Brewpub fusion: with today's house-made ale comes a finer grade of appetizers

Cheers, July-August, 2005 by Jack Robertiello

It's a truism in the brewpub business today that if customers don't like the food, they won't stay long enough to drink much beer. Many operators learned that lesson the hard way in the last few years as the market for beer-based restaurants matured, leaving some with filled fermenters and empty seats. Others, like the 25 units of the Chattanooga, TN-based Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group have been bolstered by the chain's emphasis on food, typified by their slogan, "Great Food. Fresh Beer." Similarly, the 30-plus Louisville, CO-based Rock Bottom Brewery Restaurants have built their reputation as "Serious about our food, crazy about our beer." Slogans like these indicate even to the casual observer that these operations may be places to find great, fresh beer, but exist as restaurants above all else.

One way top brewery restaurants have built their food business is through savvy appetizer menus that take classic pub grub--chicken wings, pizza, barbeque, fried seafood, cheesy dips--and infused the dishes with 21st century culinary trends in order to keep regulars interested and new customers surprised. In fact, in many cases, the appetizer fare at these successful brewpubs represent the new American trencherman style: big on spice, salt, fat and flavor, perfect complements for the various qualities of the beers served.

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For example, at the 72 Atlanta-based units of Avado Brands' Hops, potato chips are served freshly fried, still hot and topped with blue cheese or chilies and cheese. Pot stickers, served with a spicy Szechwan dipping sauce, are cooked with ale. Ahi tuna is blackened and also served with dipping sauce (Ahi seems to have become the default brewpub fish of the moment, especially on appetizer menus.)

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UPGRADED WINGS & BURGERS

In New York City, at the five Heartland Breweries, the starter menu fuses a classic bar dish (Buffalo chicken wings) with Asian influences, yielding a Buffalo chicken spring roll served with blue cheese and spicy sauces. Popcorn shrimp, ginger chicken wontons and fried calamari are variations commonly seen today in brew settings, but Heartland's bar burger stands out as mini, free-range bison burgers, served four to an order.

Owner Jon Bloostein, who recently opened a barbecue restaurant in Times Square, says a recent experiment there with a southern fried dill pickle spear may migrate to the brewery restaurants' appetizer menu. "We're trying to get bolder and bigger flavors into the menu to stand up to the flavors of our beers," he says, especially those that employ full-flavored dipping sauces like the cool ranch sauce served with the fried pickle at Spanky's, the barbecue spot.

Gordon Biersch Restaurants have long been at the forefront of the combined food and beer experience, and their starters have the same sort of modern brewpub pedigree: garlic fries, bruschetta of house-made flat bread, crispy artichoke hearts topped with parmesan and lemon aioli, grilled chicken skewers, and glazed chicken wings, shrimp and chicken pot stickers, crab and artichoke dip, Ahi spring rolls and blackened Ahi.

Clearly, this recipe for success has developed themes so strong that they sometimes seem to be decided by committee.

Of course, few operations are willing or able to go as far as D.A.'s RFD Washington, Washington, DC, where Dave and Diane Alexander aggressively promote cuisine a la biere. While their appetizers include fried calamari, they're enhanced with a beer drizzle made with Italian import Peroni; their Tidewater crab cake is marinated in Shenandoah Stoneyman Stout; and their mussels are sauteed in Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA. Consider the missive they post on the restaurant's website:

"There is a growing trend in the culinary arts. Noted chefs are beginning to use beer in the preparation of their menu items. We've seen it in brewpub fare for a while now, but sadly too often on all fronts beer is relegated to a dipping batter or flavored mustard, vanquished to a minor supporting role. Here at D.A.'s Regional Food and Drink that is not the case. Many of our menu items use world class brews as major flavoring components in the formulation of our recipes, producing taste sensations heretofore unexplored ... Experience savory venison marinated in old ale or the incredible peche lambic ice cream. Substitute Berliner Weiss for lemon in your next salad. How about endive in a Belgian kriek vinaigrette, ham basted with a German black lager, salmon in smoked porter or mussels in IPA? It's a whole brew world out there!"

RELATED ARTICLE: Beer-Battered Fried Avocado Wedges

California Avocado Commission

Yield: 12 Servings

3 cups lager beer or ale
3 cups flour
2 tablespoons paprika
6 large garlic cloves, chopped finely
6 California avocados
Vegetable oil
Salt to taste
3 cups tomato salsa

To make beer batter, whisk together the beer, flour, paprika and garlic until well blended. Let stand for at least 2 hours.

To make a single serving, peel and cut half an avocado into six wedges. Dredge each wedge in reserved beer batter. Deep fry in 375[degree]F vegetable oil until the avocado slices are golden brown, about 3 minutes. Drain well; season with salt. Serve with 1/4 cup salsa.