Craft Beer Rising 2015 - Sutton & Sons - The Dolls House

Thursday 19th February -  c.12 hours in the life of Matt The List:

Short version (click on times below to whizz down to photos):

2pm-5pm : Couple of beers at Craft Beer Rising on Brick Lane

5pm-7pm : Fishcakes and #NationalChipWeek at the new Sutton & Sons in Box Park

7pm-2am : Negronis and Jazz at The Dolls House new site in Islington

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Long version:

1pm - Leave flat in Battersea. Pop in to my local rotisserie and deli Park Road Kitchen for all the salt beef, spinach & ricotta tarts, and a kale, chickpea & sumac salad. Sorted. I eat here pretty much every day. So should you.

1.30pm - Smugly eat food on the train - definitely better than everyone else's. Beat high score on 2 Cars. Day is shaping up nicely.

 

2pm - Arrive at trade session of Craft Beer Rising in the Old Truman Brewery.  Start working way round room full of 80+ breweries and 500+ beers under the pretence of choosing beers for The Good Egg with founder Joel Braham.

2.15pm - Discover New Zealand.  Fantastic beers across the board from Tuatara, Renaissance, 8 Wired, Three Boys, and Yeastie Boys.  Looking forward to seeing them around.

2.30pm - Still at New Zealand stand. In the words of Jeff Goldblum - must go faster.

2.45pm - Say hello to Mondo Brewing, a brand new brewery coming soon to Battersea (hooray!). Beers are promising and it sounds like they will have a great setup. Pop over to the Ilkley stand for some more top beers including Siberia Rhubarb Saison and Hickory Redcap Pecan Porter. Apparently a collaboration with Yeastie Boys is on the way.

3pm - One hour down, time for bed....lam.  Bedlam Brewery - a new brewery from the folk behind The Bull in Ditchling.  Joel is whipping out his business cards.  They're massive.

3.15pm - Time for some familiar faces at London-based Fourpure and Beavertown stalls.  Enjoy the Transatlantic Overdrive IPA collab between Fourpure & Bear Republic, and 2.8% Londonerweisse collab from Beavertown and Dogfish Head.  I think the bloke from Mondo Brewing is following us.

3.30pm - Yep, he's definitely following us.  Nice guy though, so it's OK.  Why are we in a queue? Ah yes, Wild Beer Co.. Great beers on offer including Beyond Modus, a more complicated version of the superb Modus Hoperandi.  Must buy some - or be bought some.  Anyone reading? Birthday soon. Friendly Harbour Brewing at the same stall - too early for an 8.7% Imperial Chocolate and Vanilla Stout? Nah.

Here There Be Flagons

3.45pm - Flying visits to Thornbridge from Peak District, Bad Seed Brewery from North Yorkshire, and Franciscan Well from Ireland. Joel seems to know a lot about Cork - bit out of my depth.

4pm - Meet Alex from Yelp for a "business meeting". On the home straight - well, except for the entire other room we haven't made it into. Pop over to Redwell for India Pale Lager.

Helping choose beers for @TheGoodEgg_ with @MattTheList at @craftbeerriseuk. And by choose, I mean drink all of them. pic.twitter.com/GxnlRHzEVj

— Alex S (Yelp!) (@yelplondon) February 19, 2015

4.30pm - Last orders called - thought there was half an hour left? Blessing in (thinly veiled) disguise. Settle next to Beer Cat (short for Catalunya) to finish.  Impressive beer brewed by a Dubliner, a South Londoner and a Mancunian. In Spain.

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5pm - Park Road Kitchen is beginning to wear off - definitely time for dinner. We part ways with Mr.Yelp and head to new Sutton & Sons site in Box Park.  Danny Sutton established the Sutton & Sons fishmongers on Stoke Newington High Street back in 1998 before opening their fish and chip shop there in 2010, don't cha know?

5.15pm - Joel and I are welcomed by Matt, the friendly ex-navy front of house who is coping well with the concept of shipping containers being used for restaurants.  It's National Chip Week, so we're feeling pretty on trend.  We tuck in to a Hackney Brewery American Pale Ale whilst Matt gets Mikey in the kitchen to rustle us up some food.

5.30pm - A mixed plate of Whitebait, Calamari and Fishcakes hits the spot.  The fishcakes are absolutely sublime.  Best in London? Any thoughts?

6pm - Box Park attempts to set the mood with some dreadful live music.  We drown it out with delicious Cod Goujons, a Cod Burger, and some #NationalChipWeek chips.  All the food is rather excellent.  Must return for some Catch of the Day specials - Lobster Subs, Sea Bass, Tuna Burgers, Moules Mariniere; that kind of thing.

6.15pm - Joel's turn to attempt a "business meeting", possibly legitimate.  Appears to be going well - I decide to leave them to it and head off to The Dolls House.  Firm handshake with Matt - top bloke, solid name.

Business Meeting

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7pm - Slow progress on the 43 along City Road.  Did I really get that score on 2 Cars earlier? Can't be right. Quick look at photos so far.  That one of the fishcake is alright.

7.15pm - Meet Islington local Cath outside The Dolls House on Upper Street, the latest hand-drawn hangout from Adam Towner and Katy Gray Rosewarne, set over three floors that used to belong to House of Wolf.  We head through the ground floor Parlour, up to the first floor Library and Drawing Room for Negronis, Old Fashioneds and Espresso Martinis.  Antica Formula is greatly appreciated.

8pm - The house starts to fill up with familiar faces.  We check out the top floor Ballroom which starts the evening as a dining room before becoming a private members bar.  Membership seems achievable - just need to bring them some premium booze from their wishlist.  I've got some Tesco's own brand gin knocking around somewhere - that should do it.  Otherwise it's £5 after 10pm for me. A nice fellow comes round with an inadequate number of steak canapés - he's disappointed with himself.

10pm - Ground floor Parlour is looking a bit busy.  Chap behind the bar has definitely served me in three different Dead Dolls Club establishments already.  I imagine I shall be seeing him in Peckham - opening on 1st April apparently.  We retreat to The Library, our preferred candlelit cosy.  Ceiling is leaking - quite endearing. Stripy red & black shirt bartender needs to pass on secret of stirring drinks quietly to stripy black & white shirt bartender.  This is a Library! Steak canapé guy has seriously upped his game by the way.

11pm - Kansas Smittys are In The (Dolls) House! Swing music ensues, occasionally in key with a fire alarm.  Giacomo asks the fire alarm to stop playing over their solos.  Steak canapé guy has switched over to miniature rhubarb crumbles - less interested.

2am - IT'S 2AM! What?! Oh dear. Officially Mum The List's birthday. Call her now? Probably not, it can wait. Could get Kansas Smittys to play "Happy Birthday" though? No. N19 bus is here; goes all the way home - ideal.  Time for a last go at 2 Cars and some decisive photo editing.  Should be a nice photo of a Negroni in there somewhere, I took enough of them.  OK, I seem to have taken a video of a Negroni too.  The wall is moving isn't it?

3am - Nap The List. Big day tomorrow.

Honey & Co - Craft Beer Rising - Copa de Cava

Half-term was meant to be my week to catch up on blogs, but instead I piled on the posts and pounds with yet more food & drink adventures. First up, some food from the Middle East...

Thursday 20th February - Honey & Co has been on my list for a very long time, so I was delighted when my Mum picked it out of a bunch of suggestions for a birthday meal.  Me and the parentals popped along on a Thursday lunch time to see if it deserved its Michelin Bib Gourmand (for "offering good food at reasonable prices").

Booking is essential! We had a table for 12pm so I expected it to fill up slowly, but clearly the secret is out.  Tables are packed pretty close together, so you may end up chatting to your neighbours about how delicious everything is.  N.B. Honey & Co. is closed on Sundays.

We all went for the bargain lunch set menu (£15.50 for Mezze and a main) and a refreshing glass of home-made mint lemonade.  Orange-blossom iced tea & Camden Hells Lager were tempting but we made the right choice.

The Mezze was outstanding - I'm always happy eating endless piles of pitta, but this was next level stuff.  The creamy hummus and courgettes disappeared first but everything deserved its place.

We agonised over mains for a long time before finally deciding on Fasenjan (slow cooked duck in walnut & pomegranate sauce, spiced split peas), Mafroom (celeriac stuffed with lamb & herbs, slow cooked in a lemon saffron sauce) and Patlijan (slow cooked lamb and aubergine stew wrapped & baked in crispy pitta).  Grilled octopus and prawn & fennel tagine will have to wait until next time.

The Fasenjan won it for me - beautifully cooked duck with subtle flavours - but only just.  The delicious stuffed celeriac was a new experience, I wonder if I might see it recreated at home soon.

Fasenjan - Slow cooked duck in walnut & pomegranate sauce

Mafroom - celeriac stuffed with lamb & herbs

This brings us to dessert.  Choosing the main was tough, but at least our rejected options weren't staring us in the face!  There are three puddings listed on the menu, but there are also 10 or so more cakes sitting on the counter.  Despite expert descriptions from our superb bubbly waitress, we went on a couple of cake recces before we eventually made our minds up.

Warm marzipan cake with roasted pink rhubarb and sour cream was a big hit - marzipan-haters need not fear it, we would have described it as almond.  The attractive creation you can see below is my wonderful Cold cheese cake with Kadaif pastry, Greek pine & fir honey - just what was needed after all the slow cooked meats.

Cold Cheese cake with Kadaif pastry and Greek pine & Fir Honey

Our meal was faultless from start to finish, and my parents have already booked in for a return visit. It is a labour of love for married couple, Itamar Srulovich & Sarit Packer, who first met working in a restaurant in Tel Aviv.  They have both since worked for Ottolenghi, Itamar as a head chef & Sarit as a pastry chef, and their experience shows.  Keep an eye out for their first book which is coming out in June and can be pre-ordered on Amazon, and don't leave without buying some of their deli products!

Friday 21st February - The day after Honey & Co. had been reserved for Craft Beer Rising for about 6 months.  It conveniently marked one year of the blog - The List covered 325 places in 356 days in its first year.  The Christmas holidays scuppered my hopes of averaging 1 a day, but it's not too shabby a total.  Natalie, Lauren & Luke took the top spots on Team List and will receive some prizes at The List one year party in a couple of weeks which might have a couple of spaces going - keep your eyes on my twitter feed @matthew1hickman.

Craft Beer Rising took over Old Truman Brewery from 21st-23rd February, packing over 75 breweries and 450 beers into a few rooms along with some top street food and DJs including Mr.Scruff.  I'm going to find it hard it hard to mention everything so here are some highlights!

Bear Hug Brewing - Launched at Craft Beer Rising with a superb Hibernation White IPA.  I love their Bear Hug branding! Every time you buy a beer, you also preserve 1 sqft of rainforest which you can check on here.

Harviestoun - They revealed a limited edition unhopped whisky-barrel-aged lager called Orach Slie - aged in casks from Glenfarclas distillery for 6 months. Not your average beer!

Firebrand Brewing Co - excellent craft beer from Cornwall including Chateau Civrac 7.5% Old Ale. They were also showing off their "Randalizer" gadget for dry-hopping beers, taking away the bitterness to convert a new wave of beer drinkers.

Redwell Brewery - I just love their beers, especially the Steam Lager.  Even more so after they fought off Redbull after a ludicrous legal argument.

Harry Brompton's Alcoholic London Ice Tea - Not a beer at all but very refreshing, it will come into its own in summer - makes you wonder why nobody has thought of it before?

London Velvet - London Porter Ale meets West Country Fine Cider - very easy to drink, especially when poured through an ice luge!  It dates back to the 1890s when William Sharvatt first created this half & half drink which he described as "tasting like pure velvet".

Atalantic - They, amongst other things, create clever pieces of kit for infusing beers with more flavours at the last minute - e.g. a blast of coffee beans.  I also liked the bar top device which displays the colour of your beer before you order it.

Late Knights Brewery - These guys are quietly taking over South London with their own beer bars. Beer Rebellion is already in place in Gipsy Hill, and LDN Beer Dispensary is coming soon.  Rumours are that they will open up in Brockley, Peckham and Penge next.  Their beers aren't half bad either...

Atlas Brands Ltd - These guys showcased some fantastic Italian beers.  The stand out was Brewfist Spaceman IPA, but Birra Del Borgo My Antonia was also top notch.  Who knew? Time for a holiday.

Camden Town Brewery - Launched a tasty new Beechwood Smoked Rauchbier called Flue Faker. I seem to run into Camden Beer every other day around London!

Batemans Bohemian Brews - I liked their cheeky "Craft Brewers since 1874" dig at the new generation.  They had some bonkers "Bohemian brews" on show including a Black Pepper Ale which has pepper ground into it after pouring - it shouldn't work but it did, even it was a little crunchy.  They also do Hazelnut Brownie, Mocha Amaretto and Orange Barley beers.

Beavertown Brewery - Duke's Brew & Que BBQ & Beavertown beer joint is one of London's must-visit places. Beavertown are moving to a bigger brewery site slightly further out of London, but Duke's is staying put - don't worry!  They are launching their awesome Gamma Ray beer in canned form soon - will this be the year of the cans?

Revisionist Beers - Marston's brewers have been given free range to make an exciting range of beers with friends from Park & Wychwood getting involved too.  The beers will be going in to Tesco's exclusively very soon, if they haven't already!

There were many more fantastic beers including Maverick cans, Crowded Hops and more from Brains Craft Brewery, top Point & Roscoe beers brought in by American Craft Beer Co, not to mention Brewdog, Bristol Beer Co, Harbour Brewing, By the Horns, West Brewery, Lagunitas & St.Austell etc. It was beer heaven.

Thankfully they had an awesome array of street food to soak up some of the beer including Prairie Fire BBQ, Hix Fishdog, Burger Bear, Fleisch Mob and Dosa Deli.  

If you didn't make it this year, make sure you keep an eye out for the next one.  In the meantime (BEER PUN ALERT), watch this little taster video from the fun guys at Craft Beer Channel (email users click through to the blog to view the video).

Instead of going home at a sensible time, I was tempted over to the lovely Jones Family Project nearby for champagne and gin.  Perhaps not the best preparation for an A-Z pub crawl that I did the next day starting at Liberty Bounds Wetherspoons at 8.30am - more on that another time...

Tuesday 18th February - Last but not least from half-term was a fabulous boozy evening of Cava & tapas tasting at Copa de Cava near Blackfriars.  Tucked away underneath Camino is a cava-lovers hideout overseen by the incredibly knowledgeable & friendly owner, Richard Biggs, who is also responsible for Bar Pepito in King's Cross.  There are 10 grape varieties from which cava can be made (answers on a postcard) and the fermentation method in deep underground tunnels & caves give cava its name.  

The usual suspects (Wilkes, Leyla, Laura, Clerkenwell Boy, Faerietale Foodie & co.) were all along for the ride, which involved 9 courses and 10 bottles if I kept count correctly.  The tapas was well matched throughout the evening, and there were some quirky twists on classic dishes.  Patatas Bravas turned up in cylindrical form (see top right below), Tortilla Siglo XXI was presented in a large shot glass, a Pulpo (octopus) tentacle appeared suckers and all, and Steak Tartare came with its own smoking jar.

The cava kept coming, and Richard very generously opened up some very fine stuff at the end including Kripta Gran Reserva Brut Nature which is normally £85 for a ridiculous shaped bottle.  

If you can't make your mind up, there are cava flights, or you can go all out and get the £60 cava & tapas tasting menu.  There is a cheaper £30 tasting masterclass too - the next one is on March 25th. All of their cava is available to buy at takeaway prices too, and on "Cheap Mondays", you can get a second glass up to the same value for free all night, and all bottles are set at their "to go" price.

Thanks to Sauce Communications and Richard for hosting such a wonderful evening.  Richard is incredibly passionate about what he is doing and it really shows - well worth a visit!