Gastropubs: What the Heck Are They?
September 23, 2011
•Le Cordon Bleu
•Portland
• 0 Comments
Gastropubs: What the Heck Are They?
Although it sounds more like a gastrointestinal condition, gastropubs are nothing to fear. In fact, if you’ve got one in your neighborhood, you should cancel your plans and have dinner there tonight. That’s right, dinner. Gastropubs are restaurants, but not just any restaurant. Part shot and beer pub, part wine bar, and part upscale restaurant, they are an amalgam of all things culinary. Think of them as a combination British pub and French bistro and you start to get the idea of a gastropub.
Getting their start in England in the 1980s, it took nearly two decades for the idea to cross the Atlantic and become a hot trend here in the U.S. Today, large cities like Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago have a dozen or more gastropubs each from which to choose. Even though Portland is the Oregon culinary hub, the gastropub concept has yet to hit our food scene.
History of the Gastropub
The Public House or pub is a distinctive part of British culture. They are community taverns that primarily sell pints of beer. A few have always made some food available, but choices of fried pork rinds, pickled eggs, and salted nuts made it clear that these were primarily drinking establishments.
Eventually some would add a few more food items like fish & chips, ploughman’s lunch, shepherd’s pie, various soups, and nearly anything that was battered and deep-fried. This food was aptly named “pub grub.”
A recession in England during the 1980s caused many pubs to lose their leases. Young entrepreneur’s reopened these establishments with more of an emphasis on the menu and less on the beer and spirits. The menu selections where expanded and given a more upscale refinement with fresh, house-made dishes that celebrated the uniqueness of British food while incorporating foreign influences as well.
Today, a gastropub is likely to be owned and operated by a culinary arts college graduate. The concentration on food selection and quality is as picky as most upscale restaurants.
Gastropubs in the U.S.
The first gastropub in the U.S. was the Spotted Pig in New York’s West Village. It incorporated an upscale menu befitting its trendy location with craft-brewed cask beers and the ubiquitous (in Britain anyway) Guinness and Speckled Hen. But most visitors, as with any gastropub worth the name, come for the food.
Gastropubs in the U.S. often make their marks by capitalizing on the trend of local and organic foods. The deviled eggs will be organic and cage-free with a homemade tarragon mayonnaise. The pub burger will be Angus or Wagyu beef and served with smoked pork belly cracklings and Maytag bleu cheese. And the fish and chips will be Guinness-battered halibut, twice-fried frites, and a spicy, made-to-order rémoulade. The food is clearly not the same fried mushrooms and basket of smelts of the typical American tavern.
Gastrobpubs may be one of the biggest culinary trends, but if they continue to serve quality food and drinks in comfortable, non-stuffy atmospheres, they are a trend that will not be fading anytime soon.
This article is presented by Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Portland. Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Portland offers culinary arts and pâtisserie and baking training programs in Portland, Oregon. To learn more about the class offerings, please visit Chefs.edu/Portland for more information.
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