SIDEdishes BY CORI N HI RSCH & A L I CE L E V I T T
Brews With a View
PERU TO GAIN LAKESIDE MICROBREWERY THIS SUMMER
Lake Champlain’s “Left Bank” will get a little saucier this summer when a microbrewery opens in Peru, N.Y. VALCOUR BREWING COMPANY
— C. H.
Blooming Brews
ALCHEMIST OWNERS PLAN A NEW CANNED BEER; NEW BREW STORES OPEN IN WILLISTON AND WATERBURY
East of Colchester ARABIC SUPERMARKET OPENS
When Seven Days visited WISAM ALTAMEEMI at his newly opened ARABIC SUPERMARKET at 70 Roosevelt Highway in Colchester on Monday morning, he requested that a specific quote run in the paper. “He love Vermont too much,” the young shop owner said, describing himself. The Iraq native has reason to adore his adopted home. Just a week after opening his business, he says the store has been reliably busy. Besides Muslim garments and Middle Eastern housewares, Arabic Supermarket stocks practically anything a cook from Asia Minor — or one simply trying to reproduce its cuisine — could wish for. Spice shelves hold tubs of hard-to-find flavorings. Combinations intended especially for beef shawarma, torshi baharat and dolmades bear the store’s name and address along with a photo of the appropriate finished dish.
RISTORANTE 126 COLLEGE ST., BURLINGTON
802.863.5200 WWW.LAMANTE.COM
REGIONAL DINNER SERIES KICKS OFF FEBRUARY 4 Tuesday to Friday 3 courses for $35 2/4-2/7 Sicily 2/11-2/13 Umbria (not available on 2/14)
2/18-2/21 Piedmont 2/25-2/28 Emilia-Romagna 3/4-3/7 Tuscany Visit
WWW.LAMANTE.COM for details
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Wine Bar
Many American shoppers still face a steep learning curve with Middle Eastern cuisine, but Altameemi says he enjoys introducing his neighbors to the culinary secrets of his culture. “I welcome anyone to come visit me and see what I have,” he says. “What he has” also includes an array of cheeses you’re unlikely to see elsewhere in Vermont, along with candies, vinegars and halal meats. Later this week, Altameemi and chef LOAY ALKHAFAJI will introduce prepared foods to their store while continuing to expand their range of groceries. Altameemi says to expect kebab, shawarma and homemade kajmak, a spread somewhere between mild cheese and clotted cream, in the grab-andgo area. What of the restaurant just down the steps from the grocery? For now, Altameemi says, the extreme cold has made work on the space nearly impossible. But he expects to be serving shish taouk, hummus and salads by the end of February.
&
Wine Shop
01.29.14-02.05.14
Salumi, cheese, beer, cocktails, great selection of wines in the retail shop.
SEVEN DAYS
— A .L.
in cans as an experimental run very soon.”
places — have two new retail sources to check out. Waterbury’s CRAFT BEER CELLAR opened just before Christmas at 3 Elm Street with a stock of nearly 300 bottled beers, SIDE DISHES
» P.43
126 College St., Burlington vinbarvt.com Wine Shop Mon-Sat from 11 Wine Bar Mon-Sat from 4
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Meanwhile, those who want to try their hands at home brewing — or just sample beers from far-flung
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Fresh on the heels of the news that they’re planning a new brewery, the peeps at the ALCHEMIST made their fans very happy earlier this week when they announced a forthcoming canned IPA called FOCAL BANGER. “[Co-owner] JOHN [KIMMICH] has been playing with the recipe and getting hops contracts in line, so that this will be our second canned label,” writes JEN KIMMICH in an email. “Once our new brewery is built, this will be brewed and canned all the time.” Since the Kimmiches shuttered their Waterbury Center retail store in November, John Kimmich has expanded the distribution of their signature HEADY TOPPER and released a few draft beers — including a dark IPA called EL JEFE — to local bars and restaurants. “In a couple weeks, we will be releasing the first batch of Focal Banger, an American IPA first brewed at the pub back in the day,” writes Kimmich on the Alchemist blog. The beer draws on Mosaic and Citra hops, “and we are working on fine-tuning the malt bill,” he adds. The Kimmiches aren’t planning a big reveal; rather, Focal Banger may “pop up for sale
Explore the cuisine of Italy here in Vermont
COURTESY OF ALICE LEVITT
will have views of the lake and the island from which it takes its name, according to owners MARY T. PEARL and TERRY SCHMALTZ, who drew inspiration from the region’s booming beer scene. “We went through the AMERICAN BREWERS GUILD [classes] in Vermont and graduated from there last summer,” says Pearl, referring to the brewing school inside Middlebury’s DROP-IN BREWING COMPANY. “We decided, You know what, let’s take the hobby that we love doing and do it full time.” Though the couple will not break ground until mid-April, they’ve been busy perfecting beer recipes alongside head brewer BRIAN COMBS. They’re also honing plans for their post-and-beam tasting room and a deck with views of Mt. Mansfield across the lake. Though they currently live in Virginia, Pearl and Schmaltz have deep ties in northern New York; Pearl grew up in the Plattsburgh area, where her family still owns a house. Brewer Joseph, who will also migrate to northern New York, seems charged by the prospect of turning out Valcour’s hop-driven brews. “I’ll brew a line of pale ales, a black IPA, and we’re going to do an amber ale as well,” he says. Some of the initial offerings will be “stepping-stone beers,” as Joseph puts it, that appeal to diverse palates. Seasonal
brews such as pumpkin beer and hefeweizen will round out the roster. “I’m still trying to get a feel for what the community likes to drink, but we’ll have a nice lineup of beers,” Joseph says.
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1/20/14 11:58 AM