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David
Grear
La Terrasse, Philadelphia
David
Grear prepares French bistro food at La Terrasse, and though wine
outsells beer by a considerable percentage, Grear still loves the
flavors of beer in food.
"We
have a wonderful bar area, with a very casual menu, and people like
to have beer with appetizers," says Grear. "So, I use beer
in sauces, marinades, and glazes."
First,
a beerbecue sauce made from a demiglace and mopped on ribeye steaks
is a slightly hot-sweet blend. Grear starts with the house bordelaise
sauce with port wine as a base. He then adds dark molasses, roasted
sweet peppers, raspberry vinegar and sauteed vegetables, smoked adobo
- and lots of Guinness stout for "that big body and flavor."
"Beer
fits with the batterie de cuisine in the kitchen at La Terrasse,"
explains Grear. "We try to make the food very unpretentious and
fill the menu with fun choices." For example, the generation
of drinkers weaned on chicken McNuggets find the lager-battered chicken
fingers most appealing.
"The
appetizer is made with tempura batter flour and cornstarch for tenderness
and crisp browned exterior," says Grear. "Dijon mustard
and beer go together, as complementary flavors, and we add a little
cayenne for the heat." Because the appetizers are mostly bar
items, the pretzel crumb exterior is both salty and crunchy - making
patrons thirst for yet another brew.
A local
Springfield beer distributor brings hundreds of cases of beer to the
restaurant - including Colt 45. "Once, my delivery was missed
because the driver - a new employee - couldn't believe that a French
restaurant would use a malt liquor," laughs Grear. "But
what people don't realize is that malt liquors are just very strong,
clean lagers, and go really well with shellfish."
Sample
recipes from La Terrasse, adapted for the home cook, include:
Guinness
Stout BBQ Sauce
Tsing
Tao Laquered Quail
Lager-Battered
Chicken Tenders
Steamed
Mussels with Malt Liquor
Recipes
©David Grear, Executive Chef
La Terrasse
3432 Sansom Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Phone (215) 386-5000
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