duo: PB&J Battle