What has become part one of my experience with Pavil Restaurant was entitled ‘Brasserie Pavil – Not your Average French Restaurant’ and posted on UpTake.com. Recently however, they have gone through a name change. What was once Brasserie Pavil, is now Pavil Restaurant and Bar. This will serve to be part two. In part one, I spoke of Pavil’s monthly beer dinners, their focus on craft beer and the Stone Brewing Co beer dinner I attended earlier this month. In this article I’ll speak more of the Stone dinner, as well as my talk with Pavil’s manager Luciano Ciorciari.
Classic Decor
Pavil began monthly beer dinners a few months ago and have had the likes of Chimay, Real Ale and Saint Arnold’s breweries here. This months beer dinner focused on the Stone Brewing Co of Escondido, CA. Jason Armstrong, the Texas, Louisiana and New Mexico rep for Stone was the host this night, along with Neal Butler, the assistant manager at Pavil.
Classic French decor, fine craft beer, good friends and lovers of craft beer. The night and the mood was set.
Planned for the evening was a a 5 course meal paired with beers from Stone. Man, I could not wait for this. Admittedly I am a Stone Brewing Co homer, but there is no question they put out consistent, edgy, push the limits, craft beer. With Pavil’s rapidly rising reputation for fine food, this was a match made in beer heaven.
Where do I start?
The first was Honey and Coriander Glazed Beef Skewers paired with Stone’s classic pale Ale. The subtle hop and citrus overtones really brought out the honey in the glaze, as well as the beef.
Course two brought us Mini Crab Wellingtons paired with Stone’s India Pale Ale. The slightly stronger hop notes really pulled out the spice in the dijon cream sauce.
Next up was a Shaved Arugula and Fennel salad with figs, paired with Stone’s Ruination IPA. A much stronger IPA, dry hopped and very bitter, Stone refers to this one as “A liquid Poem to the glory of the hop’. A more piney feel to it it brought out the the sharpness of the arugala and the sweet dryness of the fig.
Just when my senses were heading into overdrive, came out a Shrimp Ceviche served with Stone’s Arrogant bastard. The Arrogant Bastard was the first offering from Stone that I’d had, so I was anxious for this pairing. Ceviche by nature is a seafood dish marinated with citrus, often with lemon or lime. Arrogant Bastard is billed as an American Strong Ale which means in this case that it has a higher alcohol content. The prominent malt and hop character brought out the tartness of the ceviche giving this unlikely pairing my approval (I know that means a lot to yo doesn’t it?).
Ceviche!
A quick exit for an errand and then back I was for the last course before dessert. Bringing up the tail end of this fantastic meal. Put before me was by appearance alone, a mouthwatering plate of Smoke and Grilled Lamb T-Bone. Served with Asparagus in a mint reduction and paired with another favorite: Stone’s Smoked Arrogant Bastard. Still in the American Strong Ale category this takes the Arrogant Bastard to another level, as it is aged with oak chips. the subtle oak flavor in the beer went perfect with the lamb’s smoky flavor. I think they were made for each other.
Lamb!
After settling in a little Jason Armstrong came out to speak to the dinner group. Gracious and charming as always, he explained Stone’s history, how it approaches each beer and the challenges of craft beer in Texas.
Last and certainly not least, was dessert: a chocolate and Banana Brownie Cake served on top of a vanilla Bean gelato. Wow. Wow and Wow. Stone’s Smoked Porter is easily in my top 5 porters. With its chocolate/coffee character and the smoke that creeps in, it brought out the Vanilla Bean in the gelato, the chocolate in the brownie. The banana was the icing on the citrus undertones that subtle in the beer. What would have been interesting would have been to try this dessert with Stone’s occasional local release of the Vanilla Bean Smoked Porter.
Is that a banana in my brownie?
Once the dinner was done, Jason Armstrong sat down and relaxed, mingled with patrons and enjoyed some of the fine cuisine and beer as well. Hopefully this will not be the last Stone beer dinner in San Antonio. Austin has hosted one and none other than Greg Koch showed up (Of course it was a screening of Beer Wars that night..). Perhaps Mr. Koch might head down to the Alamo City sometime?
What a fantastic meal paired very well with Stone’s beers. I had some questions though. Luciano was kind enough to sit down with me and answer them:
2) Beer dinners aren’t exactly common in San Antonio. Brasserie is a French restaurant that has a monthly beer dinner. How exactly did this come about? Luciano advised that they wanted to really accent the finer craft beer that they carry. Other places such as the Flying Saucer, are known for the quantity and variety of craft beer. In order to show the beer community in San Antonio that they are serious and to bring attention to them, they decided on the beer dinners. Feedback from customers has been great.
3) What is Pavil’s background? How long has it been in San Antonio? Contribution between Patrick Kennedy (the mastermind behind the La Mansion Del Rio and the Watermark Hotel in San Antonio) and Chef Scott Cohen a renowned chef in San Antonio who has gained quite a reputation. They got together with others to decide what San Antonio needed. After researching and seeing that French cuisine was doing well in San Antonio, but could do more. Hence Pavil Restaurant and Bar was born, with a brasserie approach to the cuisine and the drinks.
4) Are there plans to expand beyond the beer dinners, to other events involving craft beer? Yes. Several options in mind. Nothing concrete. Craft beer festivals are an idea, with invites different brewers and breweries. Much more planned, but nothing concrete at this time.
5) Anything you’d like the craft beer community in South Texas, Texas and the U.S. to know? Want to show that they are very serious about the quality of the beer as much as they are the quality of the food. They are an everyday place. A friendly place where it is ok to come in just have a craft beer as much as the finer food and wine. The selection of beer is there for those who want a different atmosphere with craft beer and very nice food. A menu that suits everyone and many different types of food. You can have a burger and watch the game with a Stone Arrogant Bastard, or have finer French cuisine and fine wine. They have in addition specials during happy hour featuring the craft beer between 4-7 every night.
To me it seems that Pavil is on the right track. They want to promote not beer, but craft beer and craft beer in Texas. A very pace change of pace from the every day.
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