Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/746412
november 2016 / the tasting panel / 61 "We started the Masters program to bring together masters in the food, mixology and wine areas," said Radomski. "So we'll work with a great master chef like Rick, a great master mixologist and a Master Sommelier to integrate those three worlds. The whole idea behind this concept is to get people at home to make drinks. Everybody loves to have dinner parties and cook and offer wines, but this is a different nuance that adds a new dimension of flavor to those gatherings. So every time I do a pairing like this, we start or fin- ish or sometimes do both with a bourbon drink." At this festival's Masters event, Chef Moonen selected Pacific amberjack, a fatty yellowtail fish that he gently seared in the Japanese tataki style, then seasoned with Aleppo Turkish pepper and a touch of salt. To accompany this delicate dish, Master Sommelier Michael Jordan chose Layer Cake Sauvignon Blanc, while Radomski pre- sented Bourbon on the Beach, a citrus-forward cocktail featuring fresh grapefruit juice, simple syrup, two basil leaves and one-and-a-half ounces of Duke Bourbon, with an orange slice and Luxardo cherry for garnish. "I'm a bourbon drinker myself and I love Duke Bourbon," said Moonen. "It's a good sipping bourbon and mixes superbly. I opened a restau- rant, Rx Boiler Room in Las Vegas, and it's all about cocktails and adjusting the flavors to the food, and that's exactly what Chris is doing with his cocktails." Ethan Wayne put his personal spin on the event. "Even though my dad's not here drinking Duke with us," he said, "he certainly had his share of fun and good spirits in his lifetime, so that part of him will always be a part of Duke." Celebrity Chef Rick Moonen (left) and The Tasting Panel Contributing Editor Richard Carleton Hacker (right) are mutual fans of Duke Bourbon. "With Chris's help we were able to bring something really positive to the market," says Ethan Wayne, with Chris Radomski at the Newport Beach Food & Wine Festival, the scene of the second Duke Bourbon Masters Series of food, wine, and whiskey dinners, featuring some of the nation's top chefs, sommeliers and mixologists. To complement Chef Rick Moonen's dish of Pacific amberjack yellowtail, Chris Radomski created a citrusy Bourbon on the Beach cocktail. "We had a bit of a challenge, because no one would ever think of pairing bourbon with fish," he said, "but we think like this. So you bring in some citrus and add some brightness to it and downplay a little of the alcohol and oak of the bourbon."