Bars have long served complimentary dishes of salted nuts, popcorn and chips to nibble along with drinks. Ostensibly, these free snacks are there to help absorb some of the alcohol, but they do have a side benefit—the salt or seasoning makes customers thirsty enough to order a second cocktail or another glass of beer or wine.
Lately, bars have been elevating these freebies with chef-inspired touches and sophisticated flavor profiles to better reflect the food side of the menu.
“Cacio e pepe,” which translates to “cheese and pepper,” is a classic Italian pasta preparation, but at Rosie Cannonball in Houston, Cacio e Pepe Popcorn is the complimentary bar snack on offer. The popcorn is tossed in Parmesan rind-infused butter, black pepper and pecorino powder, and served with extra grated pecorino and black pepper for customers to add. The freebie has become a crowd favorite to pair with the award-winning wine list and creative cocktails, said a spokesperson.
Cacio e Pepe Popcorn at Rosie Cannonball./Photo courtesy of Rosie Cannonball.
Rosie Cannonball is a live fire restaurant with a menu focused on pizza, pasta and European-inspired dishes, and the complimentary popcorn provides a taste of what’s to come.
Delfina in San Francisco does the same by infusing potato chips with that Italian flavor profile.
The restaurant’s Cacio e Pepe Potato Chips are served free on weekdays from 5-6 p.m. to snack on during Delfina’s Apertivo Hour. The bar serves an inventive spritz selection that works well with the chips and other seasonal bites, including fava bean crostini. The snacks reflect the food menu, which includes trattoria classics such as Spaghetti Pomodoro and Grilled Calamari over warm beans.
Another San Francisco restaurant, seafood-centric Palette, offers a sweet-savory snack of Furikake Caramel Corn at the bar. The inspiration came from Chef Dierdre Rieutort’s travels to Hawaii where Hurricane Popcorn is popular. The island version combines buttered popcorn with furikake and mochi rice crackers.
“When Chef Rieutort told her kitchen team about the unique snack, it triggered an in-depth discussion around everyone’s popcorn preference,” said a spokesperson for the restaurant. The debate revolved around buttered and salty vs. sweet with a caramel that cracks in the mouth.
This sparked the idea to adapt Hurricane Popcorn by combining both preferences along with Palette’s house-made Japanese-style furikake. The resulting Furikake Caramel Corn is umami-rich and boasts flavors and textures that enhance the cocktail list.
Daintree's Chicken Salt & Seaweed Popcorn./Photo courtesy of Hotel Hendricks.
Chicken Salt & Seaweed Popcorn is the complimentary snack at Daintree, a rooftop cocktail lounge at New York City’s Hotel Hendricks. The crunchy popcorn features a house-made seasoning and somewhat reflects the Australian-Asian influences and flavors of the menu.
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