Plus de moules

Talking with Chris Surrusco at Granville Moore's about his plans for putting mussels on the menu made me think back to 2000/2001 when I was a part-owner of the (ultimately unsuccessfully) revamped Sissons.

Our chef Bill Rothwell —aka Rollo, a roller-skating champion in younger days— would prepare our mussels steamed in gueuze - an expensive, yet wonderful "1+1=3" cooking ingredient. It proved to be our second most popular dish —by a whisker— after our rockfish (striped bass).

Bill steamed the mussels with gueuze (Lindemans Cuvee Renee, to be precise), creating a broth with fresh herbs and a bit of butter. Customers would invariably ask for more bread just to sop up the broth.

And just so that you know: steaming does remove the alcohol!


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Moules au Frites, oh boy!

Overheard on the street: another Belgian-style brasserie is set to open soon in Washington, D.C.

So I stopped by yesterday at Granville Moore's Frittes, Ales, & Moules - near the intersection of 12th and H Streets NE - to see for myself.

General Manager Chris Surrusco was hard at work refinishing his back bar.

Chris, who designed the cask system at Rustico in Alexandria (and where until recently he was also the beer manager), says Granville Moore's will be, what he feels, a true Belgian brasserie should be: an intimate, unpretentious place with Belgian beer ascendant and inexpensive food.

Chris want you to think of Granville Moore's as a smaller, cozier, less expensive, and much closer-to home, Monks Café (a Belgian bistro in Philly). Ambitious indeed, but Chris and owner Joe Englert (Temperance Hall, Lucky Bar, Big Hunt, etc.) could be the ones to pull it off.

When open, it will join the more restaurant-like Belga Café and Brasserie Beck - which itself just opened - as the three principal Belgian-themed brasseries of Washington, D.C. proper.

[ UPDATE: other Belgian cafés in the greater D.C. area]

The place currently looks likes a partially rehabbed row house but a lot of work has already been completed, and several contractors were on-site when I was there. Inspections begin later this week, and Chris expects a mid to late June opening. Decor-wise, the ceilings will retain their joists and beams exposed, the walls, their brick and plaster remnants exposed. There is a small back patio.

There will be two bars, one downstairs - the dining area, with a 4-tap draft system - and one upstairs with bottles only, but an extensive collection nonetheless. Stella Artois will be one of the 4 beers on tap, and, at least at first, De Koninck on the second tap. The other two taps will constantly rotate, thus ensuring an eclectic mix of Belgian beers.

Belgian-style beers from US craft breweries are NOT currently on the agenda.

Chris' kitchen will offer simple, well-prepared brasserie fare: steamed mussels (moules) available 5 ways, fries (frites), and a few grilled sandwiches. I was pleased to see that he is double-frying the frites after the traditional manner. First at a slighter lower temperature to thoroughly cook the fries without burning them, and then a second shorter dip in a higher-temperature fryer for a finishing crisping. The seafood and other ingredients will be sourced locally, organically, and for sustainability.

Chris seemed especially proud that there would be no television sets. He said Granville Moore's will be "a hangout for locals, for Belgian beer geeks, for bike couriers, for hippies, for Capitol Hill types, for anyone in search of a true brasserie experience." He has plans for live jump-swing piano in the upstairs bar.

He'll have no no cask beer, but, Chris an avowed hop-head, said he will offer a few hoppy craft bottled beers.

Granville Moore's is located right next door to the the hip H Street Martini Lounge, itself part of a revitalization of the H Street NE corridor, which some now refer to as the Atlas District. But Granville Moore's can count as its further-down-the-street neighbors several long-time and successful H Street establishments.

I lived nearby, nearly fifteen years ago. So yesterday was a nostalgic trip for me, visiting the old neighborhood.

For public transportation from Union Station, take the D8 Metrobus east/Washington to 1238 H Street NE.

So who was Granville Moore? A physician, he had long operated a pro bono and low-fee health clinic at that address. Older residents of D.C.'s Trinidad neighborhood still remember him well.

More photos of the pub during construction.

Yahoo Photos and Flickr

Early in May, Yahoo announced that it is discontinuing its free Yahoo Photos. I've been using that service as backup storage for all of my photos and as the linked-to-location for many of the pictures referenced on my blog postings.

I must be a fogey: more people prefer such services as a networking site - sharing of their photos - than as a data backup storage. And more of these more people are far younger than I.

So, I've begun the process of manually transferring my photos from Yahoo Photos to Flickr (recently purchased by Yahoo). During this period, some links to photos (both on this blog and on my home website - thomas.cizauskas.net) may not function. I do hope - although I'm not confident - that Yahoo will offer an easier, quicker method to effect the transfer.

This process will also create a strange scenario. As I edit older posts with new links, these older posts will appear as new posts on many blog readers (also called aggregators, these are programs that are used to read blogs).

One moral: always back up your data.

• My photos and scanned pictures are saved on a dedicated external hard drive, on discs, and, soon to be, on Flickr.
• My music is saved on a dedicated external hard drive and on-line via the Oboe music locker from MP3tunes.
• I back up all of my data onto a dedicated external hard drive and on-line with Mozy.

Annapolis brewpub sails off into the sunset

Word is out that Bill Muehlhauser, hard on the heels of his agreeing to a partnership with Anheuser-Busch, is ceasing brewing operations at his Annapolis, Maryland brewpub - Ram's Head - while keeping open and expanding the music club itself.

News of stopping the on-site brewing comes just two months after Mr. Muehlhauser announced a partnership with Anheuser-Busch. The local brewer and the beer giant created the Coastal Brewing Co., which joined Fordham Brewing's beers with Anheuser-Busch for marketing and distribution along the Eastern Seaboard.

In a March interview, Mr. Muehlhauser, now also managing partner for Coastal, told The Capital that the small microbrewery in Rams Head would continue operating under Fordham, "making the same beers that it's always made."

The Rams Head Tavern was not part of the Coastal deal, but as a result customers will now be able to order Old Dominion beers at each of the six Rams Head locations and can expect to see an increased presence of the Fordham brand in Maryland, Virginia and Washington. D.C.

My opinions of the Fordham Brewpub beers have waxed and waned over the years. I think the quality of the beers reached its zenith under Ohio and Maryland craft beer pioneer Allen Young and his immediate successor at the pub.

The equipment is a gorgeous Beraplan system; it was initially installed at the pub in part to serve as a showcase here in the US for the German manufacturer. (Ahh, if I only had the funds ...!)

Memorial Day

On tap for the Memorial Day weekend:

1) Commitment: Early Sunday bike ride to Vietnam Veterans' Memorial to pay silent tribute to all veterans, past and present.
2) Music: Roy Harris' Third Symphony.
3) Beverages:

• French or French-style rosé (bone dry)
• Unibroue Quelque Chose over shaved ice (!) with a dash of bitters
• Anchor Bock
• and, of course, Clipper City's Red Sky at Night Saison.

4) Meal: Grilled marinated vegetables. I'm using the George Forman grill; I'm just not into the mega-grill thing and working over heat while under a hot sun.

I picked up this simple recipe for a tasty grilled vegetable marinade at my local Whole Foods yesterday:

2 c. olive oil
1/2 c. lemon juice
1 tsp. sea salt
3 tbsp. dry minced garlic (I'll use fresh)
1 tsp. cracked black pepper
1/4 c. dried parsley (again, fresh for me)
1/4 c. Clipper City Gold Ale (my addition!)

Combine all ingredients and pour over vegetables. Marinate at least one hour or overnight, turning periodically.

If you're using an outdoor grill or hibachi, place the veggies on aluminum foil which you've perforated with many small holes. Using kabob skewers works as well; just watch out for charring.