Tag: New City Microcreamery

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The Metro West Cocktail Invitational

Sarah Connell is live at Less Than Greater Than for the Metro West Cocktail Invitational

Bartenders from all of your favorite haunts submitted recipes to compete at the Metro West Cocktail Invitational last night, but only five were chosen. The event took place at New City Microcreamery in Hudson and included a special tasting at the speakeasy, Less Than Greater Than, that lays hidden in the rear of their shop. New City’s ice cream has been a major influencer in the local dessert scene, offering a product that is liquid nitrogen frozen and made fresh from Mapleline Farms’ milk. As for the speakeasy, Mass Foodies hopes that with the secret out, this public event will pave the opportunity for Less Than Greater Than to pop up in a new Central Mass location. We’ll keep our ears to the ground and our eyes open!

The competition pitted our region’s top talent against one another to create low ABV cocktails (no more than 35%) using a minimum of two spirits, one of which had to beGalliano L’Apertivo Frizzante. Judges included Troy Clarke of Maartignetti, Tenzin Conechok Samdo of Tavern Road, and the lovely Naomi Levy who rose to fame at Eastern Standard. The overall champion was Worcester’s chosen competitor, Krysta Koval who cited her time at Armsby Abbey and The Pint as catalysts for her big win along with her recent travels to Guadalupe.

Sarah Connell is live at Less Than Greater Than for the Metro West Cocktail Invitational

Posted by Mass Foodies on Monday, June 19, 2017

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Less Than Greater Than Pairs Island Treasures

The Ramen and Three Dots and a Dash makes a pairing at Less Than Greater Than in Hudson, MA perfect.

The only thing more mystifying than a back door speakeasy masquerading as a cobbler shop is a perfectly murky bowl of 18 hour broth in the thick of central Massachusetts’ ramen desert. Visit Less Than Greater Than (<>) on any Tuesday tiki night and you’ll see what I mean.

Located in the rear of New City Microcreamery is a cryptic light switch that serves as the gateway to the town of Hudson’s secret classic cocktail lounge. Flip the switch and wait for a Dutch door to swing open in haste. A woman sporting a floral lei will usher you inside before ducking back behind the marble bar. The bar is apt to be packed, so order your ramen immediately and wait for a steaming Japanese noodle bowl to appear before you.

Less Than Greater Than’s ramen dish is arduously prepared with an 18 hour surf and turf broth, fresh noodles, a slow poached egg, fried garlic, braised chicken, scallions and nori. Paired with Three Dots and a Dash, the ramen’s bold salinity is offset by the mellow sweetness of Aged Agricole, orange, and local honey. Three Dots and a Dash also features grassy Demrara Rum that works to enhance the ramen’s deeply earthy sheet of roasted seaweed. Clove and cinnamon notes of Pimento Dram, Falernum, and Angostura Bitters further intensify the broth’s complex dimensions.

Japanese cuisine and classic cocktail culture have a lot in common, calling for clean and simple ingredients combined with an iron-fisted attention to technique. Ramen and tiki are the outliers. They demand a laundry list of ingredients and a healthy dose of creativity. Both continue to attract a cult following.

With that said, noodles and umbrella drinks have had a particularly hard time making a craft resurgence in central Massachusetts. Less Than Greater Than has unearthed a fashionable niche and a rising tide will raise all ships. I feel confident that ramen and tiki drinks are only the beginning.