Yahoo! Names Butcher and the Rye One of America’s Best New Bars

Downtown’s hottest new restaurant gets love for its “perfect Manhattan.”

Pappy van Winkle whiskey is so good and difficult to find that it has achieved an almost mythical status among spirit aficionados. Bottles retail for more than $200, and the world was stunned in October when more than $26,000 worth of Pappy was boosted directly from the Kentucky distillery (investigators suspect an inside job).

Luckily, you don’t need to shell out a stack of Benjamins or plan a cloak-and-dagger heist in order to enjoy the world’s best whiskey because downtown’s red-hot Butcher and the Rye offers full flights of Pappy van Winkle. Seventy-five bucks gets you a tasting of the Old Rip Van Winkle 10-year, 12-year and 20-year.

The buzz has spread: Yahoo! recently dubbed Butcher and the Rye one of the Best New Bars in the U.S., praising the 350-bottle whiskey list, exceptional Wagyu flank steak and “perfect Manhattan,” made with Buffalo Trace bourbon.

Good luck getting a table. But like a good whiskey, it’s worth the wait.

#Props: Bon Appétit says Pittsburgh is America’s “Next Big Food Town”

Fukuda photo by Laura Petrilla
 

In related news, Bon Appétit has given Pittsburgh love as America’s “Next Big Food Town” in its list of 2014 culinary predictions. Foodist Andrew Knowlton gave a shout out to some of our favorite spots — Cure, Bar Marco, Conflict Kitchen, Fukuda, notion and Meat & Potatoes (sister spot of Butcher and the Rye) — as well as the upcoming Ace Hotel in East Liberty. On a recent episode of "HuffPost Live," Knowlton proclaimed that he'd be coming to the Steel City in the near future. Be sure to keep an eye out; we have a hunch that you'll find him at any one of the places namedropped in his column of forecasts.

For the full list of predictions, check out Bon Appétit’s piece, which also says that pancakes are going to be huge in 2014. Cool with us.

#Instagram: Polar vortex freezes Allegheny River, makes for awesome photo