Bottoms Up

I dropped into the Trappist and Speciality Beer Bar on 8th Street in downtown Oakland tonight. Whew. This is definitely the year of Belgian beer in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The place was full; there were no seats at the bar and this was a rainy Sunday night in usually deserted downtown Oakland. The times, they are a changing, indeed.

I’ve had a Belgian weekend, in fact. On Friday night, my daughter, Amanda, who is just 21 ,and I, visited two new Belgian-style cafes in San Francisco. Monk’s Kettle, 3141 16th St. in the Mission and La Trappe San Francisco at 800 Greenwich St. in North Beach.

Both opened late in December and like the Trappist in Oakland, both feature a wide range of Belgian beers – all with their proper glasses.

Unlike the Trappist, which is a true Belgian-style pub – beer, but no food – both Monk’s Kettle and and La Trappe SF are full-service restaurants

Dining room at Monk’s Kettle in San Francisco

Monk’s Kettle is a pleasant place on a corner, not very large. It’s the brainchild of Christian Albertson, 33, and Nat Cutler, 30. Both are fans of good beer, Christian worked at Mountain Sun in Boulder, CO. Nat was in finance; he’s from Seattle. They met through their wives, who are good friends.

They have a good stock of Belgian beer and an on-tap beer list that leans toward the best West Coast beer _ Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye, Hop Stupid from Lagunitas.

Menu’s American, a pot pie of the day, Niman Ranch pulled pork braised with BBQ sauce, $11.25. Each menu item has a suggested beer pairing, a nice idea: Coffee Porter, Belgian Strong Dark, or Rauchbier with the pulled pork.

My daughter and I tried a bottle of Monk’s Flemish Sour Red Ale, made for the Monk’s Cafe in Philadelpha by Brouwerij Van Steenberge, the Belgian brewer. I gave it *** - minus. Very nice, tart with a faint sweetness and a lingering sour note. Might be refreshing on a hot muggy day, but on a rainy winter night in San Francisco. Hmmm.

We also shared an Artisan Cheese Plate with candied walnuts, organic Marshall’s Farm honey, Sierra Glen Farm p[eaers, La Brea grilled baguette. We chose creamy Bellwether Carmody and Stilton Bleu cheeses. An excellent cheese plate, $8.

Rushing on, we made it to La Trappe SF and actually found a parking place outside. Thank the parking gods for the pouring rain. It’s a two level restaurant on the corner of Mason and Columbus that has been in proprietor Mike Azzilini’s family since 1928.

Azzilini said it’s been many things including a Depression-era speakeasy. He opened the doors with his partner, John Lawton, in mid-December.

Upstairs there’s a snug dining room with a half dozen tables and the open kitchen. Downstairs feels a bit like a grotto: long beer, cozy booths tucked along one wall, low-key lighting and jazz on the sound system.

They have Belgian tap handles with the new automatic glass washers and their Belgian beer list is impressive with some unusual beers like Malheur Brut Reserve Ale for $39 for a 750 ml bottle; Val-Dieu Blonde, $14 and Giardin Gueze, $15. A bottle of Deus Brut Des Flandres, the Champagne-like blonde ale from Bosteels in East Flanders was listed at $60.

We went for a glass of Maredsous 8 the strong, tasty double from Moortgat****, $6. Great choice. We ordered a plate of mussels and Belgian-style fries: moules et frites, $10. A lot of mussels, cooked in Wittekerke Wit, the white ale, spiced with coriander from Bavik. Fries were perfect; mussels were perfect.

I noticed they also have chicken waterzooi for $18. It about my all-time favorite Belgian dish. I’ll order it on my next visit.

At the Trappist in Oakland tonight, the place was so croweded that I had to stand in the serving space at the bar, while I sipped une bolleke. My Flemish is crappy and spelling worse, but it’s a chalice-like glass that De Koninck, the excellent Antwerp ale’s served in, as I recall. There used to be billboards around Antwerp showing a glass of Koninck with the suggestion: Have a bollecke.

Nicole Erny washes a glass in the glass washer at The Trappist in Oakland. Every glass gets washed before the beer is poured in the Belgian fashion. Photo by Michael Condie.

De Koninck is a very nice beer, lots of malt, bit of hops in the finish. This version was on the end of its life, might have been a bit of a lactic edge. Still very nice and to drink it in Oakland, CA. in its proper glass. That’s something.

Belgium by the bay. Can’t beat that.