By Carol Diuguid, ZAGAT.com staff editor
When the Mario Batali–backed eatery The Spotted Pig arrived in Manhattan two years ago calling itself a gastropub, it was the first time many diners on this side of the Atlantic had heard this British-coined, vaguely medical-sounding term. But as gastropubs have continued to crop up around the U.S. – the newest include Ford’s Filling Station in LA, Spike Hill in NYC and an upcoming San Francisco entry from the folks behind Town Hall, due to open in early summer – this less-than-sexy word is catching on (sort of).
Philly's Standard Tap is housed in a 200-year-old tavern building
Derived from melding “gastronomy” and “pub,” it essentially means a casual watering hole serving high-quality food. The Eagle in London is considered the progenitor of the breed; it opened in 1991 in an old pub building whose new owners followed a simple formula: serving expertly prepared but unpretentious fare in hip, laid-back, convivial environs. It was an instant hit that has since been replicated in every corner of the U.K., including several other London standouts such as Anchor & Hope and The Cow.
Gastropubs come in all flavors – they’re as likely to serve dishes with Italian, Thai or Indian influences as traditional English ones – but the best share an emphasis on top-notch ingredients and straightforward preparations. In terms of atmosphere, they’re not so different from that beloved British institution, the neighborhood pub. And though they’ve elevated the food, they’ve left the heart of the pub tradition intact: “The bar is the focal point,” explains Spotted Pig chef (and English expat) April Bloomfield.
The bar is the focal point of The Spotted Pig in Manhattan
Indeed, with its fare designed to complement the brews on tap, the gastropub has been called Britain’s answer to the French brasserie. And U.S. establishments are following suit on the suds front. The Spotted Pig features top-notch craft brews and “tries to get people to focus on the beer,” says Bloomfield. LA’s rollicking Father’s Office and Philadelphia’s Standard Tap, housed in a 200-year-old tavern building, are doing the same. The Standard pours 13 varieties of local brews, all on tap, and adheres to a philosophy for both food and drink that, says co-owner William Reed, can be summed up in three words: “fresh, local and seasonal.” It recently spawned a Philly sibling, Johnny Brenda’s, and may have provided inspiration for another like-minded local, N. 3rd.
While the gastropub moniker may be fairly new to the U.S. dining public, the concepts behind it are not – they’re firmly in keeping with “what’s been happening for a long time: Americans understanding that they can go to a casual restaurant for the food, rather than just to feed,” notes restaurant historian Michael Batterberry. Even places that you might not think of as a gastropub – Batterberry cites NYC’s Prune, for one – are “wonderful examples” of that general trend, i.e. informal places that “use better ingredients, use regionally grown foods, have more polished skills in the kitchen and offer more imaginative menus with more varied choices.”
In fact, Batterberry sees the current gastropub vogue as an instance of Americans “borrowing an Englishism to lend luster” to an otherwise familiar package, one that “goes back to the very roots” of American restaurant dining – “in essence, taverns.”
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Just brace yourself for the next step in the gastro revolution: gastrobistros, now taking hold in France and sure to cross the ocean any minute.