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.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/35338
At the Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery the Green-Chile Fried Mac’n’Cheese Bundles are served with tomatillo dip. With seating for 35 in the restaurant, and an additional 20 seats at the bar and high top tables, Ale Mary’s qualifi es as cozy in a down-home way. Th e staff is trained to know about the beers and menu selection, but Rivers also looks for irreverent wit to keep with the setting and name. “We have lots of church memorabilia to decorate the restaurant, including an antique holy water fount by the door that doubles as a serving dish for the star mints. Amazingly, we have never had complaints,” Rivers says, even from the priests at nearby parishes who enjoy the tongue-in-cheek menu, featuring sandwiches with names like “Th e Crabby Nun,” crab cake sandwich ($11.95) or the Th ankful Turkey ($7.95). At Santa Ana’s gastropub Chapter One, partners Jeff Hall, Jeff rey Jensen and Tim O’Connor generate success by the book. Modeled after a library and lined with shelves full of old books, the pub suits the local university crowd, with gastropub fare that Hall describes as “gourmet comfort food.” Hall says, “Our chef is not too complicated in terms of cooking, so we have simple fl avors that pair well with beer. We don’t try to sell peach cobbler 365 days a year; we keep it seasonal and that keeps it aff ordable.” Th e bar gets into the business of comfort fl avors, with infusions of fresh fruits and spirits to make drinks and the kitchen is also experimenting with house-made pickles. “It’s approachable food, but we do off er interesting twists on the standards,” adds Hall. “Our Mac’n’Cheese ($10) starts with a blend of Cheddar, Fontina and Gruyère cheeses, topped with buttery panko bread crumbs and baked until crunchy on top, and served with a Nueske Bacon www.cheersonline.com and onion relish. People love it, but it took us a long time wrestling with the recipe to get it just right.” “When I look at the gastropub, I think we have both a bar kitchen and a food kitchen, and it’s fun to mix it up, so that a guest can have a lamb burger ($12) with a beer for dinner and a glass of Port with soft chocolate and salted caramel dessert.” Th e bar has 12 taps with rotating seasonals such as Craftsman Brewing Co.’s Poppyfi elds Pale Ale and Lost Abbey’s Carnevale, with most drafts priced at $6 to $8 for pints and large format bottles such as 750-ml. from $14 to $22; beer fl ights of four samples are priced at $8. “One of the best sellers is Th e Bruery’s strong ale Mischief, which can really stand in for a bottle of wine at a table for two, because it’s nine percent ABV and 22-ounce bottle.” Styles change by season, with Hall seeking lighter styles for the summer months, “I try not to have four double IPAs on draft at the same time,” Hall adds. Food and beverage sales are split about 50-50 at the 4,000 square- foot gastropub, with seating for 24 guests at the outdoor patio, 105 guests at the restaurant indoors and 20 seats at the bar. “We’re adding a banquet space to hold private parties of up to 50 people,” says Hall. “It’s great to be able to expand in your fi rst year.” Good home-style food, presented with fresh beer make a comfortable profi t and excellent recipe for success. Lucy Saunders is a food and beer writer and author of several cookbooks, most recently, Th e Best of American Beer & Food: Pairing and Cooking with Craft Beer (Brewers Publications). JULY/AUGUST 2011 | 37