StaplesGame Day

Game Day

By Joe LoTemplio Staples Photos by Rob Fountain

20 At Super Bowl and other sporting event parties across the country you are likely to find a hefty array of pizza, chicken wings, dips, cheeses and crackers, chili, and all kinds of other great tailgate snacks.

To wash it all down, a good keg of beer or two usually does the trick.

But beer isn’t the only beverage choice for a Super Bowl Sunday or say a Daytona 500 party.

SOMETHING DIFFERENT “It’s all a preference,” Steve Carpenter, owner of Liquor and Wine Warehouse in Plattsburgh for more than 40 years, said.

“A lot of people drink beer, but you would be surprised of how many like something different too.”

Carpenter said people usually stick to their basic staples at Super Bowl or Daytona 500 parties, but the volume is amped up a bit. While beer remains a popular choice, liquor usually gets the call too on the day of the big game.

“They have their comfort foods and they can usually find the right spirits to complement it,” he said. CELEBRATION SHOTS Captain Morgan rum, Jim Beam bourbon, Fireball whisky and Tito’s vodka top the list of drinks that people like to choose for the Super Bowl.

“Some people like to celebrate during the game with shots,” Carpenter’s son, David Carpenter, who manages the store, said.

“These type of liquors are good for that.”

‘WHATEVER IT TAKES’ Steve Carpenter said Tito’s has gone crazy in popularity in recent years.

“You might as well substitute the word vodka with Tito’s — it’s gotten that popular,” he said.

Rum and cola, vodka and anything, and straight Fireball shots can make the game a bit more interesting, provided they are consumed responsibly.

“People are in Super Bowl mode and whatever it takes to get them going,” Steve said.

PEANUT-BUTTER WHISKEY Another popular drink that will likely make an appearance at gameday parties is peanut butter-flavored whiskey.

Liquor and Wine Warehouse sells a lot of Skrewball and PB&W peanut butter brands.

“It tastes really good,” David Carpenter said.

“You would be surprised. People love it.”

EASY AND EFFICIENT The Carpenters expect business to pick up about four or five days before a big event like the Super Bowl or the Great American Race, which is February 16th this year. LIQUOR David Carpenter, manager of Liquor & Wine Warehouse, shows off some of the product that will be used during Super Bowl Sunday.

North Country Foodie • February 2020

21 You can’t have a good sports watching party without great chicken wings.

Whether you make them yourself or purchase from a restaurant or bar, there needs to be stacks of hot, fresh wings on the table.

“It’s a tradition,” Corey Rosoff , owner of the iconic Monopole Bar and Restaurant in downtown Plattsburgh, said.

“It’s snack food, it’s tasty, it’s easy to eat, and they go great with beer.”

Monopole experiences big wing business during events like the recent Super Bowl and the upcoming Daytona 500 as customers choose from an array of wing sauces.

“We challenged our cooks to come up with their own fl avor and every one of our fl avors was created by them,” Rosoff said.

Stoner, a smooth blend of honey mustard and hot and barbeque sauces, is by far the most popular.

“I would say more than half the orders are for Stoner wings,” Austin Cruz, 24, who has been cooking at the Monopole since last July, said.

Rosoff said he usually sells well more than 1,000 wings on Super Bowl Sunday.

“We will crank out about 100 wings every 20 minutes or so, “ Cruz said. “It will be busy all day long.” Cruz said the secret to cooking good wings is simply time.

“It takes about 15 to 20 minutes and you are looking for that golden brown color,” he said.

In addition to Stoner, Monopole also off ers Mantis, a blend of hot sauce and honey mustard, Camaro, a mix of hot sauce, honey mustard, and garlic parmesan, and the latest sensation, Sad Boi.

Sad Boi wings feature hot sauce, barbeque sauce, and spicy honey. It is the perfect blend of sweet and spicy. Aft er Cruz mixes the freshly cooked wings and mixes them up in their appropriate fl avor bucket, they are placed in cardboard boat trays for presentation.

Th e sauces shine brightly as tiny wisps of smoke rise from the chicken, making for a stunning presentation.

“About 40 percent of a good meal is presentation,” Cruz said.

“If it doesn’t look good, it won’t taste as good.”

BUSIEST DAY OF THE YEAR Another local establishment who gives their all during Super Bowl season is Pasquale’s Pizza.

Pasquale’s, self-proclaimed home of the famous Romeo Wing, was a hot spot on Super Bowl Sunday.

“It’s the busiest day of the entire year,” owner of the last four years, Brad Weaver, said. “We go through about 12 cases of wings, and there’s 230 wings in each case.”

Th at’s almost 3,000 wings sold on one of the biggest days for sports, food, and beer. Romeo sauced wings are by far the most popular, on game day or not. Customers love this fl avor so much, in fact, Romeo chicken wing pizzas and nacho dishes were created to satisfy the craving of the North Country for the sweet yet mildly spicy, delightfully sticky, and tangy wing sauce.

“[Romeo sauce] is a recipe that’s been passed down from owner to owner from the beginning,” Weaver said. WINGS “Th ey’ll come and they usually know what they want to get, and they try to keep it as easy and as effi cient as possible,” Steve said.

“Th is place does not stop all week long. It is super busy. Th ere are about 10 diff erent things they could get when they come in here, but it really doesn’t matter because they will be in a group setting, having fun, and that’s what it’s all about.”

Austin Cruz dishes up a batch of Mantis wings at the Monopole in Plattsburgh. Austin Cruz preps the sauce for the Monopole’s Mantis wings. “ If it doesn’t look good, it won’t taste as good. - Austin Cruz