Montreal’s new fine dining restaurant, HVOR, was the host of a lavish event introducing Bombay Sapphire‘s new premium gin, Star of Bombay. The event was exciting and different from the usual events we’ve attended. We even got to be mixologists for the night!
HVOR is a farm-to-table concept restaurant with exquisite dishes. They have their own beehive and urban vegetable garden where they got a variety of their ingredients. They also partner up with various local organic farmers and artisans to give patrons the most unique of experiences. For the event, HVOR paired gin cocktails with their dishes. For once, the food was paired to the alcohol, and not the other way around!
Star of Bombay is a gin meant to enjoy on the rocks. If we’re going to drink it straight, it better be good! And guess what? It was. It’s based on one of the oldest gin recipes in the world, all the way from 1761, but it’s created with a modern and refined process, making it even better. It’s made with two new botanicals, ambrette seeds from Ecuador and bergamot from Sicily, and uses slow distillation and vapour infusion to make the flavours sing.
Representatives of Bombay taught us how to make the perfect gin martini, and we were impressed with our mixologist skills (with a little bit of help, of course). They then made us exquisite cocktails with the new gin, like the Constellation, with lemon juice, sirop de thé, café St-Germain, prosecco, lavender, and of course Star of Bombay. The shining star of the night was the Galaxy Espresso Negroni with Martini Rosso, Campari, espresso, and Star of Bombay.
The drinks were served alongside HVOR‘s delectable plates. We tried their aged and smoked duck breast served with chestnut ravioli and a poached pear. This plate was heavenly. Simple but bursting with flavour. The dessert was decadent: a creamy chocolate cake with almonds served with glace aux amandes. It was on another planet.
HVOR and Star of Bombay were the perfect pairing, and we can’t wait to try more delectable bites and sips from them!
1414 Rue Notre-Dame O, Montréal, QC H3C 1K9
(514) 937-2001
Photos by Dahlia Merlo (@dahllii).
