Flagons & Flavors

One of New Orleans’ newest breweries, opened in May 2017, sits right on Tchoupitoulas Street near the port entrance on Napoleon Avenue. Focusing on easy-drinking beers, the Port Orleans Brewing Company enjoys a spacious facility that houses the brewery, the taproom, and Stokehold, the restaurant where chefs Jeremy Wolgamott and Phillip Mariano, along with Tim Bordes (who is no longer involved in the day-to-day operations), have crafted an adventurous menu subject to the seasons and to the specific beers on tap. 

The chefs began their pairing experiments with a few different beers and a tray of spices and sauces. Some flavors, they realized, react with and completely change a beer. “Maybe they complement it, maybe they change it entirely, maybe they don’t work at all,” said Wolgamott, formerly head chef at High Hat, where he served Deep South classics to Uptown New Orleans. “And that’s something we could really explore. Phil ended up making a tray of base flavors, which we would use every time we were drinking the beers or coming up with a dish. With just a notebook and some base flavors, we’d try to see where the beer went.”

“It’s interesting because what you think will work well doesn’t necessarily go,” noted Mariano, former chef de cuisine at Domenica and Josephine Estelle. “Like, the other day we were playing with the Storyville IPA—it’s a bitter beer, so you wouldn’t necessarily think to put it with a bitter food. But what happens if you go over the top? We were doing charred turnip greens, and the bitterness from [that dish] desensitizes your palate and you stop tasting the bitter in the beer when you wash it down. Your palate’s already super bittered-out, then you hit it with the IPA and you start getting this beautiful, floral rosewater because your palate’s not detecting the bitter from the beer anymore.”

Although New Orleans restaurants and breweries offer plenty of beer dinners, the attention to detail that Wolgamott and Mariano bring to the process is rare. An open mind is key, as is a willingness to forget the “rules” of pairing beer with food, such as, IPAs should be paired with spicy foods or Dark beers are the only thing to pair with dessert.

Traditionally, said Wolgamott, chefs will taste the food first and think of what beer would work with it. While this is a legitimate technique, it works best when the taster has a vast sensory memory of beer to draw on. “That comes from having that knowledge of which beers taste like what,” he said. “That’s what sommeliers and Cicerones [certified beer tasters] and people who have tasted a thousand different beers can do. That’s more of a base knowledge and remembering everything you’ve tried.”

“But starting with the beer,” added Mariano, “it’s all about what you’re tasting in the moment.”

Stokehold’s menu changes often; but, if available, Wolgamott suggests the housemade chicken liver pâté paired with Royaltea, a pale ale made with Bergamot tea in place of late-addition aroma hops. “The chicken liver pâté was always fun, because of the reaction when people experience flavors in their mouths that don’t actually exist on the plate,” said Wolgamott.

“But starting with the beer,” added Mariano, “it’s all about what you’re tasting in the moment.”

Mariano’s favorite is the BBQ shrimp rangoon paired with Gujarati hoppy amber ale. The dish, with black pepper, Worcestershire, and cream cheese as ingredients, gives the Gujarati unexpected floral and rosemary notes. 

Stokehold hosts twice-monthly beer dinners at Port Orleans, with a thorough explanation of flavor profiles and the opportunity for hands-on experimentation. 

Wolgamott has wanted to open this kind of restaurant for years. “For me, this has always kind of been the dream,” he said. “I started cooking seventeen years ago, always with the idea that I wanted to own my own restaurant, and specifically I’ve always wanted to open something inside a brewery.”

He’s been geeking out over beer since he was “mildly underage,” starting with British pale ale and German Kölsch. On the other hand, although he enjoyed putting together a beer dinner or two in his tenure at Domenica, Mariano is a relative novice on craft beer. 

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“What drew me to [opening Stokehold] was the opportunity to do something new and different—a concept that hasn’t really been done in a brewery,” said Mariano. “I’m definitely not a heavy beer drinker like Jeremy. So it’s been fun to get into it and learn different styles. I’m definitely the one who had to be taught how to pull a tap handle. And had to ask questions, like ‘Jeremy, what exactly is a stock ale [a classic British beer—dark, malty, and potent]?’ But I’m learning.”

“What drew me to [opening Stokehold] was the opportunity to do something new and different—a concept that hasn’t really been done in a brewery,” said Mariano.

Wolgamott offers that the difference in beer knowledge between them is a valuable tool for the work they do. “[Phil] tastes without the mindset of what it should be,” said Wolgamott. “It’s a good counterpoint, having someone newer to beer but great at tasting the flavors.” 

The next dates for the Stokehold Restaurant beer dinners are April 4 and 18—with plans to continue every other Wednesday after that. Check Stokehold’s Facebook page for more information and to make a reservation. stokeholdrestaurant.com or portorleansbrewingco.com for more details.

This article originally appeared in our April 2018 issue. Subscribe to our print magazine today.