I have written about beer before. I have written about pork many times, including book reviews, restaurant reviews and, dare I say it, cooking pork. I love pork. And, I admit to having a very soft spot in my heart for beer.
Having more or less just re-committed to upstate NY after spending a bit of time in NC, both are hard to focus on because, to be honest, the beer is amazing in Winston Salem (and elsewhere in NC, including Asheville which is justly famous for beer) and so is the pork, though NC has yet to really settle on the various versions of sauce. (Tomato-y? Mustard=y? VInergar-y? I can never remember which is easter, which is western and which is. . . My preference, I will admit, is the vinegar-y and occasionally the mustard-y. Not so much on the tomato-y. But I digress.)
Yes, indeed, I digress. And that's exactly what led to this post. We went out to do a very particular list of tasks, and on our way passed Brewery Ardennes. We both thought it was a place called Fribolin Farm, previously owned by HWS and then sold. It was not. It as, though, a repurposed and beautiful farm. Repurposed for what you ask? Drink - and secondarily - food.
Of course, the word brewery gives the game away: beer. Having recently returned from beer heaven - aka North Carolina - I am eager to find delightful beers here in the FLX. Yes, I love my friends at Lake Drum, but there are always other adventures! And this was one.
I had beer. Ok, to be honest, we had beer - a flight of lovely beers. And, it was a blast, sitting outside at a picnic table in a beautiful setting with our dog. We had the Belgian Lager, the Grand Cru tripel, the Belgian Hazy IPA, and the Grand Cru Dubbel. You learn something from that list: Brewery Ardennes is going for Belgian Style. And, they do a wide diversity of associated beers. (And ciders and yes, they do serve wine.) I would say my favorite, not surprisingly for those who know me was the beer. (Kidding - I particularly liked the Grand Cru Dubbel.)
Food Delights?
The food is, I suspect, the add on to the beer rather than vice versa. Yes, they serve mussels and frites. No we did not have that (particularly as I do not like mussels). We had two servings of a sort of pretzel bun and cheese fondue thing which was dangerously lovely. I'd like one more bun with each serving please! The cheese was, I think, gruyere - and the pretzel bun was perfectly salty. We followed this by sharing a . . . pulled pork sandwich. Have I said I love pulled pork? This sandwich ranks as the best I have had since starting my way across FLX in search of pork in new ways. This one is a carolina style kind of thing - and even is associated with a sauce that is called east meets west - in a sort of genuflection to the dispute in NC between styles of barbecue. The person who cooked the pork was . . . indeed. . . from NC.
We intend to go back with dog in tow, again.
Ambience and Related Matters
There is no other way to say this: the setting is beautiful. There is a lovely lawn with picnic tables etcetera distributed across it - and trees which provide lovely shade. Parking was easy and all in all a great location. I would suggest they get a place to throw out trash that is outside. But that is a minor quibble. The bathroom, too, was clean and the COVID protocols apt.
I give it an Brewery Ardennes for ambience.
And, the owner seems to have two french bulldogs or other similar dog - which was fun.
Gorey Details:
570 Snell Road
Geneva NY 14456
315.325.4858
[email protected]
PS I recently wrote about State Bakery and Smokehouse which is also an upstate entry in the pork is theist food ever sweepstakes to my heart. Check that post out here.
PPS for information on Asheville click here. For Winston Salem, click here.
