Forbidden Root Brewery

 

I had been to Forbidden Root a few times before and have liked both the beer and brunch, I decided to stop in for dinner recently.  Located in a former movie theatre, the space is rustic, with exposed brick walls, and tile floors.  The U-shaped bar is in the center of the room as you walk in with the tap list on chalkboards facing the side walls above and to the center of the bar area.  The brewing area is in the back past a large communal table that sits in an alcove at the back of the restaurant and beside the kitchen.  The beers that Forbidden Root does are classic styles with a lot of botanicals added that can sometimes modify the flavor significantly.  The first beers that they started with were hard versions of Root Beer (hence the Forbidden Root name) and Ginger Ale.  Their draft list when I went did not have the Root Beer, but it did have the Ginger Ale, so that was going to be one of the choices that I was going to make for my flight.  Called Sublime Ginger, it's a Wheat Ale with a significant ginger flavor that also included Key Lime Juice, Honeybush and Lemon Myrtle.  My other choices were Money on my Rind, a Hefeweizen with Juniper Berries, Grapefruit, and Grains of Paradise that leaned toward a Gin and Tonic in flavor, Dragon Zest Belgian Tripel with Wild Lemon Zest and Thai Palm Sugar (This was a really good Tripel), Get to the Winchester Toasted Rye Mild Ale, and ME DRINK COOKIE! Oatmeal Raisin Brown Ale, which for all the world tasted like an Oatmeal Raisin Cookie.  They were all very good and interesting, but my favorite for this trip was probably ME DRINK COOKIE!

The food served at Forbidden Root is largely bar food, but it all has a twist.  The menu is broken down between Snacks, Small Plates, Large Plates, Sandwiches, and Cheese & Dessert.  I decided to start things off with a dish of Lemon Almonds with Sea Salt and Olive Oil while I was trying to figure out what else I wanted to eat.  They were very good, having a nice Salty Lemon flavor with the hearty flavor flavor of fresh roasted almonds.

There was a lot of meat in both the Small and Large Plate sections of the menu, I was already getting plenty of protein with the nuts and would probably have meat for my main course, so I thought I would go with a vegetable.  While I did decide to go with a vegetable, that didn't mean it couldn't be fried.  I went with Fried Brussels Sprouts with Marinated Sprout Leaves, Bagna Cauda (an Italian dip using Garlic, Olive Oil, Anchovies, and Butter), XO Sauce (a Chines sauce using dried scallop, chili peppers, Jinhua ham, dried shrimp, garlic, and canola oil), and Lemon.  Normally, I have my brussels sprouts with bacon, and admittedly, there was a little ham used in the XO Sauce, but it wasn't enough to add texture and it was effectively without meat.  As such, it was very good, even without the bacon.

I did consider getting a burger, and I have heard that Forbidden Root's burger is very good, but getting a burger at a brewery is easy.  There was a Pork Schnitzel Sandwich that sounded good, so that's the way that I went.  While I knew that pork schnitzel was a piece of pork pounded flat, breaded and fried and they tend to be pretty broad, I was very surprised by the sandwich that arrived.  The Schnitzel was much wider than the Sesame Bun and was served with Beet Mayo and Slaw on the sandwich, with Fries and Housemade Ketchup on the side.  The schnitzel was much broader than the bun, so I did attempt to cut it around the edges before picking it up.  That didn't work out exceptionally well so I committed to Picking it up and eating it until it was gone.  It was really good, but it was also really messy and there would have been know way for me to pick it back up if I ever put it down.  The beet mayo had chunks of beets in it that were falling out as I was eating it and when I finally finished it, I had to take a time out to clean myself up.

By the time I got to dessert, I was pretty full.  I was interested in dessert, but because I was full, I was interested in something light.  My waitress told me that the chocolate pudding was pretty light.  I was a little skeptical, but I followed her recommendation.  She was correct, the pudding had the texture of a mousse.  With the pudding, it had Whipped Caramel, Quince Marmalade, Peanut Praline, and Ash Salt.  With that I had a House Shot called Cinn-Oak which had Bourbon, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Clove Buds, Orange Peel and Demerara Syrup.  After this, I was still full, but I really enjoyed everything.  The beer at Forbidden Root is very different while following standard styles, the food follows the same path.  I really enjoyed everything and will surely return for beer and/or food.
              

Forbidden Root Brewery - Brunch

Another day, another brewery.  Despite the fact that I have been heavy on breweries of late, I am not turning this into a blog about brewery food.  It just happens that things fell in such a way that dining (and drinking) at several breweries fell in such a way that they happened to be consecutive.  A recent brunch took us to Forbidden Root Brewery, a brewery that focuses heavily on botanicals and makes me wonder what they might be like if they decided to make Gin or Amaro.

Located in the former Hub Theatre in West Town (picture obviously taken several months before it was opened), it uses the front lobby as the dining room which is very rustic.  The floor is mostly cement, but there are remnants of old tile.  The walls are old brick and the ceilings are high with offices above the entrance.  The bar is rectangular and is in the center of the room with a tap menu on both sides.  There are seats all the way around it, but in order to see the tap menu, you have to be on either side (and not the front or back).  There are five large communal tables in the dining room and in a small space in the back that overlooks the brewing area and there is banquette seating on the side walls.  There is a display cabinet on the back wall on either side of the space leading to the brewing area.  The cabinet is filled with gallon jugs of dried herbs and spices, that I would guess that they use in there beers and elixirs (They make two ounce tinctures of herbs and spices that you can drink on its own or add to beers or cocktails to change the flavor).

Being a brewery, and an unusual brewery at that, it would be a shame to go and not try some of their beer.  They also serve cocktails, but I always feel guilty ordering a cocktail at a brewery.  They started out with a hard Root Beer that had a root beer flavor, but was not exceptionally sweet, a hard Ginger Ale, and a WPA (Wildflower Pale Ale).  I had already had all of those so while I did order a flight, I decided to go with things that I had not yet tried.  They have a wide variety of styles and I decided to sample widely.  From left to right, I was served a Kold and Wet Kolsch, Green Eyes:  Underberg  Edition Coffee-Infused Blonde Ale, Spruce Willis Colorado Blue Spruce-Infused Saison, Snoochie Boochies Double IPA (someone must be a Kevin Smith fan), and Ukie-Vass Rye Ale brewed with Ukranian Village Rye Bread in the style of Kvass.  None of the beers were bad, but some I did like more than others.  I liked the ones with the most distinctive flavors, specifically I liked the Green Eyes and Snoochie Boochies best.

Forbidden Root's brunch menu is kind of small covering both breakfast and lunch items.  they do have the usual brunch standards, but with a pretty good cheffy spin (Coconut Milk French Toast with Vanilla Bean French Toast and Huckleberry Jam or a Savory Pancake with Kimchi as examples).  My selection was relatively mundane for me, but it still had a spin and it was pretty good.  I had a Three Egg Omelet with N'duja (an Italian-style spreadable salami) and Provolone Cheese with a side of Fried Potatoes and House Ketchup.  I also had a side dish of Beeler's Bacon.  The omelet was light, fluffy and cooked perfectly.  The N'duja added a spicy, meaty flavor and you can never go wrong with cheese.  The Provlone added a light cheesy flavor and texture.  The potatoes were crisp and salty with a nice flavor and the bacon was very good, cooked between crisp and chewy.  I had never heard of Beeler's Bacon, but apparently it is from a farm in Iowa (Beeler's) that raises there pigs in a humane manner and feeds them a vegetarian diet with no antibiotics or other drugs.  The pork was good quality and the care of the animals showed in the taste of the bacon.  I will definitely have to find this for when I don't feel like making my own bacon.  Brunch was very good as were the beers.  I will definitely keep this in mind when I want to have something familiar and yet with a spin.