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Booze
If you're a Euro oenophile, clear your sked one week from today: David Katz of Mémé (2201 Spruce St.) has invited Federico Dall'Olmo, an importer for The Artisan's Cellar, in for a four-course dinner built around recognizable French varietals grown in Italian soil. Dall'Olmo, a native of Bologna, is passionate about Gallic grapes as interpreted by Italiano winemakers. He'll pour and discuss a Chardonnay, Merlot, Syrah and Pinot Noir (specific labels TBD) to go along with a hearty, all-savory menu from Katz — grilled lamb chops with kale; quail with polenta; pasta with guanciale and corn; and scallop crudo with citrus and pistachio. The dinner, which has one seating at 6:30 p.m., is $60 a head. Call 215-735-4900 to reserve.
Photo: Drew Lazor
Winter is gone, and so are most of the strong dark beers that make the season warmer. There's still time, however, for a last hurrah before succumbing to the light and crisp beers of spring. Why not sing that liquid swan song with Dark Horse Reserve Special Black Ale?
Avram Hornik of Four Corners Management first talked to us about his restoration of NoLibs' venerated jazz club Ortlieb's (847 N. Third St.) in July 2011 — nine months later and the old girl's ready for tunes once more. (It'd been vacant for two years prior.) Officially open at 5 p.m. tonight, the new-look Ortlieb's doesn't have much of a new look at all; it's still got the crimson-lit barroom vibe, centralized stage and old-timers' bar, but plush red-vinyl banquettes in lieu of tableclothed two-tops have freed up the room considerably.
Last Sunday, two boxers took the ring in what has become an annual slugging match between secular commercial interests and the capital-C Catholic Church. While the Easter Bunny has been a formidable opponent for our Lord and Savior in years past, this year he hit the mat hard and stayed down (at least in my world) thanks to a secret weapon: the Popener.
The Rome Gift Shop website sells these 3-inch long circular top-poppers with either Pope John Paul II or Pope Benedict XVI embossed on one side, St. Peter's Square on the other. Priced at just $19.99, every Popener also includes a postcard from St. Peter's, a prayer card and a rosary — to say nothing of the satisfaction of knowing that every beer you open has been co-signed by God.
Using the Popener does not guarantee holy behavior or entrance into the Pearly Gates. It may, however, gain you favor with your favorite Catholics.
This coming Monday, April 16, Fairmount's Lemon Hill (747 N. 25th St.) will be hosting a Brooklyn Brewery beer dinner and tap takeover TAP ATTACK. The dinner will include an amuse and four courses, each with a Brooklyn pairing (sneak a peek at the menu); bragging rights-obsessed beer geeks might want to make reservations if for no other reason than to drink Black Ops, the incredibly rare imperial stout that Lemon Hill managed to snag for the dessert pairing (Humboldt fog cheesecake, stout-poached sultanas, granola crumble). The dinner is $60 a head and there will be two seatings, at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. Call 215-232-2299 or email keith.raimondi@lemonhillphilly.com for reservations.
If you can't swing the dinner but still want to get in on the Brooklyn action, get to the bar between 5 and 7 p.m. to taste tapped selections like Sorachi Ace, Dry Irish Stout, and Mary's Maple Porter, a rare one-off brewmaster's reserve. All drafts during the happy hour will run $5.
Marc Vetri's Alla Spina (1410 Mt. Vernon St.) is getting all curatorial with their draft list this week, hooking up 10-plus beers in the saison style because it's spring and why the hell not. Beverage manager Steve Wildy, who was also responsible for putting Negronis on tap here, has successfully collected farmhouse-ish kegs from all over — America, Italy, Scandinavia — making for a lineup bolstered by stuff you don't often find on tap in Philly. A preview of what's getting tapped is below; they'll run "The Saisonale 2012" through this Sunday, April 15.
- Lost Abbey, Carnevale
- Dogfish Head, Noble Rot
- Brasserie Dupont, Saison Dupont
- Yards, Saison
- Sixpoint, Harbinger
- Del Ducato, Nuova Mattina
- Piccolo, Seson
- Jendrain, V Cense
- Allagash Mimh
- Brooklyn Sorachi Ace
- Stillwater, As Follows
- L'Olmaia Karkade
- Evil Twin, Ron & the Beast Ryan
- Allagash, Mimh
Photo: Courtesy of Alla Spina
Art in the Age, the nattily attired makers of ROOT, SNAP and RHUBY, are in snacky cahoots with the ever-popular Federal Donuts (1219 S. Second St.), joining forces to create three donuts inspired by the boutique Pennsylvania liqueurs. While the 'nuts themselves do not have alcohol in them, the flavor profiles have inspired some sugary innovation (L-R) — a "root beer float" with vanilla ice cream icing; "gingersnap cookie," with a ginger glaze and snappy cookie crumb; and "strawberry rhubarb pie," rhubarb-glazed and hooked up with pie-crust crumble (!) and strawberry icing. Available from Friday, April 20 [stoner joke!] until Sunday, April 29, the AiTA donuts will be distributed just like Fed's "fancies," available for $2 a pop daily from 7 a.m. till they're all gone.
Photo: Drew Lazor
Chauncey Scates at Tapestry (700 S. Fifth St.) is rolling out a new spring-friendly cocktail menu. Along with the mainstays that have been on point from go (Sazeracs, Sidecars, Negronis, proper Daiquiris), she's introduced a number of new-to-Tapestry drinks, like the daiquiri variation Hotel Nacional, rum, Marie Brizzard apry, pineapple and lime; or the gangster-y Bensonhurst, with rye, dry vermouth, Cynar and maraschino liqueur. Full menu's after the jump (click to enlarge). Tapestry still has the distinction of having one of the best-priced cocktail lists in town, with per-drink damage maxing out at $11.
The beer garden/tiki bar deal from the owners of The Farmers' Cabinet (1113 Walnut St.) may be off, but they're still intent on expanding their brand. They just debuted a new place, The Boilermaker, right around the corner from F-Cab in the space once occupied by Blue Bear Tavern (216 S. 11th St.). Chef Steve Forte plans on keeping the classic comfort food-inspired menu affordable and simple — think cornbread and double cheeseburgers. (The kitchen stays open until 1:30 a.m., too.) The edible offerings, however, are modest in comparison to the one-and-half pages (PDF) of draft beers, bottles, cocktails and (yes) boilermakers, old work-a-day slang for a beer and a shot.
It's been 16 months since the vivacious Joan Verratti knocked on our, door toting a distilling license (the first female in the country to do so since Prohibition, allegedly) and a Crown Royal bottle filled with limoncello. Now, she and partner Tom Cavaliere are untangling the very last of the red tape required to launch their Pollyodd line of preservative-free 'cellos, a process that's taken the couple more than three years.
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