- Photos:
-
Planning a wedding is tough work. So is fulfilling your dream of opening your own restaurant. Nick Rutherford and Molly Gunn are doing both. Their first commitment is a new restaurant/bar called The Porter Beer Bar in Little Five Points.
Atmosphere: It took a lot of vision, love and hard work to renovate the space that has been home to Bridgetown Grill, Mangrove Alley, and most recently Grandma Luke's Bakery. The odd shaped space has a much better flow now and is a lot brighter thanks to the lack of black paint. The strategically placed luggage add to the porter theme.
Menu: The couple, who met at the now defunct Seeger's share a passion for food that goes well with beer and their menu reflects it. Starters include calamari, a bowl of salt and vinegar popcorn and the unique gouda hush puppies with applewood bacon.
Entrees feature kraut and brats, fish n’ chips, mussels and fries and the 1/2 pound cheeseburger. All the menu items from start to finish have beer suggestions. Sure you’ve had a reuben, but have you washed it down with Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Maerzan?
And most beer lovers know stouts go well with dessert but imagine if the ice cream actually had Rogue beer as an ingredient!
Beer: The couple vowed there would be no swill. But don’t worry, even die-hard American beer drinkers can find reasonable substitutes. Want a Blue Moon? They recommend you try an Allagash White, from Maine. Looking for PBR? Well there are plenty of places in L5P to accommodate you, but since you’re here why not try a Dales Pale Ale. It even comes in a can!
And as the name might suggest there are plenty of porters on the beer list including Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter and Highland Oatmeal Porter on draft and several other varieties in the bottle.
Spirits: While beer is the star of the show, the Porter is a full bar and serves their own specialty drinks like lemon gingerade, which is described as house made lemonade and modern spirits candied ginger vodka. Other infusions include the mint bourbon used in the mint julep and the four pepper bloody Mary, which will be great come November when they add weekend brunch to their menu. I guess they have to save something for after the wedding!
