Birthday Brews & Pizza Pies
I’m a birthday fanatic.
I don’t know if it’s the thrill I get from trying to find the perfect present, dessert, treat something or just letting that person know that you care. March, is full of birthdays for me. I have friend’s bdays on the 1st, my boyfriends and friends on the 16th, mine on the 31st and plenty sprinkled in between.
Wednesday the 16th was my boyfriend, Ethan’s 25th. I had asked him in advanced if he wanted to go for a nice dinner or just grab pizza somewhere like Wig & Pen, Backpocket, or Big Grove – he went with Big Grove. I was in no way disappointed, as you all may know Big Grove is one of my favorite spots in the area. So, after a normal day at work, we opened some presents and headed out to Solon (which seems like forever away but in reality is a 15 minute drive) to enjoy some birthday brews & pies.
We were meeting up with his sister, so we grabbed a seat at the bar for a beer first. It takes me a while to choose a beer (or anything else in life). I try to steer away from IPAs – 1. Because I know that’s what Ethan is going to get and I can steal some sips (He got the Big grove IPA) 2. I get lots and lots of APA/IPA when I am back down South 3. I didn’t want something to fill my belly while I prepared for pizza.
I started off sampling one of Big Grove’s beers the Que Rose, which is a Big Grove beer described as “Berliner Weiss style “Que Sera” with Pinot Noir and Muscat juice added during fermentation. Obviously, the Pinot Noir caught my eye. This reminded me of the sours I had tried at Blackstone, but with not as much of a bitter aftertaste. I truly enjoyed this, but didn’t feel like trying to have a whole one. After some chit chat with the bartender, she recommended something that was recently tapped – the Geisha Coffee Russian Imperial Stout - another one of Big Grove’s creations. They collaborated with JBC Coffee Roasters and used their Finca La Mula Panama Geisha (a roast that won 2015 best coffee in the world). I love coffee stouts and this one just hit the spot, with a high ABV (10.5%), a smooth coffee richness, followed with a light fruity finish it was the perfect choice. Now off to the table...
We wanted/needed to get an app – we were first debating between the potted pig & the parm fries. I nixed the fries since that was boring (sorry E) and the waitress deterred us from the potted pig once she said it was served cold, so we went for the Hunter Sausage.
Potato & Sauerkraut Pierogis, pickled mustard seeds, buttered onions and of course sausage. I was a little unclear as to how I would feel about it since the only time I touch sauerkraut is on a Reuben on Christmas Day (a family tradition). This dish was not only pretty but had all the right flavors in one bite. You got the sour from the sauerkraut (duh), bitterness from pickled mustard seeds, fattiness from sausage, and creaminess from potato & pierogis. It was a very bright dish in color and in taste – Ethan truly enjoyed it as he finished his last bite and said “sorry, I didn’t really ask if you wanted any more”.
Next up, the pizzas. Last time we went to BG, we got the margherita & traditional sausage so we wanted to try something different.
[Pictured from bottom going clockwise] We went with White Sausage (mine), Salumi (his), and Margherita (his sister). Just look at that thin doughy, cheesy goodness.
White Sausage: Crème fraiche, housemade fennel pork sausage, fresh mozzarella, red onions, scallion, marinated tomato, fennel pollen. This had the creaminess and fattiness with the crème fraiche and sausage (side note: their housemade fennel pork sausage is unreal), the red onions brought that bite and crispness, followed by a slight taste of licorice with the fennel – I love licorice. Oh and the crust, nothing beats the doughy air pockets in a brick stone oven pizza.
Salumi: Pepperoni style beef and pork sausage, San Marzano tomato, fresh mozzarella. I only stole one bite from Ethan’s pie but it had the great flavor that their typical margherita does with the salty pepperoni. I thought this was great, I’m just not a big pepp girl.
We obviously really hated them.
After that, his sister wanted to have some dessert before hitting the road back to Clinton. No matter how full, I will never turn down dessert, especially carrot cake.
Spiced Carrot Cake: coconut ice cream, caramelized white chocolate, candied ginger, coconut macaroons. This is not your traditional buttercream/cream cheese frosting carrot cake, but it was oh so good. Candied ginger was golden (my favorite ever), the coconut ice cream was unexpected (we didn’t read the description) but very refreshing, there was little icing but was perfect since the cake was so flavorful you could actually taste the sugar, carrots, ginger, and hint of coconut from everything else.