The kitchen wasn't complete when The Swiss Pub opened 21 years ago this month. Once it was up and running, the first menu item was a no-brainer.
"People would hound us asking when we were opening. We would always reply, ‘two weeks'," says Swiss Pub owner Jack McQuade, speaking for his former co-owners Gayl Bertagni and Bob Hill. "Two weeks, two weeks - we said it for months. When it came time to name Gayl's first sandwich out of the kitchen, ‘The Fortnight' seemed appropriates since it's the British term for ‘two weeks'."
The turkey, bacon, sauteed mushroom, onion and Swiss cheese sandwich spurred the other original Swiss sandwiches: Today's, Tomorrow's and the Yesterday's. All but Tomorrow's still grace the menu.
After Bertagni died in a freak accident in May 2009, McQuade and Hill stayed true to her menu, since their beloved partner created the menu and ran the kitchen at The Swiss. McQuade, now the sole owner, still keeps the sandwiches on the menu, with slick tweaks, in her honor, but has slowly changed the cuisine coming out of the Swiss' kitchen.
"We're moving from a bar with food to a restaurant with a bar," says McQuade. The Swiss is no called The Swiss Restaurant & Pub.
He hired a new chef, Scott Cleese, who has put modern twists on The Swiss' dishes, as well as added new flavors, especially for daily and weekly specials.
Wednesday, April 16, Cleese will running back and forth the kitchen to the main music room to explain his creations during his Georgetown Brewing beer pairing dinner, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Cheddar potato soup, steak salad, fried monkfish and other dishes will be paired with Georgetown's finest, such as the Lucille IPA and Chopper Red Ale. Cleese will explain how he incorporated each Georgetown beer into his dish, followed by tasting notes from representatives from the Seattle craft brewery.
McQuade says monthly brewers dinners are on the books.
The cost is $40 per person. Tickets are available at The Swiss. For more information, call 253.572.2821.
Beer geek Erick Swenson will pair bacon and beer at 6 p.m. in 208 Garfield close to Pacific Lutheran University. For $10, you may drink local beers and eat bacon until 9 p.m.
The Eastside Club Tavern hosts a No-Li Brewhouse brewers night. Have you played on the downtown Olympia tavern's new shuffleboard?
The Hopscotch Spring Beer & Scotch Festival takes over Fremont Studios in Seattle with the biggest and best pop-up bar you may ever see with 50 microbrews, scotch, whiskey and wine tastings flowing through the aisles April 18-19. Hopscotch 2014 has an impressive lineup of both Washington and out-of-state microbreweries and distilleries. Well-known breweries, from Deschutes Brewery to Full Sail, Ninkasi to Snoqualmie, will serve up familiar brews and more. A few wines from the Proletariat Wine Company will also be available. If your tastes run a little harder, Scotch aficionados (or newbies wanting to learn a bit) can sample five Abelour vintages and six Northwest whiskeys. "We are bringing back our scotch workshops, which are hour-long Scotch 101 workshops led by a master of scotch and feature 10 different kinds of scotch from the Aberlour, Glenlevit, and Chivas families," said Maddie Murphy, sponsorship and marketing assistant for the festival. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.hopscotchtasting.com.
Wingman Brewers celebrates its third anniversary with a party noon to midnight. It will premiere its Double IPA Pocket Aces in 22-ounce bottles and on draft, which is basically a doubled up version of its Ace IPA. There is a significant amount of malt backbone in the Pocket Aces, which leads to some residual sweetness. It weighs in at about 12 percent, but with a massive amount of citra and centennial hops, along with a few other varietals to balance it out. Budha Bear Bagels will help soak up the suds. Here is Wingman's starting tap lineup for Saturday: Ace IPA 7.1% ABV, P-51 Porter 8% ABV, Pocket Aces 12% ABV, Coconut P-51 8% ABV, Stratofortress 11.2% ABV, Gratzilla Smoked Bacon Wheat Ale 3.4% ABV, Operation Crossroads Old Ale 16.8% ABV, Chocolate, Coffee, Oatmeal Stout 7.8% ABV, AO Supporters Outlaw Ale 4.8% ABV, Pacific Gose 3.3% ABV, Wit 4.6% ABV, Big Baby Flat Top Imperial Stout 11.4% ABV, Chocolate Fortress 11.2% ABV, Mighty HighPA 6.8% ABV and a cider from Seattle Cider Company.
The historic 1908 Olympic Club in downtown Centralia hosts its annual Brewfest from 1-11 p.m. Since it's a McMenamins' operation, you can expect its Oregon-based brews on full display, as well as beer from guest brewers and importers, including local treats from Fish Brewing and Dick's brewing. While you sip, you can take in the Olympic Club's history of railway bootlegging, captured train robbers, secret call buttons, subterranean tunnels, rumored hauntings as well as tour the Olympic Club brewery, relax in the outdoor seating area, play a round or two of pool. The cost is $12 per 1o-sample punch card. The overnight rooms at the Olympic Club have been taken so plan accordingly.