(Credit: Celebrator Beer News)
From the blog of Sierra FoodWineArt magazine:
We headed to Matteo’s Public for dinner on Tuesday night — a regular hangout in our ‘hood — and to watch ol’ Republic tap their first keg (a Scottish-style Ale) outside of the brewery at Matt and Michelle Margulies’ restaurant and pub on Commercial Street in Nevada City.
The restaurant has made its mark in our historic downtown. (Matt is a self-professed “beer geek”; read more about Matteo’s in our current issue).
The collaboration between Matteo’s and ol’ Republic is the latest example of the boom in craft brewing in the Sierra Foothills that we’ve been documenting in our magazine for several years. Loomis Basin Brewing Co. is another up and comer; up in Truckee Fifty Fifty Brewing Co. is popular.
It also is a case study in collaboration among our community’s small, locally owned businesses — an ongoing trend. I predict it’s going to gain momentum in the New Year. In Silicon Valley, they call it “co-opetition” — but in our small community, it’s more congenial — working together to collectively grow local businesses. Matt and Michelle, and Simon Olney and Jim Hart (co-founders of ‘ol Republic) understand that.
There was a good turnout and a real pub atmosphere: our family; Pascale Fusshoeller of Yubanet; Tom Dalldorf; publisher of Celebrator Beer News (and a regular reader and commenter on this blog); later, County District Attorney Cliff Newell; and many family and friends of Jim and Simon. (Tom’s Celebrator Beer News is a longtime, leading authority on craft beer brewing).
Jim and Simon and I visited and reminisced on the brewery’s progress since its opening was first reported back in March 2011 on Sierra Foothills Report, underneath SPD. Read: “Scoop: Brewery coming to Nevada City” here.
Tom and I, who like to discuss my former friend and college Herb Caen at the S.F. Chronicle as well as pressing issues of the day, made a few kilt jokes.
An ol’ Republic beer tap was passed on to Matt (ceremoniously wrapped in a The Union newspaper, with an article this week about the brewery), and Matt screwed the tap into place, alongside his other craft brews.
The tap handle was designed by Simon and fabricated by Chris Marks, husband to Kara Marks of Matteo’s.
We all tasted the brew: a Black Scotch Ale. It is a purple-hued black ale with a light mocha-colored head, and it looked stunning served in its traditional thistle shaped glass.
Here are some tasting notes: “Created using 12 different malts this 90 shilling* has a rich silky mouthfeel, bold malt flavors and aromas, and a creamy finish. Overall hop character is low, allowing its toffee and caramel malt profile to be the highlight along with a subtle smoky character specific to this beer style.”
We found the beer to be less sweet and more satisfying than other Scottish-style Ales, such as “Kilt Lifter.”
I paired mine with Matteo’s fish and chips (a regular selection of mine from Matt’s menu). My wife paired hers with house-made Cappuccino cheesecake. Both were winners. Our son had milk and cookies after polishing off his sliders.
It’s gratifying to see small, locally owned businesses succeed (we are one too), and win support from our community. This makes up the backbone of our community, in Nevada City and throughout the Sierra Foothills.
(Photo credit: Celebrator Beer News)
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I used to like going to Mateo’s, but the consistently bad service has made us avoid this place.
I can’t get over bad service, no matter how good the food is, and then when I tip less than 15% (as I believe you should do when you get mediocre service) and then have the waitress give us a dirty look, then it’s time to go somewhere else.