The above quote comes from none other than Brendan “Spanky” Hartranft, who’s days away from opening Local 44 (4333 Spruce St., 215-222-BEER) with wife and partner Leigh Maida. A drop-in yesterday evening found the L44 team in hyper-scramble mode to prepare the beer bar at for its Jan. 1 grand opening. Heavy drinking will be an easily ascertainable goal at 44th and Spruce: The 20-beer draught list, which you can check out on their Web site, is fit for a craft beer-obsessed king, with options from the States, Belgium, Germany and the UK. Local’s beer approach will differ from the smaller 11-tap system at Hartranft’s Memphis Taproom in that the additional breathing room will allow drinkers to work up and down the list at a leisurely pace. (Often times at Memphis, Hartranft says, the beers switch up so frequently that it’s easy to miss something on a return visit.)

The interior has been completely gutted and revamped, hiding pretty much all recognizable traces of the former Kelliann’s. Rich red walls set off the dark polished wood of the flat screen-adorned bar, fixtures and tables. The interior is split by a partial wall into two rooms connected by a wide archway. One of the coolest features is a turn-of-the-century fire door (Set 2, Pic 5) the team found hiding behind a wall during demolition.

Enrique Oliva, who was last the assistant brewer at Nodding Head, is working the kitchen, though they’re not labeling him the chef. (Oliva made an appearance on The Clog this past April as one of the winners of the 2008 CP Beeramid.) Eats will include the honey-ginger-red pepper flake hot wings Oliva is brandishing above; potato croquettes; mahi mahi fish tacos with chipotle sour cream and homemade corn tortillas; Greek and nicoise salads; and an oyster mushroom po’boy featuring sautéed ’shrooms on a torpedo roll with shredded lettuce and remoulade.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 29th, 2008 at 3:01 pm and is filed under Booze, Openings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.