Life is not nearly long enough to sample all the beers at Craft
Not every beer bar quotes the medieval poet Geoffrey Chaucer.
Then again, the Craft Brasserie & Grill doesn’t pretend to be your usual suds-and-wings eatery.
The Liberty Village restaurant offers a whopping120 beers on tap in a sprawling basement space where the first line of Chaucer’s “Parlement of Foules” is decaled onto the kitchen window: “The lyfe so short, the craft so long to lerne.”
Its meaning, explains co-owner Dean Tsembelicos, is that we don’t live long enough to perfect our work.
“We’re always trying to improve, to change our systems,” he says of the two-month-old space.
So we put them through their paces, jointly assessing the food, beer and how the two are best paired. (See below for the best examples.)
The beer menu is tilted heavily toward Ontario craft brews, with a solid spread of American and European choices as well.
While there aren’t the rarities you’d find at a place like Yonge St. beer emporium Bar Volo, there’s still plenty to choose from.
With such a large beer list, there are three common problems: Duplication, less-than-pristine freshness and out-of-stock choices. So far, Craft seems to be avoiding those bugaboos, thanks largely to bar manager and Prudhomme-certified beer sommelier Matt Sieradzki.
“My biggest concern is quality and without that I think it is disrespectful to have beers that may be great but are just not selling on tap,” says Sieradzki, who uses different sized kegs for different beers.
Simply put? If something’s not a big seller, it comes in a small keg.
He also trains wait staff on basic beer styles and food pairings.
“I think Liberty Village was just due for some great beer,” says Sieradzki.
The vibe is that of a sports bar, with giant screens on every wall and Vanilla Ice playing overhead.
Servers are sweet but ill-informed, pouring beer samples for the draughts they recommend but unsure of what lies on the charcuterie board.
Below the dull surface is a kitchen that butchers its own meat and cranks its homemade ketchup up to 11 with banana peppers.
The menu is long, with sharing portions and global flavours like the tight Filipino pork spring rolls ($9) made from the recipe of executive chef Adrian Andaya’s (Milestones) mother.
Craft tends to leave beer out of its cooking, preferring you consume it in a glass.
“We want the food to lend itself to beer, not taste like beer,” says sous chef Doug Jones.
That can mean bland flatbreads, Indianstyle poutine ($12) short on both sauce and cheese, and a gummy blueberry pancake ($8). Yet the burger ($10) — presumably top choice for the area’s high-tech workers and young professional residents — is a juicy winner, like a Quarter Pounder but spicier and more virtuous.
There are other moments when Craft goes beyond workmanlike, such as the following four winning beer-and-food combinations.
Unlike tasting wine, one simply can’t swirl and spit in the beer world. One ounce from each of the120 taps would still be six pints. (Hic!) Charcuterie board ($24) with Rodenbach√ Grand Cru ($9 for 10 ounces)
The tartness of this Flemish sour ale cuts through the richness of the charcuterie, while the berry notes complement the meat-focused platter. Save for the very salty duck breast cured in-house, Brandt supplies the salami and sausages. Homemade giardiniera tastes of thyme and jalapeno. Baked orrechiette ($16.50) with Side Launch Dark Lager ($6.50 for 16 ounces)
Peas nestle inside the pasta hollows. Whipping cream and smoked cheddar make up most of the sauce, browned butter and spicy chorizo the balance; candied bacon bits make for an over-thetop garnish. The slight sweetness of this Ontario brew complements the bacon and chorizo saltiness, while the roasted character cuts through the rich cream sauce. Michelada stew ($17) with Les Trois Mousquetaires√ Gose ($8.25 for 10 ounces)
Inspired by the eponymous Mexican beer-spiked tomato juice drink, this peppery seafood stew is built on lager, garlic and tomato juice. The hint of salt and spice in the Québec top-fermented beer complements the broth and matches up well with the snappy shrimp, buttery cuttlefish and slightly whiffy PEI mussels. Doughnuts ($7.50) with Aphrodite Dieu de Ciel ($7.75 for 10 ounces)
Who needs coffee when you can drink beer that tastes like a slightly boozy, sweetened espresso? This strong, dark ale is the perfect match for the rich, sweet cake doughnuts drizzled in the thick chocolate sauce. More chocolate sauce comes on the side for dunking. Cue bliss. apataki@thestar.ca, josh@thestar.ca