Cheers

Cheers July/August 2012

Cheers is dedicated to delivering hospitality professionals the information, insights and data necessary to drive their beverage business by covering trends and innovations in operations, merchandising, service and training.

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with food and incorporate everything in what I make," he says. "Th e brew master has diff erent fl avors on and off and we get to play with them. "If I'm looking for something like a nutty fl avor, we use a brown ale and it goes really well with pork, sausage or salmon. Th e brewmaster helps a lot: he's always around to help me pick the best choice for a dish." Meanwhile in Yosemite, Whatley's signature dish is the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Fiscalini Cheddar Soup ($10) and has been a lunch staple for years. "We have increased sales of Sierra Nevada because of the soup," he explains. "It's a total lunch and a great pairing." It also helps that it was featured on the Today Show a few years ago. Th is spring, though, he's featuring beer in a variety of new dishes: specifi cally highlighting how beer works with meats. "When beer is cooked down, you have a yeasty fl avor profi le that is left over and the hops give it a bitterness that is helpful with fatty cuts of meat," Whatley notes. For example, his menu will include a Beef Brisket Braised in Chicken Stock and the Alwahnee Amber Ale (which is made by Mammouth Brewing Company) and Pork Cheeks cooked with Old Chubb's Oskar Blues Scotch Ale. "I use the Scotch Ale to give it more hoppiness," he says. Half Moon Bay Brewing Company serves a Beeramisu. WINE AND SPIRITS For Brother Jimmy's executive chef Eva Pesantez, Bourbon they buy more," notes Gaston Alfaro, chef at Half Moon Bay Brewing Company in California. "[Guests] love the idea that we are cooking with beer, so the unique fl avor profi les and how those will translate in the fi nal dish. Chefs agree that here experimentation in the kitchen is vital. "When cooking with beer you get a lot of maltiness, herbs— BEER HERE Th e key to successfully cooking with beer is understanding rosemary, thyme, sage—running through them. Some have a lot of citrus notes or exotic fruits and such. You can also get cloves, allspice and cinnamon," says David Blonsky, chef at Twilight Traffi c Control, which runs three restaurants in Chicago, including the beer-centric Public House. Blonsky features seared Ahi Tuna with Violet Mustard Ale Sauce that is made with Hitachino Beer ($22) on the Public House menu. "It's an Asian dish and the beer adds a wonderful light, crispy fruitiness to the mustard." At Half Moon Bay, Alfaro likens his experience to having a restaurant at a winery. "I have a lot of beer and I love to play 38 | JULY/AUGUST 2012 is a go-to spirit in her cooking. "I always work with what I personally like to drink and attempt to determine which spirit will work best: there is defi nitely a level of experimentation involved with each dish," she says. For example, her barbecue sauce is "loaded" with Bourbon and is featured in dishes like the Press Brisket Sandwich, where it adds "a sweet and smoky fl avor to the meat," she says. McPhail also experiments with spirits in his cooking. He features Hennessy Cognac in his Brown Butter-Seared Jumbo Sea Scallops ($34) and splashes absinthe in the Oysters and Absinthe "dome" appetizer ($12). He chooses what to use based on the actual dish. "If we are creating a French dish, then I usually choose a French spirit such as Cognac or Champagne. If it's a Caribbean dish, then rum, etc." "You really need to either match fl avors or contrast fl avors to balance the combination," he adds. "Everything comes down to fl avor: if you say it's Jack Daniel's, you'd better be able to taste the Bourbon." Whately follows Pesantez's general rule of thumb, "If you won't drink it, don't cook with it." Th ough he rarely uses spirits in his cooking, but does, "Use wine constantly to fortify sauces, braising liquids and to deglaze our sautéed items." During the annual Vintner's Holiday event in November, the focus on wine the cooking and on the menu is played up even more than usual. "We write the menu to a support, highlight and pair with a selection of wines." www.cheersonline.com

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