‪Surly to close Brewer's Table, chef out.

I couldn't have cared less about the Todd drama, but don't fuck with the tasty food I like. God fucking damnit.

 

Meh. I've had zero desire to go there. Personally don't like the chef, but just the desire for that high end type restaurant there didn't appeal. I barely want to go the beer hall for food which is good, but over priced but I will commend them for trying something different and hope they find something different that works in there.

 

Dang, at least we have a couple of months to get there one last time.

 

Fuck! I love that place. I've been five times I think, really enjoyed the food and just as important had one hell of a great time on all occasions. Gonna have to break the bad news to my mom as she was planning a trip in October for the old mans birthday since the whole family will be in town.......any recommendations for a new venue? haha.

 

Definitely filled the niche of fine dining for beer lovers. Most of the fine dining restaurants in Minneapolis treat beer as an afterthought. Too bad that it didn't work out. Sadly I think it will be replaced with something lame like a corporate event space, but I hope I'm wrong.

 

I never went there (too pricey for me), but the concept was just outstanding in my opinion. Most fine dining has a selection of fine wines for food pairing. To have a fine dining, with a James Beard nominated chef focused on beer pairings was a breakthrough concept for craft beer. It's financial failure is a loss, for sure, for all of craft beer.

Then, there is the PR press release-speak quote from Ansari:

“With the Brewer’s Table, we’ve raised the bar with food and beer pairings,” said Surly owner Omar Ansari. “Two years later, it feels like we’ve accomplished those things, and now it feels like it’s time for a change for Surly.”

Yeah, sure, you bet.

 

This is a shame. I only went there once earlier this year with a group of six and we all loved it. The food was outstanding and well worth the steep price.

 

It always struck me as pretentious and unncecessary, especially given how expensive the beer hall food already was.

How about Surly quits worrying about hipster bullshit and goes back to making the best beer in the Midwest? I liked that. I could live with that.

I'm not saying that craft beer shouldn't have a place at the fine dining table, but to me this was just another example of Surly losing sight of what made them great.

 

How exactly did having fine dining as a component of their new facility cause Surly to lose sight of their brewing operation?

 

Im not sure they are capable of making the best beer in the midwest again... but what they can do is make decent accessible beer

 

It didnt cause it. It's a symptom of it.

 

In the minority here, but we left the restaurant $200 poorer and still hungry. Went downstairs and shared some brisket and beer.

 

Not at all. We had the same experience. IMHO the food in the beer hall is fantastic, & as good as you'll get at any other similarly-priced restaurant in the Twin Cities.

 

Your first time at a fine dining establishment?

 

I think this quote by Omar says it all concerning the closing.

“It’s not easy to run a fine-dining restaurant above a raucous beer hall, and having guests show up to an already jam-packed parking lot,” he said.

 

I ate there a few times and always had a great meal. Sad to hear. I hope they continue to have a different concept upstairs though.

 

Could you please elaborate on how Surly has lost sight of it's brewing operations?

 

A place that used to push the boundaries of the local palate seems more interested in building their brand, having a fancy palace, and being over the top in their method of presentation. The beers they promote are a basic lager and a very mild pale ale.

5 years ago, Surly was just putting out world class beer with no frills. Today they have world class frills and ok beer.

If you disagree with my take, that's fine. If you don't understand what I'm saying, you're being a bit obtuse.