You know what’s better than chasing a glass of whiskey with a handful of peanuts? Doing it with some Buffalo pig tails.
A bar snack is a bar snack is a bar snack, until it's not. The time for peanuts of questionable cleanliness and chicken tenders you could chip a tooth on is gone. No longer do you have to smell like dirty fryer oil after eating at the bar. There's a new wave of bars elevating their fare to match the quality of their drink programs. We're talking chips with caviar dip instead of Chex Mix. Butter and onion sandwiches instead of half-cooked onion rings. These are the six bar snacks we want to eat on repeat until the end of time (or at least until the beer runs out).
Kombu Celery: Bar Goto in New York City, NY
The best thing we ate in a bar this year was…celery? Yup, we were surprised too. But the crunchy, salty, sesame-drenched celery sticks at Bar Goto in New York are so good with that martini, you’ll forget they’re vegetables. This dish owes it's umami-packed crunch to shio kombu, a dried kelp that we're pretty obsessed with.
Olive and Tomato Popcorn: Billy Sunday in Chicago, IL
On her hunt for a fresh take on savory popcorn, chef Allison Condon found inspiration in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Julia Child's 1961 cookbook. Condon translated Child’s Tomato Sauce Provençale into a powdered mixture of dehydrated Gaeta olives, Spanish onion, garlic, and tomato, and chopped fresh thyme. After popping the corn, she tosses it in melted butter and the Provençale seasoning, and says it should then be eaten immediately. No argument here.
Chips with Caviar Layer Dip: Louie’s Gen-Gen Room inside Liholiho Yacht Club in San Francisco, CA
When it comes to Ravi Kapur’s chips at Louie’s Gen-Gen Room, local Russets are fried in rice bran oil and dusted with a Lowrey’s-style house seasoning. Then comes the four-layer dip. Depending on how fancy you’re feeling, you can choose either smoked trout roe or locally farmed sturgeon caviar as the base, but do pick one. Both support a layer of homemade French onion dip, which in turn holds a boiled and sieved egg, and, finally, fresh chives.
Butter and Onion Sandwich: Expatriate in Portland, OR
“I cooked for this weird, funny writers’ party—Gus van Sant and Carrie Brownstein were there—and the sandwiches were a big hit,” she says. There are two slices of Japanese-style white bread, one cold slab of butter “as thick as two stacked quarters,” one schmear of room-temperature butter, a scattering of sweet onion slices, lots of finely chopped parsley, and crunchy grey sea salt.
Fried Fish Skin: Bar Melusine in Seattle, WA
This dish is the result of three great minds coming together: Bar Melusine owner Renée Erickson traveled to Alaska, where she saw skins being utilized in imaginative ways; chef Jay Guerrero needed a seafood-focused bar snack on the menu; and sous chef Jake Howell wanted that snack to be decadent. Enter the crunchy fried fish skins with crème fraîche, radishes, and ikura (salmon roe)—perfect with that crisp glass of rosé you already ordered.
Spicy Shrimp Chips: Pépé le Moko in Portland, OR
There’s beauty in simplicity, here. The shrimp chips at Pépé le Moko, which taste ever-so-pleasantly of the sea, are fried and then sprinkled with the Japanese spice mixture togarashi, and served on an easy access shallow platter with some paper underneath and a lemon wedge on the side. No muss, no fuss.
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