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A Great Restaurant Town, True, But a Magnificent Beer Town - March 2002I received today my press kit for the annual Book and the Cook Festival, one of the world's most innovative and purely enjoyable food and drink fests held each March in Philadelphia. Included in all the expected p.r. bumph was a page of excerpts from an article entitled "Is This a Great Restaurant Town or What?," written by Esquire food columnist John Mariani for Philadelphia Magazine. He's right, of course. Having visited Philadelphia several times over the past decade or so, I can certainly vouch for the City of Brotherly Love's considerable affection for food, the infamous Philly cheese steak notwithstanding. The Blue Angel, Le Bec-Fin, Jack's Firehouse, the stands of the Reading Terminal Market - the list of delicious and widely varied Philadelphia dining choices goes on and on. For friendly, flavourful cuisine, Philadelphia can stand proudly alongside most any city in the U.S. But what Mariani doesn't say about the city is more remarkable than all the accolades he heaps upon its restaurants, and arguably twice as overlooked. Simply, Philadelphia is one of the best beer cities in the country and most certainly the finest in the eastern United States. The evidence in favour of this proposition begins to unfold in Lew Bryson's fine book, 'Pennsylvania Breweries.' The list of laudable crafters of ale and lager in and around Philadelphia is nothing if not impressive. Begin with the venerable Stoudt's Brewing, admittedly a distance out of town but one of the Fertile Crescent's most highly acclaimed breweries. Then add Victory Brewing, arguably the best young bottling brewery in the nation; Yards Brewing, with their impressive ESA (Extra Special Ale) and the ever-popular Love Stout; the historic General Lafayett Inn, now Inn and Brewery; and downtown's Nodding Head, a recently opened and very fine brewpub housed on the premises once home to the malt-extract Sam Adams Brewhouse brewpub. Onto this mix pour a host of good to terrific breweries from neighbouring states - hello Dogfish Head and Heavyweight, to name but two - and you start to get a sense of how good beer drinking Philadelphians have it. But Philadelphia's breweries are only half the story, and given the recent struggles that have beset the industry, maybe not even that much. At least as important is the list of places where you can enjoy a good beer, often with equally good food. Case in point here is Monk's Cafe, a restaurant and bar that easily sits with New York's d.b.a., San Francisco's Toronado and Portland's Horse Brass as one of the finest beer destinations on the continent. Co-owner Tom Peters is a beer fanatic, a man who thinks nothing of setting up a five-course beer dinner featuring a dozen lambics, taking his chef to Brussels so that they can dine at the three-star Comme Chez Soi or endlessly harassing importers and distributors until he can get his hands on the beers he wants. His is the kind of dedication that marks the difference between an ordinary beer bar and a temple of beer appreciation. Were Monk's all that Philadelphia had to offer, it would almost be enough. But there's much more in and around the city to arouse a beer aficionado's passion. Like the Standard Tap, a funky multi-tap in the Northern Liberties district; Bridgid's, a cool bottled beer oasis; Cuvée Notre Dame, a fine Belgian-themed restaurant (and host to three Ruth Van Waerebeek dinners during the Book & Cook); the Grey Lodge, a neighbourhood joint with a surprising devotion to craft brews; the Copa II, the Khyber Pass, Bridget Foy's, Fergie's Pub... The list just goes on and on. Or to put it all another way, what other city in North America would present not one or two but eight beer events within a festival called the Book and the Cook? Philadelphia thinks nothing of it, and that's why I'll be there. The 18th edition of The Book and the Cook runs from March 15 - 24 and features 78 dining events and 70 cookbook authors and food and drink writers. For more information, visit www.thebookandthecook.com. My all-fruit-beer dinner will take place at Monk's Cafe on March 19. See World of Beer On the Road or visit www.monkscafe.com for further details.Feature Articles
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