Smith & Wollensky Takes Whiskey And Steaks To A New Level For St. Patrick's Day
It's time to reserve your steak. Yes, we said reserve a very special steak. At the renowned American steakhouse Smith & Wollensky, you can celebrate St Patrick's Day enjoying a world-class steak, cocktails, and whiskey — not just in your glass, but on your steak as well.
Upon entering the Las Vegas Strip venue, we were escorted to our table — and transported back in time to the era of classic American steakhouses. Our veteran server, Michael, got us started with the featured whiskey flight. Irish American Whiskey is a noteworthy producer of (you guessed it) Irish whiskey that is matured in emptied American bourbon casks and distilled on the southwest coast of Ireland. We tasted the classic whiskey and then moved on to their 10-year-old single malt. This aging process created a beautiful, smooth, exceptional flavor that readied our palates for what was to come.
This special evening featured several signature cocktails using these very special whiskeys. The signature cocktails accented the steak's substantive flavors but could have been enjoyed on their own. The Irish American Smash cocktail featured Irish American's Classic Blend, mint, mixed berries, Angostura bitters, lemon, and simple syrup while the Irish American Club blended the same classic whiskey with apricot brandy, dry vermouth, egg white, lemon, simple syrup, and orange peel.
The first entrée was perfection on a plate: a 10-ounce filet mignon prepared medium rare, rubbed with Angostura orange bitters, whiskey-smoked sugar, and orange zest. The steak is finished with a whiskey gastrique using Irish American Classic Blend and Luxardo maraschino liqueur. After this lovely filet it was time to welcome the star of the experience to our table.
The USDA Prime Kansas City bone-in sirloin had been dry-aged in Irish American whiskey for 30 days and was pure heaven on our taste buds. Renowned for its on-premise dry-aging process, Smith & Wollensky had its corporate executive chef Matt King take the most popular cut, aging it for 30 days wrapped in a whiskey-soaked cheesecloth. The process instills a unique sweet, smoky flavor into this signature dry-aged cut. After some tableside experimentation, we found the 10-year Irish American matched well with this cut of USDA Prime.
"As a chef, I am excited to draw inspiration from Irish American Whiskey and present its outstanding flavor in our beautiful USDA Prime sirloins, one of our most celebrated cuts of meat at Smith & Wollensky," said King. "Through this dry-aging process, we're going to impart some of the distinctive flavors from the whiskey into the beef, so we'll have a balance of fruitiness, smokiness, and a taste of American oak from the cask. The dry-aging process is going to increase the tenderness of the steak as well. We are keenly overseeing this process as it develops and look forward to sharing these specialty steaks with our guests starting March 1 through St. Patrick's Day weekend."
Don't miss out on this USDA Prime bone-in Kansas City sirloin. It is available in a limited quantity, and the chef suggested that guests reserve their steaks online or by phone, noting "whiskey-aged steak" in the reservation request. The Steak & Whiskey event offerings are available at Smith & Wollensky locations in Boston, Chicago, Houston, Las Vegas, and Miami Beach.