Soho’s still Haunted by “Headless Dead-Guy”
Make no mistake about it; Soho’s restaurant is haunted. But much to the chagrin of this beer-geek, nobody at Soho’s seems to know it! (Or maybe they just don’t care?)
My wife and I joined a few friends last Friday night for a bite to eat at Soho’s. As soon as I sat down, an eerie feeling came over me, we were not alone. Yes, I realize that we were in a crowded restaurant, of course we weren’t alone: I am talking about my small group of friends- at our table, there was a familiar “presence” that I have known before…
This time, I avoided falling victim to the “Headless Dead-Guy”; I warded off that spirit by ordering a gin and tonic, but my friends Joe and Bill weren’t so lucky. They ordered beer, Dead Guy ale to be specific, usually a great beer that is somehow transformed into something unappealing when served at Soho’s. The rattle of the chains, the hoof beats were deafening…
I didn’t really want to re-write my Headless Dead-Guy blog, (click here for the original blog) but this is too tempting and quite frankly, unfortunate. Why should beer drinkers have to put up with this? Would wine drinkers accept ice-cold red-wine served in plastic drinking cups for instance? Then why should we have to put up with paying 6 bucks for a pint a beer that looks more like a glass of iced tea. This should be a continuing embarrassment for restaurateur and trained Chef Bill Sohovich. I say get it right or just go back to serving Bud in frosted glasses!
Note: For answers to “why is the Dead-Guy Headless”? Read my original Blog explaining why head formation on a beer is important and how restaurants and bars manage to lop off the heads of these innocent beers!
March 30th, 2009 at 9:33 am
Send. It. Back.
Then ask if they can go next door to the Wine & Cheese shop to pick up a non-flat bottle for you.
Pathetic.
March 30th, 2009 at 9:55 am
Rob, if they poured it into one of the improperly rinsed and dried beer glasses, heads would still roll!
March 30th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Waaahhh!!!! My beer glass isn’t to my liking.
March 30th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
Drink it straight from the bottle, I would.
March 30th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
The Dead Guy at Soho’s is on tap. It’s also something like 6 bucks. For that price shouldn’t I expect to get it properly poured into beer-clean glass? That’s the point!
March 31st, 2009 at 8:11 am
I think Rob’s “Drink it straight from the bottle” was referencing the one the were supposedly walking down the hall to buy at the Wine shop. But I still say you should be able to get a proper glass whether your brew originates from bottle or tap. Isn’t this some of the education a chef receives in cullinary school. I have been trying to convince the exec. chef at Sleepy Hollow Golf Club in Teays Valley to get some better beers, playing on the assumption that he has had some training in beer/wine/food pairing. But no luck yet. Maybe they don’t spend much time on this topic ???????
March 31st, 2009 at 10:22 am
I am told that the CIA barely touches the subject, but what about continuing education for chefs? Trends and techniques change!
Look, I know it’s an uphill battle to get restaurants to take beer seriously. Think about it; beer requires so much more equipment and special handling and yet it has a much lower average unit price. Waiters also make less because it lowers the tab and in turn, the tip.
I would think that with the sheer number of restaurant choices available to the consumer; an entreprenurial restrauteur would use beer as a differentiator to find a profitable niche…
Take a look at www.cicerone.org
March 31st, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Yes, I was talking about the one I’d send out for, not the damned - and I mean damned - taps at Soho’s. Thanks for standing up for me Rich. I AM smart enough to see that THAT’S THE POINT.
A friend of mine went to whatever culinary school Louisville has. Wine & Spirits was a separate, semester long class but, he tells me, beer was covered in one day.
The culinary cadets at Pittsburgh’s C-school seemed to be more discriminating, beer wise. Perhaps it’s just because they’ve come of age in an era of craft beer but many would show up at the bars nearby the PCI, still wearing their student whites and Crocs, and order good stuff. So, there is change afoot, but it’s got a long way to go.
April 1st, 2009 at 8:22 am
Like I said, to me it sounds like a great opportunity to differentiate yourself as a restaurant.