The Birth of the Microbrewery

Also the hippest new American quaff. And a masculine vintage menu.

I’m often amazed by how quickly things change in the world of food. America has almost ten thousand microbreweries today, and new ones open every day, so it’s very strange to remember that fresh beer was once real news.

I ended this article by noting that the day would come when fine restaurants offered beer as well as wine lists. One prediction that came true.

Incidentally, the brewer Bill Owens mentioned below is also the photographer Bill Owens, whose book Suburbia was a game changer.

Speaking of lost American drinks…. I’ve just discovered C. Cassis, made right here in the Hudson Valley. I love the beautifully balanced flavor of this black currant liqueur; unlike many this one is not too sweet. I’ve been playing around with it, using it not just for the traditional Kirs (mixed with white wine or Champagne) and Spritzs, but also throwing it into Negronis and Americanos.

The history of currants in the United States is not a happy one. Outlawed in 1911 under pressure from the lumbering industry (they were thought to endanger pine trees), currants were not grown in this country until the sixties when the federal government allowed each state to make its own regulations. As new strains were developed individual states rolled back the ban, but here in New York currants could not legally be grown until 2003. You can read all about it here.

And here, just for the fun of it, are some menus from around the time that beer article was written. 72 Market Street was an almost perfect Los Angeles restaurant for that moment in time. Actors Tony Bill and Dudley Moore created a neighborhood hangout for Venice, but the restaurant quickly attracted a coterie of very hip celebrities. And they in turn attracted all the people who wanted to sit in the same room.

The food, by chef Leonard Schwartz, was simple and delicious. Laurie Ochoa and I once included the restaurant in a list of places that served what we called “boy food.” Their most famous dish? Meatloaf.