We love local food almost as much as we love local beer. When we found out that Sweet Tomatoes in Osterville, MA had started featuring local beer at their restaurant we needed to find out more. Sweet Tomatoes serves gourmet pizza featuring fresh ingredients. Their flavors range from the staples like pepperoni to house specials like the "Pizza Sarah" which includes goat cheese, bacon, caramelized onions and mozzarella. Darren Bagley-Heath, proprietor of Sweet Tomatoes Osterville, MA, grew up in the UK and found himself missing his local "free house." For those not familiar with the term, a free house is simply a local pub, not tied to a specific brewery as many are in the UK, featuring local beer. Don't dismiss this effort as a simple recreation of a British Pub across the pond, Sweet Tomatoes has made a conscientious effort to take the essence of the British tradition and add American craft beer flavor. We decided to talk to Bagley-Heath and get some more details on how this new focus came to be.DCB: What inspired you to focus on local beer?
Bagley-Heath: In the UK you would go to different parts of the country and you would get different beers. You would go in and there would be a regional flavor and flair.
When I first came to the States, the beer selection here was mediocre but now there's great beer to be had locally.
DCB: Well we can certainly agree with that, what beers have you decided to focus on?Bagley-Heath: I had the Cape Code Brewing Company IPA and knew I wanted to bring them in as soon as I could. The idea was to bring in one beer of each style, we had the IPA from Cape Cod as well as their Hef and Red. We talked to Mayflower Brewing Company and brought in their Pale and Golden Ales and have additional offerings from Buzzards Bay like their Pilsner. We'll also be getting firkins of the Mayflower Pale Ale soon.
DCB: OK, now you have our attention! Mayflower Pale Ale on cask?
Bagley-Heath: We'll have a gravity fed firkin right on top of the bar. We really want to give people a chance to drink local beer and get people excited about it. We've undergone quite a bit of renovation lately: new floors, lighting and we've run all brand new lines for the beer. There's nothing worse than when dirty lines ruin your beer. In addition to all the new beers on tap we've also come up with a special summer shandy. An employee really enjoyed a bottled version of the summer shandy and we decided to make our own. We mix Pellegrino sparkling lemonade with Cape Code Hefeweizen, people have really liked it. We've also got a great outdoor seating area to enjoy during the summer months.
DCB: Ok, we're sold!
It's great to see more places featuring local beer and we can't think of many things better than enjoying some great pizza with fresh local beer outside on the Cape. So while you're down at the Cape this summer be sure to head over to Sweet Tomatoes. Drop by for a pint, and try some cask beer, especially if you've never had beer on cask before. We're excited to see ideas like this catch on more and we think they will. For more information and directions to Sweet Tomatoes visit http://www.sweettomatoescapecod.com/
Few things are more gratifying to the soul than pizza and beer save perhaps local pizza and local beer.
I wasn't planning to be on the Cape, but now I just might have to drop down.