New menus at the Omni Homestead feature cocktail pairings and boozy desserts.
The Maître d’Burger with 16-hour smoked brisket, duck bacon, beer batter onions, and Gruyère cheese on a brioche bun topped with gold leaf at Woody’s.
Photo courtesy of the Omni Homestead Resort
Last September, Jefferson’s Restaurant and Bar at the Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs launched a new seasonally rotating cocktail pairing menu. The fall edition, with the theme “kissed by fire,” included smoked flavors in both the dishes and cocktails.
The menu started with assorted small plates, such as a smoked ham board with cured meats and seared melon, chorizo-stuffed dates wrapped in smoked duck prosciutto, and smoked brie ravioli with basil aioli, paired with a grilled pineapple margarita made with Don Julio Reposado tequila and Cointreau. Smoked brisket croquetas—made with meat smoked for 16 hours over hickory and cherry wood, potato, and smoked cheese, rolled in pork rinds, and served with garlic scape cream—partnered with the Riff cocktail, made with Woodford Reserve rye whiskey, Campari, and smoked brandy. For dessert, a bacon and bourbon brownie with smoked cherries was complemented with the Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon-based cocktail Sweet Relief.
Jefferson’s also offers pairings for year-round signature items, such as the roasted duck breast with braised turnips, which executive chef Severin Nunn matches with a Virginia Manhattan made with Bowman Single Barrel Bourbon, Carpano Antica sweet vermouth, peach bitters, and cherries. For the Highland County rack of lamb, Nunn suggests the Virginia Julep, which mixes Bowman Brothers Small Batch Bourbon with Hungry Hills honey and mint grown in the on-site garden. The spring menu takes effect in April.
Chef Nunn and the culinary team have also revamped the dessert menu for Woody’s, a more casual dining setting, to include boozy milkshakes. Guests can add a shot of coconut rum, vanilla vodka, Baileys, or bourbon to any of Woody’s milkshake flavors. Nunn’s favorite is the brown butter caramel pretzel milkshake with Woodford Reserve bourbon, explaining that the bourbon complements the saltiness. “You’re on vacation, and sometimes you want something sweet—why not add a shot?” says Nunn. OmniHotels.com
This article originally appeared in our February 2019 issue.
