Dan Gordon brewed his first batch of Gordon Biersch beer nearly 20 years ago, making him one of the pioneers of American craft brewing. The company was founded in 1988, after California repealed a law to allow restaurants to brew beer on-site, thereby paving the way for the creation of the brewpub. In 1987, Gordon, fresh from earning a degree in brewing engineering from the uber-prestigious Technical University of Munich in Weihenstephan, sat down with restaurateur and fellow California native Dean Biersch to map out a plan to bring freshly-brewed beer and freshly-prepared food together under one roof. One year later, the pair opened the first Gordon Biersch brewpub in Palo Alto, California, featuring a menu of appetizers, entrées, salads and sandwiches created to complement Gordon’s expertly-crafted beers. Gordon even created a barbecue sauce made with his Marzen that is still served today with burgers and their barbecued chicken pizza. Gordon also invented the restaurant’s wildly popular Garlic Fries.
Gordon Biersch Pilsner.
Today, there are 27 Gordon Biersch brewpubs across 16 states and Washington, DC. In June, the company went international with the opening of a Gordon Biersch restaurant and brewery in Taiwan. All of the beers served at the restaurants are brewed on-site; beers are also brewed and bottled at a state-of-the-art brewing facility in San Jose, California. Gordon Biersch produces more than 3 million gallons of beer per year there, making it one of the largest craft breweries in California.
But when you visit one of Gordon Biersch’s numerous brewpubs, you won’t find any explosively hoppy IPAs on tap, or extra-strength imperial stouts, or any of the other so-called extreme beers that have grown in popularity in recent years. At a time when many American craft breweries seem to be engaged in a perpetual battle to out-hop each other, Gordon Biersch remains an anomaly. The company brews only German-style lagers—solid, down-to-earth beers that are as unpretentious as the man who brews them.
There’s still time to enter Peanut Butter & Co.’s Bee-licious Sandwich Contest, showcasing the company’s newest flavor, The Bee’s Knees, peanut butter blended with (you guessed it) honey.
Peanut Butter fans are invited to submit a sandwich recipe featuring The Bee’s Knees, for the honor of having the winning recipe featured as the Sandwich of the Week at Peanut Butter & Co.’s New York City sandwich shop—plus a special gift box from Peanut Butter & Co. The recipe must be submitted by August 16th. The official submission form can be found at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Peanut-Butter-Co/14755220199 (you DO NOT need to be a member of the Facebook group to submit an entry).
At a recent coffee and tea fair, what excited us most was not any of the fine coffees or teas, but Biscottea, a line of all-natural shortbread cookies baked with organic teas—just a touch, to provide interest. The buttery Scottish shortbread without the tea inclusions would have been good enough to accompany any cup of tea. But Laurance Milner has created a delightful line that, apart from adding a good general-purpose cookie to the specialty shelves, allows tea lovers to pair different tea-flavored shortbreads with different teas. Have some Earl Grey Biscottea shortbread with your Earl Grey tea, mint Biscottea shortbread with mint tea, and so forth.
Some might find this gimmicky, but gimmicky is a blessing when it tastes good: The large (two-inch) squares of shortbread certainly satisfy. These tea biscuits (biscot-tea, in case you missed the pun or want to confuse them with Italian biscotti) are available in individual packages of two as well as full boxes of ten. Flavors include African Honeybush Tea (a red tea) Shortbread, Blueberry Shortbread with Organic White Tea, Chai Shortbread with Organic Chai Spices, Earl Grey Shortbread with Organic Darjeeling Tea (infused with Earl Grey’s signature bergamot orange flavor) and Mint Tea with Organic Peppermint & Spearmint Leaves.
Blueberry Biscottea shortbread cookies
made with white tea and blueberry juice.
We’re not going to jump on the
bandwagon and call them “antioxidant
cookies”—just enjoy them for the novelty
and fine flavor.
The Blueberry, Chai and Earl Grey flavors are also available in gluten-free varieties. The line is certified kosher (dairy) by Orthodox Union.
The company says that Biscottea are “created with real tea for real tea lovers.” But anyone will enjoy them, even if there’s no cup of tea in sight. Read more about this elegant and fun selection of cookies in the full review on TheNibble.com.
Morton’s celebrates its 30th birthday
with the $19.78 Prime Sirloin Burger—
named for the year the restaurant was
founded.
If you want a glass of wine, rather than a beer, with that burger, here are some pairing recommendations from Morton’s the Steakhouse:
-Blue Cheese, Bacon, Grilled Onions and Mayonnaise
These robust flavors need a big, full-bodied red. Don’t be shy to open a Cab or a Barolo.
-Swiss Cheese, Tomato, Lettuce and Ketchup
A light cheese like Swiss demands a lighter red, like Pinot Noir, which still has enough oomph to balance to the flavors of the rich meat and the acidity of the tomato and ketchup.
-Cheddar Cheese, Raw Onion, Lettuce and Mustard: Spicy Wine
This combination needs a spicy wine to balance to the heat of the raw onion and the acidity of the mustard. Choose a peppery wine like Zinfandel or Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
If you’re a white wine lover: sorry, we have no wine recommendation for you. Beef is too hearty to pair with a white wine. Reach for a good craft beer instead (find some of our favorites in THE NIBBLE’s Beer Section.
Every Sunday from July through September, you can indulge in that burger for a good cause. With each Morton’s $19.78 Prime Sirloin Burger, five dollars will be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
There’s no better time than summertime to quench your thirst with a delicious smoothie. Flavorful and healthy stone fruits and berries are at their peak, and smoothies are a perfect way to showcase their bright flavors. Smoothies are creamy, frothy blended drinks made from whole fruit, ice and a variety of other ingredients such as milk, yogurt and fruit juice. Here, we’ve gone further than refreshing: We’ve added nutrition with low-calorie, fat-free, cholesterol-free AllWhites egg whites—a great source of lean protein. Physical trainer Bob Greene developed these super-healthy and refreshing smoothie ideas for AllWhites. Each of the recipes includes up to 1/4 cup of egg whites, which turns a smoothie into a nutritious meal.
