A Griffith restaurant and brewery are joining forces to bring out diners’ inner “flexitarian.”
Attendees of Angel Hair Cafe’s and Pokro Brewing Co.’s inaugural Brew and Dine on Dec. 11 will get their barbecue fix for sure. Whether that’s through a giant slab of meat or vegan roast, however, will be up to the diner; and cafe owners Angela and Ben Mollin, and Pokro owners Robyn and Joe Pokropinski, hope the latter will be the hit of the night.
If customers’ pleasant surprise at Angel Hair’s vegan menu is any indication, the group should get their wish.
“We do a vegan gyros, for example, and they love it. They can’t believe it’s vegan,” said Angela Mollin, a hairstylist who comes from a long line of restaurant folk. “You’d be surprised at the things that taste way better than meat.”
The Brew and Dine idea came out of the group’s desire to join forces for a night and give people something to do. As like-minded businesses, their friendship, as well as the friendship with other town businesses, has grown in the short time they’ve each been open.
But as they started working on the menu for the event, it occurred to them they have a chance to open people’s palates to vegan choices in an area that’s still working to catch up with abundant vegan offerings.
“Joe and my cousin call me ‘flexitarian’ all the time because I switch back and forth,” Robyn Pokropinski said. “(The event) fills a void, because a lot of people still go to Illinois for vegan food when we have it right here, and I think it’s important for people to see what (vegan cooking) is all about.
“You have great, fresh vegan food and good beer here, plus you’re getting people to stay active when it’s cold and no one wants to go outside anymore.”
Besides, anyone can put beer with meat. Coming up with something vegan that tastes great and pairs well with beer is a work of art.
“There are certain flavors that are more savory that work with certain styles of our beer,” Pokropinski said.”
“It’s fun as far as food goes,” Angela Mollin said of cooking vegan. “I grew up in an Italian restaurant, and my dad is my biggest critic, never sugar-coating what he likes and what he doesn’t. If he tells me something’s off, that makes me more determined to figure out how to make it better.”
For Ben Mollin, getting into the restaurant business has been as much fun as growing his salon. And bringing businesses together only makes everything more worthwhile.
“It’s safer to travel as a wolf pack, because you tend to fail on your own,” he said. “It’s also a common thing for breweries to network with restaurants. I know we couldn’t help but take advantage of good beer down the street. I mean, come on.”
Dinner will start at 5 p.m. and end at 8 p.m. to give diners time to get up the street to the brewery at 311 N. Broad St. Once at the brewery, Billy O’s Dynamite Music owner and Survivor band member Billy Ozzello will perform with local musician Chris Grove.
Michelle Quinn is a freelance writer.
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Brew and Dine with Angel Hair Cafe and Pokro Brewing Co.
Where: 142 S. Broad St., Griffith
When: 5 p.m. Dec. 11
Tickets: $65
Info: 219-433-7061 or angelhairgriffith.com or pokrobrewing.com