Brew Ha Ha: making a fuss about beer

Say Cheese: Beer and Cheese Pairings a Treat at Tria

by Kelly on May 26th, 2008

On Saturday night, the weather was lovely. Chris and I were out on our own, the kiddos tucked into bed at home under the careful eye of Super Nanny (our version). It was rare that we had this sort of freedom to go anywhere we wanted, without timing and food restraints, so we were a bit overwhelmed at first. We each ticked off a number of restaurants and bars that we could try and none of them appealed to me. What I really wanted was cheese.

I know, that seems like an odd craving but I really, really love cheese. I always have - and not the sort of love for cheese that inspires my brothers to fill their cheeks with canned cheese (yeah, you know what I’m talking about) - but great cheese with sliced bread. Cheese that you can make a meal out of.

I had heard that there was a restaurant in Philly that did exactly that - served cheese as its speciality. So, we went in search of it. We found Tria, located at 123 S. 18th Street, in Philadelphia, just off of Rittenhouse Square. It was crowded and loud but we found a space near the window up front. And despite the pulsating techno music that was blaring when we first arrived, the atmosphere cozied up considerably once we got settled (a change of soundtrack helped).

Our server brought us a menu - four pages of text attached to a clipboard. It was quite a bit to wade through. There was a menu for food items, a beer list, a wine list and a cheese list.

I was able to narrow the menu to the two most important pages: beer and cheese. Each menu gives a brief word about your choices - enough information for anyone to make a decision about what to try first (you’ll definitely try more than one).

Each cheese and it’s accompaniment was delightful. We started with a quick bite of goat cheese and pesto bruschetta (I could have eaten that all night) and then moved on to Pecorino Foja de Noce (I’m a sucker for Italian cheese) and Cashel Blue. The Pecorino was served with what was almost a chutney - quite nice - and the Cashel was served with chocolate. Yes, you read that right, chocolate. And it was divine. We finished with a round of Sweet Grass Dairy Green Hill (a soft cheese) served with another chutney-like sauce and an Italian meat platter. The meat platter had what you’d imagine: prosciutto, soppresetta and salami served with caper berries (my first time trying them), roasted red peppers and a spicy olive oil marinade. The oil mixture was so fabulous that I ate it with just bread.

The beers were superb and definitely not beers that I would have otherwise chosen (I’m not a Belgian fan, think what you will). I started with a DuPont Foret Blonde, which I ordered primarily because I was intrigued by the idea of an organic Belgian beer. It was a nice choice with the cheese, as it had a bit of a sour taste that was actually refreshing. It was heavy-handed on the hops (though not as much as the next beer) but it didn’t take away from the beer. I would classify this as nice, drinkable summer brew. The combination of sour and hops probably wouldn’t appeal to me as much in colder weather with heavy food. The lighter cheese and bread set off the beer just perfectly.

I finished with a De Ranke XX Bitter - yep, a Belgian bitter, very reminiscent of an IPA. It claimed to be from the “hoppiest brewery in Belgium” and tried hard to live up to its name - the hops really came through. I love a hoppy beer - Chris wasn’t as enchanted. It was indeed bitter which was awfully nice with the creaminess of the cheeses. The one downside, if you can call it that, was the amount of head - there was more head than usual on a Belgian - which fascinated me.

The wait staff was really pleasant and knowledgeable, not at all in your face but not too distant either. When we ran low on bread, more appeared magically at the table. After Chris ordered a beer that was no longer available, our server recommended a replacement. The table was quickly cleared and reset after each order - quite a feat considering that we ordered a number of different plates.

What struck me most, though, was how very ordinary this extraordinary restaurant was - there wasn’t a hint of pretention to be found. No upturned noses when you asked a question. No bemused smirks after an order. Not the slightest bit of “Demi Moore ate here last week” attitude (for the record, she did, with Parker Posey).

The tab wasn’t bad, either: four Belgian beers, three plates of cheese and an Italian meat platter set us back about $70 total. Tria is definitely on my list for a return visit!

(Image: Newscom)

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POSTED IN: Food, Restaurant