Awesome Food, Drinks at Thai One On At Mayberry

Just a quick post to note that Chef Josh Campbell of Mayberry did it again this past Wednesday night, putting together a terrific dinner of Thai food.

My friend and I sat with Julie and Terry. Julie will have pictures and a more thorough review up sometime soon, no doubt. Through the meal, Julie would say intelligent things like, "The herbaceous quality of the dish gives it a subtlety that's exquisite." I, on the other hand, would occasionally take a break from shoveling forkful after forkful of delicious food into my mouth, gasp for air, and grunt, "Food good. Me like."

By now, everyone knows that I love Josh and Mayberry. The guy can just flat out cook. But Wednesday night was my first encounter with Molly Wellmann, and that deserves a few words.

She'd prepared four drinks for the Thai-themed dinner. The one I chose--perhaps the least adventurous option--was a Thai iced tea. It was prepared with Thai tea, coconut milk, and Kraken rum. (I managed to avoid saying it during dinner, but I'll say it now: Release the Kraken!) It was a terrific drink, with just the right balance of liquor. I'd not had Kraken rum before, and it was an excellent choice for the iced tea.

Julie and Terry already knew Molly, so she came over near the end of the meal to chat. Molly was not at all what I'd expected. Having heard about (but not having met) Molly and knowing how "in" she is right now, I'd imagined her as one of those people who is so cool or hip as to be aloof. Nothing could be further from the truth. She was warm, engaging, and disarmingly charming. And I found out what the difference between a "bartender" and a "mixologist" is. It's not simply that a mixologist makes awesome drinks (although Molly certainly does!). It's the depth of the mixologist's knowledge of her craft. At one point, Terry asked Molly about absinthe. Molly took off on an extended riff about the history of liquor, distillation, and wormwood. Molly speaks about drink-mixing with the knowledge and passion that I can only hope I display when I talk about the law.

I've got to catch up with Molly when she's tending bar some day to try her Manhattan. Or anything else she'd care to mix up, for that matter.

All in all, an extremely successful event for Mayberry. If you're not following the World Food Bar on Facebook (and thus learning about their planned special evenings), you're a fool.