A gin-themed lunch at August

John Besh’s restaurant August played host to a Bombay Sapphire-themed lunch Friday entwining cocktails and cuisine as part of New Orleans’ Tales of the Cocktail. The gin was not just the basis for diverse cocktails, but was used in interesting ways in the food, as in the Bombay-cured lemonfish. The lunch was a marvel of delicate flavor combinations. The crispy softshell crab tempura was the perfect, tender consistency.

Meanwhile, the gin allowed the mixologists to play extensively with sweet and savory flavors, as in the gazapacho-like Red and Yellow Snapper that started the meal. Herbal flavors were abundant. And all of it was beautiful.