Good Taste is the Worst Vice

Aviary Kitchen Table: Autumn and Kyoto

It’s been too long since our last visit to the Aviary KT.  So D and I headed back last week, and I’m happy to report that it’s just as fun and fantastic as ever.

As always, we started with a sparkling cocktail – the Sun Also Rises from the Kyoto cocktail flight.  It’s a lovely, light combination of an absinthe-soaked sugar lump, sloe gin, and cava; the star is the dried cherry blossom that literally blooms when the cava is poured over it, transforming into a swirl of pink petals that billow among the bubbles.

Spring in Japan progresses into summer, with an earthenware cup filled with a cocktail labeled in katakana: バーベキュー.  With some help from the internet, I sounded out the phonetics to arrive at its name, “Barbecue.”  And yes, this would be a refreshing drink with barbecue – a not-too-sweet blend of pineapple juice and gin, with matcha green tea ice cubes.

Next we had a drink called Late Harvest, with rum and concord grape ice spheres and a garnish of fresh tarragon.  Very grape-y, perfect for the season.  The color is so beautifully dark, isn’t it? 

The Smoking Barrel is served in the same manner as the old Bitter cockail, with a glass overturned on a singed barrel stave to capture the smoke.  The mixture of cognac, Calvados, bourbon, and fig, mingles with the smokiness and tastes like a chilly night outdoors, next to a bonfire.

More brown spirits follow, with the Rob Roy – Pedro Ximenez 1985 and Scotch – delivered in a sealed bag filled with “lavender air.”  

I must confess that my Rob Roy was quickly forgotten when our tonkotsu ramen arrived. I’d been waiting to try this ramen.  The broth is wonderfully rich and savory, the sliced pork is tender and faintly smoky, the noodles are snappy, and there’s a perfect quail egg half with a creamy yolk.  We also had small glasses of Half Acre beer, infused with Sichuan peppercorns for a subtle numbing bite – a great pairing.

A hot cocktail is always welcome when it’s chilly out, and the Baked Apple version is particularly nice.  There’s a whole apple in there, along with some pine boughs, chai, and brown butter, for a sort of hot buttered rum (except it’s made with pisco).

With it, we had the Wagyu bite – delicious and chewy, with smoked paprika, pumpkin seed, and yogurt.

As always, the Kitchen Table menu flows much like a multi-course dinner, and our next cocktail seemed to serve as intermezzo between the “main courses” and dessert.  The Persimmon is lightened with Gewurtztraminer and Blanc de Blanc, and accompanied by Passionfruit bites.  It’s a lovely visual pairing that tastes good too.

Dessert starts with the Horchata and elBulli lollipops (the chips, another holdover from elBulli, appeared at the beginning of the evening).  

Then we received two different drinks – D had the latest iteration of the Hot Chocolate, and I had a third Kyoto cocktail.  This one is called the “Grasshopper” (グラスホッパー) and looks like bubble tea – white with large green pearls.

It’s among the most challenging cocktails I’ve had, made of vodka, crème de menthe, and wasabi.  The combination – rich and creamy, minty, with heat reminiscent of sushi dinners – was difficult to get used to.

To finish, small glasses of a new version of Root Beer, with a foamy, caramel-infused top – a sweet ending to another memorable Kitchen Table evening.


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