http://www.news-sentinel.com/living/2017/10/24/halls-creates-catering-partnership-with-philmore/
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Restaurant Notes extra: Hop River Brewing Company hoping to open in December
Ben Jackson and Paris McFarthing, co-owners of Hop River Brewing Company, want to make something clear: they’ll be a brewery not a restaurant.
“Fort Wayne has tons of amazing restaurants,”McFarthing said, “and I think those people are doing a great job, and we have a great food culture; our job is to be on the flip side of that and support them with beer.”
Not to say they won’t have food, but they have a priority.
“We’re focused on the beer,” Jackson said. “We’ll have food, but we’re not a restaurant. We’re a brewery that you can get some snacks at, but really, all about the beer.”
They’re going to develop good true style beer that’s high-quality and tastes goods,” Jackson said, and they’ll “start with 4-6 core beers that we can offer right away so people can identify with and know what we’ve got, then extend into anything we want.
“We’re not trying to be the most this or most that. We’re just trying to be the best at what we do.”
The two hope to catch the craft beer wave that they’re seeing in Fort Wayne amid the riverfront development.
“We’re trying to make this a real production-style brewery,” Jackson said. “… we’re trying to have enough capacity to sell to bars and restaurants and liquor stores in town, in the county in the region and then throughout the state, so we’re starting a bit bigger than some people do.”
The duo hope to see Hop River start brewing in late December to New Year’s in the 1920s-constructed Rousseau building at the corner of Harrison and Fourth streets.
Jackson, 43, and McFarthing, 33, both homebrewers, had each been thinking about putting together such a business when they met. Jackson moved to Fort Wayne where his wife’s family has been “for several generations” and her sister owns the Dash-in. The couple left Washington D.C., where they both worked as lawyers, to settle on the south side of town with their young children. He saw Fort Wayne as a great place to develop the brewery scene.
McFarthing, a Fort Wayne native who graduated from Bishop Luers High School and Indiana University-Purdue University, brings in his business expertise. He worked during school at Phil’s Hobby Shop and bought the business after college. It was through his work there that he found the Rousseau building, a former DeSoto showroom close to the current riverfront development.
“Being only four blocks from the riverfront project, we’re hoping to be a little bit of an anchor, a small anchor,” Jackson said.
Hop River’s portion of the 13,500-square-foot building is mostly empty now except for plastic-wrapped steel brewing tanks. The construction company that owned the building will keep its offices in about a third of the building for another year, then Hop Brewing will expand into the space. It will feature a family-friendly tap room for its brews as well as wine and soft drinks.
“We just want it to be an open communal space,”Jackson said, that will develop as they become acquainted with their customers tastes. “We want them to figure out what they like about us and then we can reflect that in the design and in the layout.”
They’d like to reach out to homebrewers like themselves to come in for educational programs and have hands-on special events.
Windows will give patrons a view of the brewing process.
They’re hoping to get city of Fort Wayne facade grants to build the dog-friendly beer garden that’s about a city-block long at the back where construction debris now sits. They’ll likely open with a patio and expand as money becomes available.
They’re so committed to the $1.2 million project, with the help of financial backers, they recruited Kevin Debs from his native Michigan to work as their head brewer.
“The first thing he asked about was Fort Wayne’s water,” said Jackson. That’s when he knew they’d gone with the right man.
Debs has helped Hop Brewing get the word out on, or perhaps the flavor of, the crew’s brews by taking part in area brew festivals. They’ll be at Teds Beer Hall, 12628 Coldwater Road, 3-7 p.m. Saturday for the OctoBEER Fest, a celebration of craft beer featuring local and area brewers, plus 17 lines on tap, for those ages 21 and over. Tickets cost $25 at www.teds-market.com/rsvp.
“We’re basically open to any beer festival in the area, the region that can help us get our name out,” Jackson said. “…We try to have something different each time” to get feedback.
Rounding out the team is Mary Corinne Lowenstein-DeGood, their director of marketing, who recently moved back to Fort Wayne.
They’ll hire a head chef and bar manager soon.
Have restaurant news? Call Lisa M. Esquivel Long at 461-8354 or send email to lesquivel@news-sentinel.com or write Restaurant Notes, C/O The News-Sentinel, PO Box 102, Fort Wayne, IN 46802.
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Restaurant Notes extra: Oyster Bar getting updated for new owner?
Steve Gard, seen in 2014, has owned the Oyster Bar for 31 years and is now finishing up a $30,000-$40,000 renovation at the South Calhoun Street restaurant. (News-Sentinel file photo)
Steve Gard only laughed when he was asked if the $30,000-$40,000 renovation of the Oyster Bar signaled his impending retirement. But he did say there’s a meeting in February with the accountants to discuss the worth of the South Calhoun Street restaurant that he and his wife, Brenda, have owned for 30 years.
For now the Gards are completing the updated decor at the 129-year-old restaurant, 1830 S. Calhoun St., where the motto is “Serious food in a casual atmosphere.”
“We’re waiting for two major pieces and then we’ll be finished,” Steve Gard said.
One is a nautical map with octopuses (yes, octopuses, according to the Webster’s New World Dictionary) and sea dragons coming out of it. The other is a mermaid that will be over the bar.
The dining room in the back has a new sailfish, the ceiling got new tiles, the walls have been painted a deep blue and a big glass case houses 60-70 bottle of wine.
The menu features crabby prawns ($28.95), ribs ($18.95-$23.95) and 16-ounce rib eye ($31.95), though you’ll have to check the menu for the recent price changes. And then there’s the oysters that you can get seven different ways: raw, Rockefeller, Jalapeno Casino incorporating Tabasco and bell pepper, Black & Blue with blue cheese, sherry-flavored bechamel Bienville, Parmesan Bake or Parmesan Bake for $13.95.
Oyster Bar is open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 5-11 p.m. Saturday.
Have restaurant news? Call Lisa M. Esquivel Long at 461-8354 or send email to lesquivel@news-sentinel.com or write Restaurant Notes, C/O The News-Sentinel, PO Box 102, Fort Wayne, IN 46802.
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http://www.news-sentinel.com/living/2017/10/24/restaurant-notes-henrys-spiffed-up-italian-chef-visiting-ipfw-ocharleys-guests-can-help-fallen-veterans-families-halls-catering-at-philmore/
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Restaurant Notes: Henry’s spiffed up; Italian chef visiting IPFW; O’Charley’s guests can help fallen veterans’ families; Hall’s Catering at Philmore
Henry’s Restaurant was getting new paint on its facade and wooden sign Sunday. Chad Barbetta’s Painting owner said they started on the facade earlier this summer but were back now that the awnings were down. Henry’s, 536 W. Main St., is getting new awnings and had interior carpet installed. It opens at 4 p.m. daily for those looking for the $6.99 cat bites of cornmeal-breaded catfish nuggets or the Henry’s burger: 8 ounces of beef with German-style mustard and mayonnaise on a toasted onion bun for $9.99 with a side.
IPFW BRINGS IN CHEF FROM ITALY
Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne’s Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management has Italian chef and sommelier Alessia Uccellini on campus this week.
Uccellini is an expert on the foods of Italy and a world-renowned expert on the Renaissance and its impact on past and present culture and cuisine, according to a news release. She co-authored the book “Il Convivio Rinascimentale di Sansepolcro,”and she is a regular guest on an Italian cooking show called “dell’AIGS.”
Uccellini runs her family-owned restaurant, Ristorante Fiorentino in Sansepolcro in Tuscany. She also manages the family bed-and-breakfast connected to the restaurant.
Uccellini has been connected to IPFW’s Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management through its study abroad program that focuses on the culture and cuisine of Italy, specifically Tuscany, since the first group traveled to Italy in 2011. She hosts the group at her restaurant and gives cooking lessons to the travelers, which include students and community members, according to the news release.
During her stay in Fort Wayne, Uccellini will hold cooking classes on campus and meet with past study abroad travelers and community leaders.
O’CHARLEY’S TO RAISE MONEY FOR VETERANS
Fort Wayne O’Charley’s is inviting the community to give back to military families during its second annual partnership with The Folded Flag Foundation, which provides scholarships and educational grants to families of fallen soldiers. In advance of Nov. 1’s Veterans Day, O’Charley’s in Jefferson Pointe, 1220 S. Illinois Road is asking guests to add $5 to their individual bills now through Sunday for the Folded Flag Foundation. Guests will receive a $5 O’Charley’s voucher in return.
All donations given to The Folded Flag Foundation go directly to families of U.S. soldiers who have died during combat operations, in the form of scholarships and educational grants, according to a news release.
HALL’S CREATES CATERING PARTNERSHIP WITH PHILMORE
Hall’s Catering Service has partnered with The Philmore on Broadway to provide services at the event and entertainment center in 2018. The Philmore, 2441 Broadway, opened in 1923 as the Broadway Theater and can seat 220 diners and has a second level balcony with a total building capacity of 260.
It provides space for a variety of events including wedding receptions and corporate events. To schedule a venue tour call Lisa Morel, corporate events and sales manager for Hall’s Catering Service, at 260-471-7404.
FREE MEAL FOR VETERANS ON NOV. 11
Waynedale American Legion Post 241 will serve a special meal, free to veterans, noon-6 p.m. Nov. 11, Veterans Day. The meal consists of ham and bean soup, potato soup, salad and dinner rolls. Donations are asked for spouses and children to eat. Members of the Naval Sea Cadets, JROTC and Boy Scout Troop 302 will visit throughout the day to greet veterans. In addition, they will be presenting and retiring an American flag and holding a POW/MIA ceremony.
Members of the Post 241’s Junior Shooting Sports team will be accepting canned food and personal hygiene items for the post’s veteran food pantry. This new project will support at-risk and homeless veterans.
Post 241 is at 7605 Bluffton Road.
SKYLINE CHILI ADDS ANDOUILLE
Skyline Chili, 4021 Ice Way, is serving an andouille sausage coney through Sunday.
CAKE FOR CALCIUM?
Edwardsville, Ill.-based Prairie Farms Dairy, which has a location at 3400 Lima Road in Fort Wayne, announced Monday that it will be offering“America’s first milk snack – a two-layer cream-filled chocolate cake bar dipped in chocolate,”according to a news release.
“Prairie Farms Milk Snack Chocolate Cake Bar is unique because it is the first refrigerated snack cake bar to
combine chocolate cake with a real whole milk cream filling. The bar is then dipped in chocolate for the perfect
trio of flavors – chocolate cake, crème filling, covered in chocolate,” according to the release.
Chocolate, cake and calcium? We like that. They’ll be available as a single-bar for 99 cents and in 4-count boxes for $2.89 at 1,500 retail locations nationwide. The company will promote the new product at pop-up tasting events Saturday to coincide with National Chocolate Day, which we like to celebrate every day. They’ll be available in Fort Wayne, according to Nicole Postin, a spokeswoman for Prairie Farms.
Have restaurant news? Call Lisa M. Esquivel Long at 461-8354 or send email to lesquivel@news-sentinel.com or write Restaurant Notes, C/O The News-Sentinel, PO Box 102, Fort Wayne, IN 46802.
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