I’ve got a pet peeve.  Actually I probably have many pet peeves.  One of the bigger ones though is going to a four star restaurant and paying a dear price for a great meal and not being able to order a decent beer to go along with it.  Last night the Beer Lass and I went to Vetri to  celebrate a wonderful three years together, and I’m glad to say that I had nothing to peeve about.  If you want specifics on what we ate and drank check out the Lass’ site.  That’s really more her thing than mine.  If she doesn’t have something up already I’m sure she will in the next few days.

(from the Osteria photo gallery)

Based on experiences I’ve had in other fine dining restaurants I went into Vetri wondering whether I’d be able to have beer with my dinner.  (Don’t get me wrong, I love wine now and then, just not with food).  We decided to go with Vetri’s grand tasting and my heart sank when I read that the “educated staff would assist me  in hand-crafting a tasting menu that suited my particular food and wine preferences.” Oh no!

Flashback to a very nice evening the Lass and I had while travelling in New England.  We stopped at a place in Centerbrook, CT and had a great meal. Great great food, tasteful music, comfortable and classy environment and impeccable service.  We’re talking white tablecloths, crumbing after every course and your napkin refolded everytime you get up from the table.  They boasted an extensive wine list, but completely fell down on the beer!  Bud, Heineken and Stella.  What???? 

Being in the restaurant industry I firmly believe that a complaint is a gift.  So on my way out I gifted the manager with my thoughts on their beer selection.  Unfortunately I got the two most common responses to this feedback, neither of which I can accept.  A. “We don’t have much room behind our bar.”  C’mon, do you really need to have Bud, Heineken and Stella?  Three versions of the same style of beer?  That would be like having 10 chicken dishes with no seafood or beef selections!  Get rid of one of those and bring in just one craft.  Even just keeping a few bottles of Saison DuPont or Ommegang Hennepin in the basement would at least satisfy 90% of all foodie/beer geeks.  B. “We’re not really a beer place.”  What?  Are you a coffee shop?  No.  Do you serve Folger’s with dessert?  Are you a bakery?  No.  Do you bring out a basket of Wonder bread with your soup?  So why would you serve world class food with average beer?  I want everything to match.  If there are white tablecloths on the table I want to hear Vivaldi or Coltrane, not open mic night.  If someone is folding my napkin every time I get up I don’t want to have to hold on to my silverware between courses.  And if I’m paying $60 for an entree I don’t want a beer that I can get for $4 at my corner bar.

Back to Vetri.  Fortunately I was able to flip forward a few pages into the menu to find one of the best selections of Italian craft beers I’ve ever seen, peppered in with a well chosen selection of local crafts.  (If you don’t know about the Italian craft beer  movement, please learn about it.) We were also lucky enough to have Mark Vetri’s beverage manager Steve (apologies for not knowing his last name) in the building. 

When ordering the tasting menu at Vetri the guest can be free from any decision making, which is kind of nice after a work day full of it.  Once you inform them of any dietary restrictions and your gastronomic preferences, they just surprise you with dish after wonderful dish. My one question however was “How do I know what beer to order if I don’t know what food I’m getting?”  It turns out that Vetri’s staff is just as adept at walking you through your beer and food pairings as they assure you they are with the wine and food.  Steve practically held our hands and led us through the entire experience.  We hadn’t intended for this to be a high-end beer dinner, but that’s almost what we got.  I’m glad for it too.  While some of the dishes might have worked with wine, other’s were clearly better with beer.  For instance, I can’t imagine a wine in the world that would have paired with the foie gras seasoned with peppery spices as well as did the Italian Saison we drank with it.

I know Marc Vetri isn’t the only chef owner with an appreciation for beer.  A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate enough to go to Chifa’s first beer dinner when they paired up with Flying Fish.  Congratulations gentlemen for bringing fine dining up to speed, and thank you!  Thanks to chefs like Garces and Vetri experiences like the one I had in CT present themselves less and less every day.