Saturday, May 07, 2011

More and Better Beer on Tuesday!

The Iovine brothers, Jim and Vinnie, are expected to take over the Beer Garden on Tuesday, following the scheduled settlement Monday.

They will operate the business under the name Molly Malloy's.

Although renovation work will delayed because of some design nits of the Philadelphia Historical Commission, they plan to open Tuesday with 10 beers on tap, including local craft brews. In addition to some products of big brewers, the taps will offer Guiness (another big brewer, but one who puts out a unique product), Victory's Hop Devil, Yards' Philadelphia Pale Ale, and Troegs' Sunshine Pils. The beer list Jim provided me today also shows Sly Fox's Scarlet Lady, but that must be a typo: Scarlet Lady is made by Stoudt's.

Eventually they'll add some great bottled beers to go along with the standards. Among them will be products by Appalachian, Bells, Boddingtons, Dock Street, Dogfish Head, Flying Fish, Lancaster Brewing, Hagic Hat, Original Sin Cider, Penn Brewing, Philadelphia Brewing, Rougew, Sly Fox, Stoudts, Straub, Troegs, Victory, Wyerbacher and Yards.

Until the new kitchen is constructed the only food offered will be the same as under current management: chili dogs. But the chili, currently out of a can, will be made by Bobby Fisher, the Iovine's chef who works for their catering business and was chef at local golf and swim clubs where the Iovines operated the kitchen.

Fisher has a considerably more ambitious menu planned when the renovations and kitchen are completed.

The french fries will be hand-cut on premises and served with a roasted garlic mayo. Among the starters: wings in a bourbon bbq sauce, salt and pepper baby back ribs, homemade bbq potato chips and fried eggplant "fingers" with tomato jam. Three soups -- creamy potato, roasted tomato bisque, and veggie -- are on the menu. Eight salads are listed to take advantage of the Iovine's excellent produce sources.

Molly Malloy's will offer a steak sandwich, but it won't be your typical Philly cheese steak. Instead, Fisher will serve a char-grilled rib eye in a brioche roll with roasted bell peppers, caramelized onions and provolone. Two other hot sandwiches I'm eager to try (both of whose fillings will also serve as the basis of more extensive platters) include a braised oxtail on ciabatta with gtrilled onions and carrot ketchup and a roasted pork bell with apple-onion compote and fried leaf spinach on a French roll. There will also be a burger, BLT with avocado, sausage and potato, braised chicken thigh and a grilled cheese with goat cheese on brioche.

Cold sandwiches include sweet glazed turkey, lime scened chicken salad on tortilla with avocado, a veggie cream cheese, and open-faced tuna salad.

Besides the pork belly, other plates will include the ribs, fish and chips, fried chicken tenderloins and a braised short rib pie in a Guinness reduction. The small dessert menu will include a grilled peach shortbread with fresh berries.

There is also a breakfast menu with egg platters and sandwiches, vanilla and cinnamon scented French toast, and baked frittata.

I'm getting hungry.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

With all the great food that is in the reading terminal already you think people will go to this place and spend more money. I give it a year.

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