As craft breweries dive into the food world, it’s not uncommon to see executive chefs at brewpubs. They’re not just serving burgers and pizza, either. These professionals are exploring uncharted territory, elevating the culinary merits of brewpub menus. They’re using local, seasonal ingredients; they’re collaborating with other chefs and brewers; and they’re transforming what it means to enjoy beer at the dinner table.
Dave McLean, the founder of San Francisco’s legendary Magnolia Pub on Haight Street, planned his brewpub with a focus on food. Since the pub’s opening in 1997, he has always hired chefs with expert culinary backgrounds to “further enhance the beer experience.” The current executive chef, Kevin Clancy, offers an English-inspired menu—with items such as Scotch quail eggs, bread pudding, and pickle plates—to complement the English-style ales brewed at the pub.
“Observing (and sometimes tasting) that world through osmosis,” McLean explains of working with professional chefs, “gave me context for what I wanted to do as a brewer—beer is food, too, of course, and I understood that my brewing values and ideas were part of a larger community of people who feel that way about all food and drink.”