New York is such a small town. On the way to work on Wednesday I ran into
Steve Hindy, owner of
Brooklyn
Brewery, on the Union Square subway platform. Steve's been getting a lot of
attention lately, mostly because Brooklyn Lager won the Washington Post
"Beer Madness" tournament. I'm glad for him, and glad
that his brewmaster, Garrett Oliver, isn't getting all the press. I want
Garrett to be able to focus on making beer. His latest release, a
bottle-conditioned strong golden ale called Local 1, is incredible. He says
it's "Belgian inspired," and it's been written about in an odd
variety of ways (it doesn't seem like a saison to me). The main thing that I
notice about this beer is how great the sugar tastes. Garrett is a sucro-phile,
for sure. His description of the mountains of raw sugar at the now defunct
Domino plant in the same Brooklyn neighborhood as the brewery is as memorable
for its imagery as for his enthusiasm in describing it. He gets the good stuff,
and he knows how to use it. I've seen Local 1 at Whole Foods for $7.99 for a
.750 ml bottle. That's a lot of flavor for the dough. I congratulated Steve for
winning Beer Madness, he continued his reverse commute to the brewery and I
headed for the office.
On the way home that night, I hopped on to a crowded subway car and, as is
my wont, tried to find a less-cramped area. Why do people cluster in one spot?
Is it related to the everyone-in-the-kitchen phenomenon? I wasn't pondering
that question when I spied Ted Lee. I'd just been marveling at the not one, but
two IACP Cookbook Awards for The Lee Brothers Southern Cookbook:
Stories and Recipes for Southerners and Would-be Southerners by Ted and
his brother, Matt. I had a lot to congratulate Ted for, including his betrothal
to the lovely and brilliant E.V.
Day, an artist whose work I've loved since long before I met her. But the
trains actually run pretty well these days, so our conversation was cut pretty
short. I suppose this is what takes the place of people dropping by for a drink
after work (there must be someplace so civilized that this still happens). I
know which I'd prefer, but for the moment I'll just bask in the glow of my two
brief brushes with greatness.
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