Your Last Drink

Well, if the world is going to end today, we might as well toast in style. Our bartender, Eric Bennett, has created a special cocktail to commemorate the Mayan doomsday.

The Final Sacrifice—made with bourbon, Campari, chocolate liqueur, habanero tincture, and honey—will be served tonight for just $7. Eric created the recipe drawing inspiration from traditional Mayan drinks such as atole—a corn tea—and pitarrilla, a fermented drink made using wild honey and balche-tree bark and water. "I wanted to create a drink that was close in spirit to what the Mayans would have celebrated with but updated for today."

The sweet chocolate and honey mixed with the smokiness of the bourbon and spicy habanero tincture is the perfect dose of bittersweet for the day.

On The Menu: Beets & Farm-Raised Pork

Between football games, farmer's markets, and Halloween you have a busy weekend ahead. Treat yourself to a dinner out tonight. We have some great specials on the menu.

First up a beet salad with bull's blood and golden beets, Verde Capra blue cheese, and an escarole and Chardonnay vinaigrette. Fresh and full of flavor!

For your main try our Fudge Family Farms pork belly and fennel-encrusted loin duo with local greens, roasted Brussels sprouts, potatoes, and a wild-mushroom-and-pork reduction. 

James Cooks For Food & Wine's New Chefs Club Restaurant in Aspen

Food & Wine Chef's Club at the St. Regis Aspen Resort/ Photo: St. Regis Aspen Resort

Our chef, James Lewis, is headed to Aspen, Colorado today to cook in the Chefs Club restaurant — a pop-up eatery by Food & Wine at the St. Regis Aspen Resort. The restaurant celebrates the Food & Wine Classic's 30th anniversary by showcasing the talents of Best New Chef, alums who will create inventive American Regional menus influenced by what's in season. The menu and featured chefs will rotate twice a year to honor the seasonality of the dishes. 

James joins chef George Mendes of Aldea in New York, Alex Seidel of Fruition in Denver, and Sue Zemanick of Gautreau's in New Orleans to create the restaurant's first menu.  Check back to see what James cooks up for the Chefs Club, and make sure to book a table if you are in Aspen this summer!

We Have New Cocktails

There are a few reasons you should come drink with us this weekend. Here is one (well technically two!): Eric's new cocktails that taste even better than they look. The Le Sorrelle, aka "the sisters" with a homemade goose berry infusion, Creme de Cassis, vodka, and sage. And the Bullseye, so named for its blood-red center.  They're not even on the menu yet, so you'll come off like a real insider to your date when you ask for them.

Le Sorrelle 

Bullseye 

A Year in Pictorial Review

2011 was a wonderful year for us, and 2012 is already showing great things on the horizon that we can't wait to share with you. But before we move on to the future, take a look at some of the images from two big trips Bettola took last year. The first was to New York for the Food & Wine's Best New Chef reception, and in the summer we went to Aspen for the Food & Wine Classic, where we showed the foodie world why the 'Ham does the whole hog best. 

Check out the rest of the pictures on our Flickr page. 

New Wine on the Menu

The new rosato on our wine list comes from Northeast Italy. The wine is a new vintage of Bastianich Rosato - much like a light red wine, but with a bit more weight. The rosato is a colored, versatile wine perfect with our antipastis, small plates and pizzas. Take note of the rose petal, fresh strawberry, violet and orange peel aromas, which make it a fresh, clean dinner pairing that holds a medium weight on the palate and offers mouthwatering acidity.

Buon Appetito,
Bettola Staff

NYC Renowned Mixologist Miguel Aranda Comes to Bettola

Miguel Aranda

You might have noticed Angel Negrin, our principal bartender, experimenting behind the bar the past few weeks. That’s because Angel is hard at work developing a whole new scale of creative, quality cocktails to add to the menu. So where did all this tinkering start? With acclaimed New York, alchemist/bar-chef Miguel Aranda, with whom Angel trained last month.

This weekend, the creative genius behind Angel’s newest inspirations is coming to Birmingham, escalating our bar menu to new heights.

After tutoring with Miguel Aranda, of Apotheke and Theatre Bar in New York, Angel and chef James Lewis couldn’t resist bringing Miguel to town so you, our customers, could experience his talents first-hand. Miguel, who is renowned as one of the best mixologists on the East Coast, hails from Mexico City. He began his career behind the bar in 1998, and after apprenticing with some of the drink-world’s best, most notably fearless mixologist Albert Trummer (Albert was once briefly detained for setting a New York club on fire with one of his out-there libations!), Miguel now wows Manhattan’s most critical drink palates with drinks that mix his fundamental knowledge of food, apothecary, and spirits.

Angel is drawn to Miguel for the bar chef’s commitment to ingenuity (ever had corn in your cocktail?), integrity of ingredients (Miguel carries his own kit of tinctures and bar supplies wherever he goes), and flawless bar technique (you will be wowed by his speed and precision). Miguel’s drinks are potent, herb-infused cocktails that are equal parts strong and good-for-you (given that you drink sensibly). Our partnership with Miguel, could not come at a more opportune time, as we work to develop our bar menu and introduce you to the types of drink and food you can expect from our sister restaurant, Vittoria, opening this summer.

Miguel will be mixing at an afternoon, cocktail-shopping event at Shaia’s men’s clothing boutique in Mountain Brook on Friday, May 6. He will also be behind Bettola’s bar on Saturday night with Angel by his side.
We hope to see you there.

Buon Appetito,
Bettola Staff

This Week at Bettola

Between Magic City Art Connection's Corks & Chefs event, a New York bar chef joining us Saturday, May 7, and wine producers joining us for dinner, we are getting geared up for a busy week at Bettola. Here's  a look at what is coming up. 

• Tomorrow visit us at the Corks & Chefs tent at Magic City Art Connection. Chef James Lewis will be there serving up a porchetta dish - pork belly and loin rolled with rosemary, garlic salt and fennel pollen, served on toasted bread and topped off with salsa verde. 

• Friday May 6 is going to be a big day for us highlighted by a special guest bartender we are flying in from New York City. You definitely don't want to miss this. Remember when we told you Angel was in New York training with a genius mixologist a few weeks ago? Well now we are bringing the mixologist here for you. On Friday and Saturday, Miguel Aranda of Theatre Bar and Apotheke in New York will bring his libations to Bettola. We will roll out a special drink menu created by Miguel. He will be behind the bar with Angel giving you a taste of his perfect style and unique drinks. 

• Also on Friday Miguel and Chef James will be wining and dining patrons at Shaia's in Mountain Brook for a special cocktail-party shopping event. James will be feeding the crowd pizza, antipastis and other small bites, and Miguel will be there mixing up his infamous cocktails. 

• And if you notice a big table flowing with wine outside our restaurant that night, those are the Dalla Terra wine producers, one of our favorite wine carriers, who will be joining us for dinner to get a taste of Birmingham, and fill us in on what's new in the wine world. We will keep you posted on what we learn. 

We hope you can join us for all these exciting events. 

Presenting the "Arcadico"

The perfect finish to a warm, sunny day; the Arcadico blends herb-infused vodka, fresh lemon, lemon bitters, pure-cane sugar and house-made soda to create a crisp, light and refreshing cocktail. The herb infusion and fresh citrus evoke images of a sun-soaked Italian countryside as the bitters provide additional depth to the flavor and a dry finish. The underlying tones of sweetness, tartness and dryness make for a new classic-inspired cocktail that everyone can love.

A Huge Thanks to All

2011 has been such an exciting year so far at Bettola, and it feels like things are just getting started. Beginning last fall with USA Today's “Great American Bites” column naming Bettola as one of the best pizza places in the country, and leading up to our chef's, James Lewis, recent Food & Wine “Best New Chefs” award; the response has been incredible. We have seen a lot of new faces coming through the restaurant, and of course, our regulars could not have been more supportive.

In February, Food & Wine's nomination for “People's Best New Chef” came as a complete surprise. We had so much fun connecting with the community on the polls; and thanks to your support, we won the regional portion of the competition. Now, to have been named one of the 2011 “Best New Chefs” by the Food & Wine staff - wow, we couldn't be more grateful.

The truth is we could not have done any of this without you. All of the support from local media, and you, the patrons, spreading the word and encouraging us every step of the way is what made all of this possible.

We just wanted to take a moment to thank you for being a part of all of this. We take great pride in being a part of the Birmingham community, and work hard to bring you authentic Italian recipes, using fresh, local ingredients as our base. Though we are consistently reinventing the menu, and working to challenge your taste buds, we are committed to staying rooted to our values of respecting the food and the community.

We are your restaurant, a family restaurant, and we'd love to hear from you. Drop us a line - tell us what you like, how we can serve you better, and what you'd like to see Bettola doing. We are always up for the challenge of trying new things.

Buon appetito

- The Bettola Staff

The People's Best New Chef of 2011

Let the voting begin! Voting for Food & Wine The People's Best New Chef has begun. Help us win by voting for James Lewis the onyl Birmingham representative for the Gulf Coast region! Vote at http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2011/02/15/food-wines-the-peoples-best-new-chef-2011-gulf-coast/