Brews at Blue Earl’s a cure for cabin fever

Punxsutawney Phil didn’t see his shadow, spring is supposedly on its way, but this winter seems to be crawling along. What’s the cure for a case of cabin fever combined with the winter blues?

We found it in Smyrna. A visit to Blue Earl Brewing Co., Delaware’s seventh brewery, has been on my radar for some time, especially after I recently sampled, and liked, a bottle of its Walking Blues IPA. The hoppy beer with a 6.8 percent ABV has been available in six packs since December.

Owner Ron Price opened the 210 Artisan Drive taproom in the Smyrna Business Park in May 2015.

Outside, Blue Earl looks like little more than a warehouse. Inside, the decor is an homage to music – the logo features a guitar and a variety of instruments and music-related memorabilia hang on the walls. (We especially liked the skeleton figure playing the bongos.)

Don’t be surprised to encounter a tiny bit of hipster vibe in what feels like a secret club. A food truck is usually in the parking lot on weekends. There were a good amount of bearded guys resting elbows on the bar and occuying seats at tables. And during our Saturday visit, we lucked out and got to listen to Chapel Street Junction, a lively and twangy, five-piece bluegrass band featuring musicians on the fiddle and the washboard.

Tours of the brewery are held at 1 and 3 p.m. on Saturdays, and 2 and 4 p.m. on Sundays. The $10 cost includes includes a glass and tastings. My group skipped the tour, bellied up to the bar and ordered a flight of eight beers for $18. We went with the house recommendation, but you can chose from a dozen or more beer offerings.

Some of our favorites included a seasonal German Oktoberfest called I Can’t Quit You; an Imperial Stout aged with bourbon vanilla bean known as Top of The World; Honeysuckle Rose, a Belgian blond ale; and Reconsider Baby, an English brown porter. But there was no bad beer in the bunch.

The taproom is open from 3 to 9 p.m. Monday-Wednesday; noon to 9 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; and 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday. Growler fills are available. Visit blueearlbrewing.com

Now, let’s reach into the mailbag. A reader shares his recent unhappy dining experience.

Unhappy at a restaurant? Speak up – immediately

My self and three other diners had dinner at Harry’s Savoy Grill on Naamans Road on a recent Friday night.

All of us had the Caesar salad that we all deemed poor. It was served with four whole leaves of romaine lettuce and croutons. The presentation was poor and the dressing contained way too much anchovy paste.

We than ordered one 10-ounce prime rib dinner that was good as usual and the rest of the party ordered the pan-seared rockfish.

The rockfish arrived 25 minutes later. We began to eat the fish, but it was completely overcooked, dry, cold and the skin was not crisp and smelled fishy.

Along with the fish, the side dish was mashed potatoes. It was like eating wallpaper paste. The three rockfish dinners were inedible.

We were offered something else from the menu, but, at this point, the mood for food had passed. Compensation for this disaster was coffee on the house.

Thanks for listening,

C. D. Shaffer

C.D., I’m sorry to hear you had an unhappy dining experience. And I’m surprised to hear it was at Harry’s Savoy Grill. Owner Xavier Teixido, who has owned the upscale restaurant since 1993, and his staff are well known for hospitality and their ability to please guests.

The traditional and authentic way to serve Caesar salad is using the inner leaves of romaine lettuce. In Julia Child’s book, “From Julia Child’s Kitchen,” she describes eating a salad made by its creator Caesar Cardini. She said the leaves were left whole and were supposed to be eaten with your fingers. While I’m a Julia Child fan, I can’t see anyone eating salad with their fingers now in a restaurant.

Caesar salad also has anchovy, which tends to be a like-it or loathe-it flavor. Taste is subjective. Too much to you might be too little to me. It might help to be very specific, before ordering, to say you would like little or no anchovies.

A restaurant always wants its guests to leave happy and satisfied. So what to do when you don’t like an entree?

Always send back food you don’t like, but do it as soon as possible. Most people will know a few bites into a dish when they don’t like something. When that happens, a customer needs to put down the fork, immediately flag down a server, explain as clearly and calmly as possible what’s wrong and ask for a replacement. In other words: Stop eating!

Eating most of the food on the plate won’t give a diner much credibility about their displeasure with a meal.

If replacements aren’t still to a diner’s liking, then it’s time to find a manager and explain your unhappiness. Do this while you’re still at the restaurant.

I’m guessing you did talk to someone since other dishes were offered as replacements. That was the restaurant’s chance for a gracious recovery and to make amends; your party declined the offer. I’m not sure what else the restaurant could do at this point, but remove the fish dishes from the bill, assuming the meals were left mostly uneaten.

Somewhere along the way, it seems there was a breakdown in communication and you left with a bad taste in your mouth. My advice: I would call Harry’s, talk to a manager or ask for owner Teixido, and politely explain your unhappiness.

Beard Award semifinalists announced Wednesday

Here we go again. On Wednesday morning, the James Beard Foundation will announce its list of Restaurant and Chef Award semifinalists. James Beard Awards are considered the most prestigious honors in the culinary world.

Delaware often has a good showing in the “long list” of semifinalists. The final nominees, five in each category, will be revealed on March 15.

For six years in a row, Dogfish Head Brewery founder Sam Calagione of Lewes has been a semifinalist, and then finalist, for the Outstanding Wine, Beer or Spirits Professional Award.

And in 2015, Hari Cameron, the chef/owner of Rehoboth Beach’s innovative a(MUSE.), was a semifinalist for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic region.

Just so you know, the Beard Mid-Atlantic chef category is considered one of the toughest. Many chefs tend to work in kitchens in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. There’s a lot of competition. Good luck, Delaware.

The James Beard Awards gala, known as the Oscars of the culinary world, is returning this year to the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Winners will be announced on May 2.

Contact Patricia Talorico at (302) 324-2861 orptalorico@delawareonline.com and on Twitter@pattytalorico Read her blog atwww.delawareonline.com/blog/secondhelpings