The other night on the way back from picking up a friend from the airport, we had a conversation that went a little something like this:
“Well, have you been craving anything after being gone from San Diego for so long?” I asked as we were trying to settle on a dinner destination.
“Well, I could use a good beer,” he decided.
“Well, you’ve got two choices,” I said, referring to the two beer bars that are within two miles of my house. As our car pulled up to the intersection that marked the crossroads between the two bars, he decided:
“I’d rather go for good food…”
Without another word, we pointed the car toward Hamilton’s Tavern. It was the second time I would eat dinner there this week.
Half an hour later I was happy for the redundancy. I found myself sitting in front of a particularly good pint of Bear Republic Rebellion and an absolutely amazing sandwich: The Blind Tiger. Two even pieces of buttery, crisp Sadie Rose bread held the salty-sweet combination of melted cheddar, caramelized onions, roasted apples, and Duroc pork bacon. The addition of roasted apples to a grilled cheese is brilliant, but what makes the sandwich is the bacon–Duroc pork is a heritage breed of pig prized for its meaty, fatty flavor, and the thick, slightly chewy slabs on the sandwich were so delicious that each time I took a bite, I found that–just for a second–I was more excited by the flavors in my mouth than my friend’s hilarious tales of jaunting through South America. And he’s a pretty skilled storyteller.
But the fact is, I had been excited about that sandwich before we set foot in the door. I had a secret moment of joy in the car when I realized I would have the chance to eat at Hamilton’s for dinner. Sure, I was glad to have a tasty beer, but it was the food that excited me. Readers of this blog know I’m a fan of bar food, and Hamilton’s happens to have some exceptional bar food.
Here’s why it is exceptional: when the bar opened its Cafe earlier in the year, it not only debuted a menu, it debuted a pledge: a commitment to quality ingredients, humane practices, and local produce. It’s no longer printed on the backside of their menus, but as of now, that pledge is still on their website (if the page begins with “Hamilton’s Food Facts”, its still the same one). All of their burgers were to be made with Brandt Beef, all their chicken was to come from Fulton Valley Farms. All the produce would be local, the bread too. They wanted to be able to assure that “every farmer, baker and vendor we choose to use are conscious about producing the highest quality products.”
It’s a bold commitment, and a noble one, and one that, unfortunately does not look like one the Cafe will be able to uphold. According to today’s announcement on the Hamilton’s website, “With the economy the way it is the large majority of the hamilton’s clientile are more concerned with the bottomline price then the quality of the food….” Because of this feedback, the cafe has decided “to provide the same tasty menu items for a more affordable price … which results in the obvious need for us to switch vendors and be less critical over the types of meat, produce we use.” A caustic conclusion to the statement explains that “The same flavor and the same care in producing each meal will still be evident but instead of Brandt Beef we’ll be serving XYZ beef like the 95% of the other places.”
It was a pretty big blow for me to read. It is incredibly difficult for me to see lovers of beer–people who realize the difference between small, carefully produced craft products and mass-produced, tasteless ones–whose standards don’t carry over to the realm of food. How do I make this more clear?:
Brandt Beef is the Pliny the Elder of the beef world
Duroc Pork is the Victory at Sea of the pork world
And any run-of-the-mill chicken that is not mindfully raised without hormones, without antibiotics, and without being given a chance to exercise their muscles by roaming free is going to be as tasteless and bland as a mass-market beer whose name I don’t care to let grace the pages of this blog.
Quality matters in beer. The intentions of the producer, the carefully selected ingredients that go into the process, and the precise management of each stage of production all factor in to the final product. Nothing is different when it comes to food.
I’m really sad to see the efforts to bring quality food to Hamiltons went unappreciated and misunderstood. I hope they have a chance to try it again some day. If you agree, head on over to their website and leave a comment letting them know what you think. Because I don’t know about you, but I really accompanying my beer with a juicy piece of heritage-breed, humanely-raised, hormone-free bacon.
Mmmmm…heritage-breed, humanely-raised, hormone-free bacon.
