Move Over, Wine

More and more high-end restaurants are becoming beer-savvy.

by Tim Hyland

Ellen Yin knew from the start that Terence Feury was a beer guy. As a candidate for the top kitchen job at Yin's Fork late last year, the chef whipped together a tasting menu that stood out for one reason: Instead of pairing dishes with wine, Feury chose beer. A Belgian endive salad with Rodenbach Grand Cru. Gnocchi with Victory Harvest Ale. Seared scallops with Ommegang Hennepin. It worked: Feury got the job, and he's well on his way to turning Fork into one of the most beer-savvy high-end restaurants in the city.

Just in time, too. "There's just more people who are into beer these days," says Yin, who says beer sales at Fork are now almost equal to wine on a per-serving basis. "There's just a huge market for it."

And restaurateurs are taking note.

Philly's beer renaissance first took hold via our robust brewery/beer bar culture before spreading into corner taverns and the consciousness of local drinkers. But now beer lists are being broadened at standard bearers like Le Bec-Fin and the Four Seasons, and more chefs are approaching menus with beer in mind. "People have never been more interested in beer," says Kevin Lundell, beverage manager for Amada, Jose Garces' tapas spot in Old City.

Or more knowledgeable. Even a couple of years back, Lundell says, restaurateurs believed there were beers they had to carry — Amstel Light for the calorie-sensitive; Yuengling for local flavor; Heineken and Corona for everyone else. But that model is being tossed aside, and the reason is simple: a growing demand that Lundell saw first-hand at Amada. Once the restaurant added local crafts to its beer list, "those were the beers that shot to the top," he says. At the Four Seasons, meanwhile, the hotel's new craft beer of the month program has been a hit, with the craft selection nearly outselling all other beers combined.

It's been much the same over at Le Bec-Fin. Manager Michael Franco says the restaurant has ditched the old routine, replacing it with a selection of acclaimed French and Belgian beers.

The response? "It actually seems as though that this is what is expected from us anyway," Franco says. "At Le Bec-Fin, people want something handpicked. They want something special. They want to try something different."

(editorial@citypaper.net)