While at the Social Fresh Conference last week, I was inspired by a dear friend to start posting on my blog again. My job takes me to a lot of great places and I miss sharing the experiences with everyone. To put it nicely, I stopped sharing on my blog and other social media outlets as I had an unwanted pursuer. Cyberstalking, phone/text stalking, email stalking, etc. are easy things to do living in today’s information era. Keep in mind at the end of the day, it’s still a crime. Enough of that nonsense. Let’s get on with what I want to share.
Every month Council Oak Steaks & Seafood, located inside of Seminole Hard Rock Tampa, hosts a themed dinner. This month’s dinner featured Barrel Aged Cocktails. Executive Chef Bill Gideon, Executive Sui Chef Mike Balles, along with Executive Sui Chef Omar Torres and the ‘Sweet Genius’ Pastry Chef Chef Alon Gontowski combined forces to bring their culinary expertise to the tables creating an intimate, educational dinner. Each guest was sent home with an already week-aged 2-liter barrel of featuring a Crown Royal Rye Manhattan. Chef Mike Balles was oh so kind to engrave my Instagram handle with a soldering iron onto the barrel. Thanks again Chef Balles!
Take a peep at the story I wrote for Creative Loafing here and the additional photos on my Flickr page here.
Nicole Abbett 