Enjoyed: Tuesday, June 14, 2022.

Listed on the menu: Yes, as “Rare & Fancy Old Fashioned”.

Ingredients: Hudson Whiskey NY Bright Lights Big Bourbon, Combier Orange Liqueur, Liber & Co. Demerara Syrup, housemade coffee bitters.

The occasion: We had finally made it to Alaska! One more item checked off the bucket list! This restaurant was an easy walk from our hotel and required reservations. We started with cocktails in the bar area, and were enthralled by the views from the windows. Those were mountains topped with snow out there, just beyond the shimmering waters of the Knik Arm of the Cook Inlet. I took the photo at 7:16 PM, and the sun was nowhere near ready to set. Welcome to the Land of the Midnight Sun!

My rating: **** out of 5. I was not familiar with the bourbon or the orange liqueur, so the “Rare & Fancy” in the cocktail’s name was an accurate description, in my case. The drink was beautifully crafted, but a tad too orange-y for me. The bourbon’s mash bill is 95% corn (whoa!), so the addition of the coffee bitters helped round out the sweetness.

Final thoughts: We moved from the bar to the dining area for our supper. Wow! We were seated by another table right by the window, so we continued to enjoy the amazing view. And the food was excellent, too. I opted for the pan-seared Alaskan halibut cheeks with asiago and panko crust. Yes, apparently the best parts of the halibut are the cheeks, the actual flesh from the cheeks of the fish’s big old head. Who knew?