This week, The People’s Pint owner, Alden Booth is opening another restaurant closer to his home in Gill Center. Called The Gill Store & Tavern, the menu is built around comfort and quality, the renovation is built around effieciency, and the mood is built around hospitality. The People’s Pint is happy to have a sister. We really like all the new family and honestly cannot wait to see another culinary success in the area. We love food and love people that love food… The Gill Store & Tavern will be open Wednesday - Saturday 11 a.m. - 11 p.m. and will serve brunch on Saturday. Give them a bit to ground themselves and then give them a try!
Triumvirate is a fancy word for three. I did not know this until today when Chef Chris decided to name today’s appetizer special the triumvirate… One would think it would be easy to “name” specials. However, sometimes when it’s crunch time, the clock is ticking toward 4 and the menus are still not printed - a blank for names happens. Today the triumvirate is a chips and dip offering with our black bean dip, a fresh tomatillo salsa and a fresh grilled peach and basil salsa. Super yummy. Super simple for such a big name, but salsa plate just seemed so blah.
Getting ready for the annual Garlic & Arts Festival (the festival that really stinks) has been part of our MO for 10 years. We serve pulled pork sandwiches, garlic cole slaw, garlic baked beans and our famous ginger ale (without garlic, thank you). For two days we bask in the fall weather amid throngs of locals, peepers, travellers, and the like. It’s a way to ring in the fall (y’all) and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Just FYI, we ordered 300 (3, zero, zero) pounds of pork butt so Chef Chris could rub it (yum), smoke it (yum) and pull it for sandwiches. If you’re out that way (Orange), see, smell and taste your way to happiness.
I spent a significant part of the day trying to figure out how to hang an old Schwinn Starlet from the ceiling of the bar area. Linda gave it to us for this purpose. She remembers riding it around as a wee one and knows The Pint is hooked on bikes. One would be surprised at all the considerations to be made when hanging a bike from the ceiling. I think we decided to put it up behind the bar on the top shelf. We’ll do it before the end of September.
Friday during the day is all about getting ready for the weekend. The kitchen is humming with the sound of knives on boards, robot coupes chopping, and big pots full of boiling goodness. The trucks back up to the door with meat, bread, fresh vegetables, beer from our brewery… The smell is incredible: sauteed onions, peppers and mushrooms, garlic being chopped fine, thyme in the soup… It’s a great place to be - sourrounded by freshness. As the day wears on, more employees come in to crank up the dining room, stock the bar, fold the napkins, place the flowers, dim the lighting, be sure there is enough butter for the bread. Like a waking giant, I feel the restaurant stretch in my back and know that we’ll be more than okay for the guests walking through our door. It’s a great day. Friday.
A new day at The People’s Pint… This will not be a fancy blog, perhaps entertaining at times, perhaps informative. You be the judge. Today Chef Chris pickles peppers. A peck of them… serano and cherry bombs. He’ll soak them in brine, put them in the cooler for several weeks and bring them out as a condiment for a daily sausage. He just informed me that Food Detectives says milk and dairy product work best for cooling the mouth after eating hot, spicy peppers. Avoid carbonated drinks because they actually make the problem worse. Huh.