Photo by EVAN R. STEINHAUSER / Anchorage Daily News
SubZero Microlounge
Poor service sinks special beer-food tasting experience
Published: January 25, 2006
Last Modified: June 29, 2006 at 03:58 AM
Beer is a bedfellow to burgers, an enchilada extinguisher, barbecue's best buddy, hot dog's homey and huevo rancheros' hangover-relieving tag-team partner.
Beer isn't exactly comfortable in ties and tails. Beer can't tell the difference between salad, dinner and dessert forks. No, beer is a roll-up-the-sleeves and pass-the-hot-sauce kind of drink; wine remains the pinkie-off-the-glass, wear-your-nice-jewelry fine-dining beverage of choice.
But how would beer feel accompanying an inspired yet relatively casual meal at a trendy downtown lounge that knows all about beer? In this setting, beer can feel cultured and still get away with wearing a baseball cap at the table.
Earlier this winter, SubZero Microlounge brought semi-fine dining to its usual beer party with the Saturday Night Tasting Menu, a three-course meal that pairs a different Belgian brew with each course (the menu changes every two weeks). Clueless about what beer goes best with lamb saffron curry empanadas? Don't sweat it -- SubZero chef Timothy Farley makes the call. The beer-meal package is usually priced around $32.95 ($22.85 without beer), though each course and beer is also available separately.
I met a well-versed beer drinker (Play brew columnist Dawnell Smith) at SubZero on a recent Saturday, and we toasted the marriage of beer and food by ordering the tasting menu. That evening Farley offered: the lamb saffron curry empanada appetizer ($6.95 a la carte), served with Avery Brewing's Twelve ($3.95); an entree of pan-seared salmon over grilled Swiss chard with baby arugula and Asian pears in a fresh cherry vinaigrette ($11.95), served with Brouwerij Corsendonk's Abbey Brown Ale ($3.95); and for dessert, a blueberry and wild currant crepe with fresh blackberries and light whipped cream ($3.95), served with Brasserie Lindemans' Cassis ($4.95).
SubZero isn't exactly built for fine dining -- more like disco dining. SubZero is Anchorage's hippest nonsmoking pub, complete with an extensive (and sometimes expensive) beer lineup along with its chichi drinks, club lighting, club music, club attitude and even a cute little disco ball spinning from the ceiling.
SubZero's staff certainly doesn't take on fine-dining airs. We were treated like a couple squares in a too-cool bar -- service was distant and inconsistent. Just one server struggled to cover the bar and floor when we arrived at 6:30 p.m. The place was hopping, though we were the only tasting menu diners. A few customers ate pizza, but most simply sipped drinks. Service didn't improve much after another waitress arrived after 7.
The delivery of our first beer, the bright and fruity Twelve, was followed by a painful wait for our appetizer. What to do: drink beer while it's cold or continue to hold? Fifteen minutes later, our plates of empanadas arrived and our beer glasses were half-empty/full. This was unacceptable for what was supposed to be a pairing. Farley later told me beer and food are supposed to be served together.
The empanadas, two tiny bundles of baked dough cocooning lamb and soft veggie bits, were set in a pool of rich curry-tinged sauce. A hint of saffron was present. This was a heavy starter with plenty of flavor, with or without sauce. The Twelve beer played both a complementary (with the saffron) and contrasting (with the overall weight) role.
A bit later, the new server brought out entrees, unaware that a beer was part of the deal. The Abbey Brown Ale was dropped off five minutes later -- one glass topped with an enormous head, one glass bearing no head. Thanks for the rush job, folks.
The medium-sized salmon brick rested atop a healthy bed of greens, presented on a large, white square plate. This was a wonderfully colorful, flavorful and textured dish. The greens were crunchy, the pear slivers and halved cherries ripe and sweet with a vinaigrette providing a subtle bite. The healthy salmon chunk was juicy yet also packed a nice seared taste, and a sprinkling of sesame seeds added to the pleasure.
The Abbey Brown stood tall on its own, too hefty to complement this otherwise light dish. And we had to wonder if this dish was entree worthy? On a smaller scale, it would have made an impressive appetizer followed by the decadent empanadas, which were more filling.
SubZero's servers finally nailed the timing on the third course, our crepes and beers arriving simultaneously. The dish exploded with sharp, sweet and slight flavors: The delicate crepe was topped with whipped cream and a pair of blackberries; inside, tart blueberries and currants; outside, a pool of saccharine raspberry sauce. Accompanied by the vibrant Cassis, this was seemingly a perfect close to a meal.
But then we waited 20 minutes for the bill, which wouldn't have been a problem had we been offered an opportunity to order another drink or coffee. We weren't.
We finally waved down a server behind the bar for our check. This shouldn't have been a two-hour meal, and it wasn't as if the kitchen was overwhelmed. This was simply bad service bringing down an otherwise enjoyable meal.
But this experienced did prove that beer can mingle and mesh in fine dining circles, even with dessert, as long as the right person is building the menu and selecting the beer (chef Farley said a three-person committee irons this out every few weeks).
The experience also demonstrated that perhaps a venue focused on serving drinks and being cool might not provide the proper setting for a introducing beer to fine dining. While SubZero has a brilliant idea, great beer and food with potential, dining there is laborious. Maybe that's fashionable in martini-tipping circles. But beer and beer drinkers aren't having that.
• Got a restaurant tip, a new menu, a favorite dish or a chef change? Contact Daily News food reviewer Josh Niva at jniva@adn.com.
SubZero Microlounge
*** Location: 612 F. St.
Hours: Opens at 4:30 p.m. daily. Saturday Night Tasting Menu available at 6 p.m. Saturdays; menu changes every two weeks
Phone: 276-BEER
Web: www.subzeromicrolounge.com
E-mail: info@subzeromicrolounge.com
