The Spotlight is a series of interviews with the craft beer heroes behind local organizations who are helping grow the beer scene in our fine city. This week we chat to Andrea Cyr, from Kitsilano’s newest tapas bar and Vancouver’s only food and craft beer pairing restaurant, The August Jack.
How long has The August Jack been around?
We officially opened our doors on July 19th, 2013. So we’ve only been around for a half a year.
How many beers/ciders do you have on tap?
We have 14 taps. Originally there were only 8 lines, but we added 6 lines by designing a custom-built display fridge, which will also showcase our bottle lineup in the near future. We currently have only one cider on tap and the rest are beer; this will likely change slightly come spring as the season for cider approaches.
How do you select which beers you carry on tap?
Lots and lots of delicious tastings!! We are a new restaurant and have learned a lot in the last 8 months since we started the project. Tat being said, we love the industry and the people within it and we are open and willing to try just about any craft brewery on tap as long as their beer is tasty (and this scene is so competitive, almost all beers we try are tasty!). We also love to support and encourage the smaller breweries that are just starting out because we often feel a unity with them as we are going through similar learning curves, obstacles and challenges, and mini-triumphs that they are. We always look to work with people who have similar values as we do and who cherish the importance of honest, hard work, and passion and integrity.
When trying beers, we like to make sure that we have a nice balance of different styles of beers. And we stick with beers that we think will pair nicely with food.
We are really just trying to keep up with the constantly-changing craft beer scene and want to put as many beers on tap as we can!
Are you doing regular casks?
Not at the moment, but we would love to! For the past few months, we have wanted to focus on getting our menu and lineup off the ground. Now that we seem to be building a customer base and gaining a little bit of popularity, we can start looking to branch out and plan some.
What was the inspiration for starting The August Jack? Why did you decide to create a food and craft beer pairing restaurant?
The craft beer scene has become more and more popular over the past couple of years and we realized that there weren’t really any options west of Main to go for a great craft beer lineup. Chris Hall, the owner, had been looking into opening a second restaurant with a completely different concept and thought that, since we were looking to go west, we should consider focusing on craft beer. The idea to have a food menu that pairs all of its items with beer was natural decision. Our entire management team, including Chef, are very passionate about great food and beer, and it just seemed like a no-brainer to have higher end, quality foods paired with craft beers. The food and beverage industry as a whole has been stepping outside of the box and really pushing its limits, especially when it comes to experimenting with combining different styles and flavours, and we are all inspired to be a part of such a creative aspect of this industry. I mean really, who doesn’t love great food? Who doesn’t appreciate a cold, refreshing, flavourful beer? The two together: magic!!
Are you putting on regular beer dinners? What’s up next?
Yes!! We have held a few beer pairing dinners; we’ve already teamed up with Parallel 49, Unibroue, Hoyne, Steamworks, Cannery, Big River and we also organized and hosted Vancouver’s first cider tap takeover with the boys from Untapped! Coming up February 11th, we have a dinner pairing with Driftwood and March 11th we will be doing a Quebec-themed dinner pairing with Dieu du Ciel and Trou du Diable. All of our dinners include a 4 course meal, with a beer expertly paired with each course. We love organizing these nights because it allows us to switch up the menu a bit and get something new and fresh on there and it’s also great to get to know our beer reps and brewers and help them bring exposure to their amazing products. These nights are also fun for our customers because it shows them a different side of dinner pairing from wine and it is an educational experience as well.
Are you doing a special Dine Out menu?
But of course!! We will be doing a 3 course dinner for 28$. All three courses have a suggested beer and wine pairing, which come at a small additional cost. The appetizer is a Split Pea and Boar Bacon Soup, topped with a Squash Dumpling. The main course is a choice of either a Braised Brisket and Yorkshire Pudding w/ a duck fat gravy (YUM!!!), and fingerling potatoes OR Rabbit Croquettes with a White Balsamic and Orange Marmalade and Roasted Brussels Sprouts. For dessert, Chef’s take on a traditional Black Forest Cake. All components are made fresh in house and pair beautifully with the beers (and wines) we have selected!
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The August Jack is located at 2042 West 4th Avenue. They do buck a shuck oysters on Sundays and will be starting up a new brunch menu in February. Keep posted on upcoming events and what delicious food they are cooking up via their Facebook and Twitter.
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