Who is this Friendly Person Who Seats Me?
Oh him? That's Lex, our new host. After six months of disorganized and chaotic weekend dinner service, we finally caved and hired a host for Friday and Saturday nights. We avoided a host for so long because I tend to cling to the notion that humans can live in harmony without a centralized power directing them. This notion, like the similar notion that LSD will steer human beings into a further evolved state of consciousness, was mostly abandoned by 1970 in Richard Nixon's America. And, at least when it comes to busy dinner service on a weekend evening, Nixon was probably right: the silent majority would like to be seated by a human in charge, as opposed to fighting each other for a table.
As with all new processes, there may be a period during which we're working out the kinks in the new host system, but we believe that this move will translate into far superior customer service. And yes, this now means that if you get to the Indie looking for food when all the tables are filled, we can now take your name, give you a wait time, and serve you cold beers to keep you occupied while those jerks with reservations for six at six finish up (are they just going to TALK all night?)
P.S. Check out the new host table when you walk in the door. It's old enough to have played the broadcast of a famous December 8, 1941 speech orated by a much better president than Richard Nixon.
P.P.S. We now have high chairs. While holding your 9 month old in one arm and your beer in the other is an art form, it's an art that you shouldn't have to practice in our tavern.
Tell me more about yeast?
Yeast does so much more for beer than just create alcohol. It can also be used to provide the aroma and flavor to a beer, both of which traits you may have noticed in your last Hefeweizen (those Banana and Clove tastes and aromas you noticed weren't from bananas and/or cloves; they were the result of esters and phenols produced by yeast during fermentation. In some beers we want no yeast taste (lagers); in others we wants some (certain British ales); and in others we want lots (Hefeweizens, and many Belgian styles). Did somebody say "Belgian?" The guys down at Grist House Brewing (Millvale) did. They brewed two Tripels, which were otherwise the same exact recipes except for the yeast used in each. One used an Abbey yeast. One used a Trappist yeast. We have both and we're going to be putting them on side-by-side sometime this evening. You'll have a special opportunity to see how two different yeasts can impart two different flavor profiles to two beers that are otherwise identical.
Saturday Cocktails -- Guest Bartenders
This Saturday we have two guest bartenders: Max Stein (of Butcher and the Rye; Meat and Potatoes) and Wes Shonk (Wigle Whiskey; formerly of Butcher and the Rye). Both of these men are badasses. Both of these men are tall. Both of these men are men. You're in good hands my friends.
Good talk. I'll see you out there.*
Pete K.
* I couldn't end without a footnote.
