The O-town Scene

LOCAL EATS Local Eats features area restaurants, and food articles and recipes by area residents. To contribute a recipe, e-mail editor@otownscene.com Contributed There's beer in the food Cafe Ommegang brings Belgian fare to Cooperstown Ommegang long has been known for bringing a taste of Belgium to Cooperstown. Now that taste has got- ten bigger. The brewery famous for its craft beers quietly opened the long-planned Cafe Ommegang earlier this summer at its picturesque location on county Highway 33 between Cooperstown and Milford. Even without the usual grand-opening fanfare, the cafe has been solidly busy right from the very beginning, said Larry Bennett, public relations and creative services man- ager for Ommegang. "We've been talking about it for three or four years," Bennett said. "In Belgium, beer is the drink of choice with most meals. Belgian beers are designed with an eye toward pairing with food, so this is a natural extension of that." 12 O-Town Scene Aug. 18, 2011 The cafe's chefs crafted the menu with an eye toward Belgian tradition, local New York foods and food-and- drink pairings designed to enhance the dining experi- ence. For starters, try Prince Edward Island mussels steamed in a broth of Ommegang's Witte Ale, on- ions, celery and herbs. Mussels are a traditional part of Belgian cuisine, and the brewery recently hosted a national competition, the Great Mussel Tussle, as part of its annual Belgium Comes to Cooperstown Festival. The winner, chef Tommy Harder of New York City's acclaimed Blind Tiger ale house, offered up a dish of mussels steamed in Ommegang Witte Ale, an herb-citrus cream sauce, goat cheese gnocchi and crab and tomato salsa topped with bacon foam. Soon, his creation will be a featured dish on the cafe's menu. A natural pairing for craft beers is a good artisa- nal cheese or charcuterie (various types of cold-cut meats). The Cafe Ommegang menu features a robust selection of both, and sources them from local cheese makers and garde manger chefs. Cheese lovers can order a selection of fresh chevre, Tilsit, cumin Gouda, Camembert, raw milk Colby and sheep's milk cheeses from Painted Goat Farm, Mountainview Dairy, Brovetto Dairy, Byebrook Farm, Cooperstown Cheese Company and Old Chatham Cheese Company. Chef Jonah Shaw from the Quarter Moon Cafe in Delhi provides the charcuterie, which includes pro- sciutto de Parma, soppressata, jambon de Paris, finoc- chiona, duck confit and smoked trout. Continued on Page 13

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