The Absolute Best Appetizer To Pair With A Boulevardier Cocktail

The epitome of a classic cocktail, a Boulevardier is an elegant three-ingredient bourbon cocktail with a sweet, bitter, and smoky profile. Made with bourbon, Campari, and sweet vermouth, a Boulevardier is as easy to make as it is to drink and worth serving at your next cocktail party. Of course, a strong cocktail with robust flavors needs a worthy food pairing. We've consulted with Executive Bourbon Steward and creator of @urbanbourbonist, Chris Blatner, to help you come up with the absolute best appetizer to pair with a Boulevardier cocktail.

While a Boulevardier may be a simple, three-ingredient cocktail, it packs a powerful profile that Blatner pairs "with an earthy, robust appetizer like mushroom crostini." Mushrooms encompass numerous types, but all of them offer a strong flavor that'll stand up to the distinct flavors in each cocktail ingredient. "The bitter and herbaceous notes of the bitter liqueur in the cocktail are a great match for the umami richness of the mushrooms, creating a well-rounded flavor profile," Blatner adds.

If you're looking for other umami-rich ingredients to balance the bitterness of the Campari, dried charcuterie like ham and prosciutto or a funky blue cheese are good options. You could even incorporate blue cheese into a mushroom crostini recipe or serve a sampler platter of mushroom, cheese, and meat crostini.

Now that you have an expert approved appetizer for your Boulevardier cocktail party, you can now hone in on the ideal crostini recipes. Tasting Table can certainly help out with our recipe for crostini with mushroom stem duxelles that uses cremini mushroom stems sauteed with fresh herbs, garlic, and shallots. You can follow celebrity chef Alex Guarnaschelli's go-to crostini formula by anchoring sauteed mushrooms to your crostini with melted brie. A lemon and herb infused ricotta would also make a luxurious foundation for mushrooms.

As mentioned earlier, goat cheese is a funky umami flavor to pair with the earthy umami of mushrooms on a crostini seasoned with plenty of fresh cracked pepper. Swap crostini for a flaky sour cream-infused crust in this rustic mushroom tart with blue cheese.

For a creamier spread to contrast a crispy crostini, try this recipe for mushroom pate that blends sauteed mushrooms with herbs, aromatics, and ground almonds. Up your mushroom game by transforming trumpet mushrooms into vegan smoked bacon strips for a concentrated umami flavor and a satisfyingly crispy yet chewy finger food.