2. About Heavy Seas Alehouse
Heavy Seas Alehouse is a place where sailors tell stories but pyrates make
legends! It is high time fans of Heavy Seas Beer are able to experience Baltimore’s
best and locally owned craft brewery in its own ship. Our menu features fresh and
seasonal ingredients that we source locally whenever possible. The dishes are simple
in appearance with bold and assertive flavors that stand up to the intense beers we are
known for…ARRRRGGGHHHH!
The Alehouse is located in the Tack Factory building and combines the charm and
character of the historic space with the bold industrial elements reminiscent of the
Holland Tack Factory that occupied the building for more than 90 years. The Hol-
land fasteners went into major league baseballs, countless school bulletin boards and
enough sofas to seat all of Baltimore. During the Civil War, the building served as a
hospital for Confederate soldiers. We are proud to continue the Charm City
tradition of this extraordinary space!
We hope you enjoy the Heavy Seas Alehouse and come back soon matey!
5. Matt Seeber
Chef/Partner
Matt began working in professional kitchens at the age of 15 in 1984. Originally
from Philadelphia, Matt then moved to New York City where he worked for
Charlie Palmer, Michael White and Tom Colicchio. From there, it was on to Las
Vegas where Matt ran Chef Tom’s flagship Craftsteak at the MGM Grand. Now
in Baltimore, Matt set sail with Heavy Seas Alehouse and has been received with
glowing reviews and many happy guests!
Vince Cassino
General Manager/Partner
What started as a love of cooking learned in the kitchens of his mother and
grandmother has turned into a career spanning 20 years. In the beginning he was
jumping out of airplanes with the 82nd airborne and running a large garrison
dining facility, feeding hundreds of troops a day. Since then Vince has managed
the family owned Sisson’s, corporate restaurants and franchises. Vince no longer
jumps out of airplanes, instead you can find him manning the deck of the Heavy
Seas Alehouse.
6. Heavy Seas Alehouse
The beer is good, but have you tried the food?
by Martha Thomas, Urbanite, May 1, 2012
Brew is but one pleasing element of Heavy Seas Alehouse.
Named for the predominant line of Clipper City beers, Heavy Seas Alehouse is not
necessarily about the brew. In fact, beer is but one appealing element of the place, which
has slipped seamlessly into the framework of its Thai and Mexican predecessors. The rough
barn board walls and deep booths, the long bar and communal tables in the repurposed tack
factory seem designed for merry groupings: some sampling shot glass-portioned flights of
Heavy Seas presented on wooden paddles, others sipping rum from brandy glasses.
In fact, the Next Big Thing at the bar is not the craft brews. The alehouse has a nicely
edited selection of rums by the glass, varieties of the sugar-distilled concoction described on
the menu with words like spicy, nutty, vanilla, molasses, and oak. The Dominican Republic
Atlantico, for example, is somewhere between a sweet brandy and a peaty whisky—complex
and meant for sipping.
But the real attraction here is Matt Seeber, the Tom Colicchio protégée, who ran the
celebrity chef ’s Craftsteak in Las Vegas. Seeber’s name doesn’t appear on the website or the
menu, but his honed abilities are certainly in evidence, from the oyster stew with its tangy,
not-too-heavy broth, fresh chives, and large fleshy oysters to the delectable desserts.
Just as the non-beer set shouldn’t be deterred by the alehouse motif and the somewhat
dorky pirate logo, those who eschew meat mustn’t let Seeber’s steakhouse background steer
them away. The menu leans toward seafood, with a generously stocked raw bar featuring
a daily selection of oysters. The smoked mussel salad is not to be missed—the smoke is just
right, deep but not overwhelming, and the mussels are pretty much unadorned, save for a
light dressing of lemon mayo with celery and red onion. Likewise, a lobster salad is simple:
chunks of meat (just shy of a one-pounder), tossed with a discreet lime-ginger vinaigrette,
with shiny strands of Japanese seaweed on the side.
Of course there’s red meat here: the
twenty-four-hour beef shortrib, glazed in Peg
Leg beer, slides effortlessy from the bone,
and the menu includes a grilled hangar steak
and the Heavy Seas burger. But Seeber is
egalitarian, including a vegetarian plate with
root vegetables and Brussels sprouts, a por-
tobello sandwich, and some nice side dishes
(although the best of these, faro risotto, is
laced with pork confit and decorated with
bits of fresh tarragon, fennel, and parsley).
The menu is simple and, although not
extensive, offers possibilities for mixing and
matching—raw bar and salad, appetizers and
sides, a sandwich, or the whole shebang. And
of course, there’s dessert, ginger cake made
with stout, Earl Grey crème brulée, and
the Pimlico pie, whole pecans embedded in
sweet brown sugar and rich chocolate filling.
Bottom line, if you go to Heavy Seas
for the beer, you’ll return for much more.
(Lunch and dinner daily. 1300 Bank St.; 410-
522-0850; www.heavyseasalehouse.com)
Recent Press Releases
photo by Sarah Thrower
7. Ahoy! An Alehouse
A beer-based restaurant anchors near Little Italy.
By Suzanne Loudermilk, Baltimore Magazine, June 2012
Our waiter was excited as he described the
soup of the day: a creamy elixir with porto-
bellos and springtime ramps. The chef, he
explained, likes to get creative with the local
produce that arrives in his kitchen. But execu-
tive chef Matt Seeber doesn’t just stop at the
specials. His whole menu revolves around a
masterful interpretation of ingredients that
has taken the pub fare at Heavy Seas Alehouse
to an elevated culinary level.
Whether it’s a lush risotto made with the
grain farro, fat sliders stuffed with Pilsener-
laced Roma sausages, or addictive onion rings
in a Dijon and Loose Cannon beer batter,
Seeber makes sure your taste buds appreciate
the full force of the cooking skills he honed as
executive chef at Tom Colicchio’s Craftsteak in
Las Vegas and at New York City’s Gramercy
Tavern, among other locations.
Seeber is just what this formerly cursed
restaurant space needs.
Before the Alehouse, restaurants Tsunami
and Diablita tried to make a go of the outpost
on the cusp of Little Italy and Harbor East—to
no avail. In a short time, the Alehouse has
managed to establish itself as a food-and-drink
destination.
The current owners have kept much of
Diablita’s attractive décor, a wise move, with
its dark wood, trendy brick, and sleek booths
and tables. A skull and cross bones may be the
restaurant’s logo, but any reference to pirates,
or “pyrates” as they say, is understated. In
general, the bar and dining rooms present a
minimalist, comfortable setting in which to lift
a pint or a fork.
Heavy Seas beer, brewed by Clipper City
Brewing Company, is featured in many of
the restaurant’s dishes. While the Alehouse
may be capitalizing on the nation’s current
love of craft brews, it’s the excellent food that
will bring people back. The cornbread, for
instance, is simply amazing. This is not your
typical Southern staple. The moist wedge of
bread, in a small cast-iron skillet, has a golden
mantle of rarebit—a cheese sauce made with
Heavy Seas Pale Ale—and a scattering of jala-
peños and bacon on the top.
The Prince Edward Island mussels were
also terrific in a broth of roasted garlic but-
ter, tomato, fennel, and Gold Ale, as was the
braised fresh pork belly, tempura fried and
laced on skewers. The decadent fatty meat
squares were perfectly suited to the tangy/
sweet tomato-maple dipping sauce.
The carefully edited entree section
appeals to a variety of palates. The roasted
free-range chicken benefits from the braised
kale (raised by Big City Greens in South
Baltimore), fat white beans, and tomatoes. It’s
described as a “casserole,” but it’s not in the
traditional sense. It’s a blend of flavors, com-
plete with Heavy Seas Märzen jus. It makes
sense that the beer recommendation with the
dish would be the toasty malt Märzen. Most
dishes are paired with a suggested beer.
The pan-roasted Atlantic salmon with spring
artichokes, herbs, and tomatoes is also coupled
with the Märzen, showing this brew’s range.
And the really, really tender 24-hour beef
short rib is partnered with a Peg Leg Imperial
Stout, playing off the meat’s Peg Leg glaze.
The hefty 16-ounce, bone-in cut also gets
credit for its pickled red-onion garnish and
fingerling potatoes.
On another visit, we focused on the Ale-
house’s lunch menu. Some say the restaurant
has the best burger in town. There are a lot
of worthy competitors, but we have to agree
this eight-ounce, rotund patty of Creekstone
Farms Angus beef is a winner. The meat is
Clockwise, from left: Roasted free-range chicken; bar/dining room;
chef Matt Seeber
layered with sweet onions caramelized in Peg
Leg stout and Stilton cheese and piled onto
a spent-grain roll. The chef, in keeping with
the au courant philosophy of not wasting
leftovers, sends the processed beer remains to
nearby Piedigrotta bakery, which turns them
into hearty rolls and other products.
The grilled vegetable Dagwood was also
a hit with zucchini, red peppers, eggplant,
red onions, and smoked Mozzarella slathered
with basil mayo. A side salad featured crisp
organic lettuce from Big City Greens, gently
dressed in a white balsamic vinaigrette. We
also sampled the fresh-made potato chips that
had a subtle, delicious undertone we couldn’t
place. Clever chef Seeber adds a surprising
sprinkle of dried green mango powder.
We’re still thinking about the desserts,
too. We liked the ginger stout cake garnished
with kumquat slices and a thick mound of
heady Peg Leg whipped cream. The Earl
Grey crème brûlée with spice cookies was a
nice finish, too. But if we had to pick one to
return for, it would be the decadent Pimlico
pie, a 2-inch-high beauty of gooey pecans,
chocolate, and brown sugar complemented
by a scoop of black cardamom gelato made by
Pitango Gelato. All the spoons and forks at the
table were soon directed at this slice.
We also appreciated the thoughtful send-
off—small spent-grain raisin cookies that came
with the check. Just another reminder of the
chef ’s attention to detail.
In a short time, the Ale-
house has managed to
establish itself as a food-
and-drink destination.
8. Craft Beer Cocktails are a
Hot Trend in Baltimore Bars
Featuring high-quality spirits, fresh ingredients and canny flavor combinations,
these inventive drinks offer depth and unique textures.
by Erik Maza, The Baltimore Sun, April 24, 2012
To make a cocktail, a bartender performs a
complicated ballet involving spirits, mixers
and garnishes, somehow juggling them all and
finally bringing them in for a graceful, neat
landing in your glass. At Heavy Seas Alehouse,
bartender Will Helfrich has a simpler ap-
proach.
He grabs a tall glass, sets it underneath
the beer tap and pours eight ounces of sudsy,
golden beer, Heavy Seas Classic Lager. And
then tops it off with homemade pomegranate
lemonade. Add a sprig of fresh rosemary and
you have the Little Italy bar and restaurant’s
Sea Shandy.
When it opened in February, the Ale-
house was noteworthy mainly for being the
first brick-and-mortar outpost under the name
of the Baltimore craft brewer Heavy Seas.
But when I sat down for dinner soon after
the opening, it was its cocktail list that caught
my eye: 10 items and all but three made with
some combination of the house’s signature
beers and a spirit, from tequila and chartreuse
to rum and vodka.
Beer cocktails have been popping up
with greater frequency in Baltimore in recent
months. You can find them at Ten Ten, Jack’s
Bistro, Woodberry Kitchen, Mr. Rain’s Fun
House and B&O Brasserie. The trend stems
from a high interest in craft beers.
“In the last two years, it’s really come into
vogue,” says Tim Riley, beverage director at
Harbor East’s Ten Ten. “There weren’t many
of them then, and now you see more, and you
see more variety in beers used.”
Though beer cocktails have existed for
generations, in the form of drinks like the
boilermaker, the emphasis now is on craft beer
cocktails. They use high-quality spirits, fresh
ingredients and canny flavor combinations.
They have depth and unique textures.
“Beer cocktails have been around for a
long time, but they’ve just gotten more sophis-
ticated,” says Brendan Dorr, beverage director
at B&O Brasserie
“As the cocktail craft develops, people
are looking for new flavors and ingredients,”
confirms Ten Ten’s Riley. “Beer brings with it a
breadth of flavors.”
Kate Krader, Food & Wine magazine
restaurant editor and editor of its annual
cocktail book, says that the beer cocktail trend
has taken off as beer itself has become “a huge
alternative to wine and harder spirits.” She
says that it just makes sense that bartenders
would start to play around with it.
In Baltimore, Dorr was one of the first to
introduce beer cocktails on his menu, and he
has been rotating them for three years at the
B&O. At Woodberry Kitchen, beverage director
Corey Polyoka introduced a shandy a year ago,
and this winter had a fizz with bourbon, apple
cider and a dark, malty beer. Polyoka points to
their Blackberry Fizz as an argument for the
appeal of beer cocktails. Fizz cocktails are typi-
cally made with egg whites and soda water, but
soda water normally dilutes the drink.
“We thought, ‘Hey, beer tastes good and
brings something to the party,’” he says. By us-
ing Flying Dog Woody Creek White, a wheat
beer, he can bring out “an insane” tropical and
spice flavor to the drink. Thanks to the beer’s
carbonation, it’s also “the creamiest fizz I have
ever had,” he says. He says from now on, fizz
cocktails at Woodberry will use only beers.
At Ten Ten, Riley has been serving a
variation on a ‘beermosa,’ a beer-accented
mimosa, at brunch for over a year, a drink he
first saw in Chicago. His uses Allagash White, a
Belgian-style beer, as well as orange bitters and
orange juice.
He’s been rotating beer cocktails since
then. Instead of making beer the cocktail’s
signature element, Riley prefers to use it as an
extender. His Stillwater Cup — several spirits
mixed with a muddle of cucumber and mint
and topped by Stillwater Cellar Door Saison –
“tries to mirror Stillwater’s herbaceousness,”
he says. The bitters add nuance to the cocktail,
Will Helfrich, bartender at Heavy Seas Ale House, puts the finish-
ing touch, a sprig of rosemary, on his “Sea Shandy” beer cocktail.
The cocktail is made with Heavy Seas lager and pomegranate-
rosemary lemonade. (Barbara Haddock Taylor, Baltimore Sun /
April 18, 2012)
photo by Barbara Haddock Taylor
and cut the sweetness of the ginger liqueur
and the simple syrup. And the juices from the
mint and the cucumbers make it remarkably
refreshing.
Dorr’s first beer cocktail at B&O was
called the Boxcar and was a play on a Snake-
bite, a traditional half-beer and half-cider
mixed drink. His version featured Allspice
Dram liqueur, organic hard cider and a nut
brown ale.
The combination of beer and liquor
made sense because beers are now made using
an increasingly vast list of yeast strains, spices
and herbs, which leads to more variety in
flavor, Dorr says.
“Herbal notes, sweet notes, candied fruit
notes — a lot of the flavor profiles are very simi-
lar [to those in liquor],” he says. For instance, an
India pale ale and a tequila share a herb taste,
and so the two complement each other.
That kinship was the basis of Dorr’s latest
cocktail, the Trainwreck — made up of aged
tequila; Hum, a botanical spirit; and orange
juice, shaken and topped with six ounces of
Guinness.
“I was just playing around with the most
bizarre combination I could imagine,” he says.
“Hum has cardamom, which has a lot of spice,
and tequila plays nicely off it.”
At Heavy Seas Alehouse, general man-
ager Vince Cassino says the goal was to offer
their customers a new way to try their beers
— the cocktails include after-dinner beer
cocktails, any-time drinks and some summery
tiki-style cocktails — and also to appeal to
those who aren’t familiar with craft beers.
“If you’re not a craft beer drinker, and you
come in for a beer and dinner, we don’t want
to alienate you. All the beer flavors can be
intimidating,” he says. “This is an easy transi-
tion piece.”
In their Sea Shandy, the beer is almost imper-
ceptible, subtly blended with the pomegranate
lemonade.
“It’s nice, crisp, easy drinking,” says bartender
Helfrich.
9. Year of Good News High-
lights Baltimore’s Rich Beer
History
Book looks at brewing
scene
by Frederick N. Rasmussen, The Baltimore
Sun, April 21, 2012
To make a cocktail, a bartender performs a
complicated ballet involving spirits, mixers
and garnishes, somehow juggling them all and
finally bringing them in for a graceful, neat
landing in your glass. At Heavy Seas Alehouse,
bartender Will Helfrich has a simpler ap-
proach.
He grabs a tall glass, sets it underneath
the beer tap and pours eight ounces of sudsy,
golden beer, Heavy Seas Classic Lager. And
then tops it off with homemade pomegranate
lemonade. Add a sprig of fresh rosemary and
you have the Little Italy bar and restaurant’s
Sea Shandy.
When it opened in February, the Alehouse
was noteworthy mainly for being the first brick-
and-mortar outpost under the name of the
Baltimore craft brewer Heavy Seas. But when
I sat down for dinner soon after the opening, it
was its cocktail list that caught my eye: 10 items
and all but three made with some combina-
tion of the house’s signature beers and a spirit,
from tequila and chartreuse to rum and vodka.
Beer cocktails have been popping up
with greater frequency in Baltimore in recent
months. You can find them at Ten Ten, Jack’s
Bistro, Woodberry Kitchen, Mr. Rain’s Fun
House and B&O Brasserie. The trend stems
from a high interest in craft beers.
“In the last two years, it’s really come into
vogue,” says Tim Riley, beverage director at
Harbor East’s Ten Ten. “There weren’t many
of them then, and now you see more, and you
see more variety in beers used.”
Though beer cocktails have existed for
generations, in the form of drinks like the
boilermaker, the emphasis now is on craft beer
cocktails. They use high-quality spirits, fresh in-
gredients and canny flavor combinations. They
have depth and unique textures.
“Beer cocktails have been around for a
long time, but they’ve just gotten more sophis-
ticated,” says Brendan Dorr, beverage director
at B&O Brasserie
“As the cocktail craft develops, people
are looking for new flavors and ingredients,”
confirms Ten Ten’s Riley. “Beer brings with it a
breadth of flavors.”
Kate Krader, Food & Wine magazine
restaurant editor and editor of its annual
cocktail book, says that the beer cocktail trend
has taken off as beer itself has become “a huge
alternative to wine and harder spirits.” She says
that it just makes sense that bartenders would start to play around with it.
In Baltimore, Dorr was one of the first to introduce beer cocktails on his menu, and he has
been rotating them for three years at the B&O. At Woodberry Kitchen, beverage director Corey
Polyoka introduced a shandy a year ago, and this winter had a fizz with bourbon, apple cider
and a dark, malty beer. Polyoka points to their Blackberry Fizz as an argument for the appeal of
beer cocktails. Fizz cocktails are typically made with egg whites and soda water, but soda water
normally dilutes the drink.
“We thought, ‘Hey, beer tastes good and brings something to the party,’” he says. By using
Flying Dog Woody Creek White, a wheat beer, he can bring out “an insane” tropical and spice
flavor to the drink. Thanks to the beer’s carbonation, it’s also “the creamiest fizz I have ever had,”
he says. He says from now on, fizz cocktails at Woodberry will use only beers.
At Ten Ten, Riley has been serving a variation on a ‘beermosa,’ a beer-accented mimosa, at
brunch for over a year, a drink he first saw in Chicago. His uses Allagash White, a Belgian-style
beer, as well as orange bitters and orange juice.
He’s been rotating beer cocktails since then. Instead of making beer the cocktail’s signature
element, Riley prefers to use it as an extender. His Stillwater Cup — several spirits mixed with
a muddle of cucumber and mint and topped by Stillwater Cellar Door Saison – “tries to mirror
Stillwater’s herbaceousness,” he says. The bitters add nuance to the cocktail, and cut the sweet-
ness of the ginger liqueur and the simple syrup. And the juices from the mint and the cucumbers
make it remarkably refreshing.
Dorr’s first beer cocktail at B&O was called the Boxcar and was a play on a Snakebite, a tra-
ditional half-beer and half-cider mixed drink. His version featured Allspice Dram liqueur, organic
hard cider and a nut brown ale.
The combination of beer and liquor made sense because beers are now made using an
increasingly vast list of yeast strains, spices and herbs, which leads to more variety in flavor, Dorr
says.
“Herbal notes, sweet notes, candied fruit notes — a lot of the flavor profiles are very similar
[to those in liquor],” he says. For instance, an India pale ale and a tequila share a herb taste, and
so the two complement each other.
That kinship was the basis of Dorr’s latest cocktail, the Trainwreck — made up of aged te-
quila; Hum, a botanical spirit; and orange juice, shaken and topped with six ounces of Guinness.
“I was just playing around with the most bizarre combination I could imagine,” he says.
“Hum has cardamom, which has a lot of spice, and tequila plays nicely off it.”
At Heavy Seas Alehouse, general manager Vince Cassino says the goal was to offer their cus-
tomers a new way to try their beers — the cocktails include after-dinner beer cocktails, any-time
drinks and some summery tiki-style cocktails — and also to appeal to those who aren’t familiar
with craft beers.
“If you’re not a craft beer drinker, and you come in for a beer and dinner, we don’t want to alien-
ate you. All the beer flavors can be intimidating,” he says. “This is an easy transition piece.”
In their Sea Shandy, the beer is almost imperceptible, subtly blended with the pomegranate
lemonade.
“It’s nice, crisp, easy drinking,” says bartender Helfrich.
Will Helfrich, bartender at Heavy Seas Ale House, puts the finish-
ing touch, a sprig of rosemary, on his “Sea Shandy” beer cocktail.
The cocktail is made with Heavy Seas lager and pomegranate-
rosemary lemonade. (Barbara Haddock Taylor, Baltimore Sun /
April 18, 2012)
photo by Barbara Haddock Taylor
photo by Jim Burger
10. Heavy Seas Alehouse
Heavy Seas Alehouse brings a winner into port
by Mary K. Zajac, City Paper, April 18, 2012
Although it opened in Febru-
ary, Heavy Seas Alehouse
functions with the ease of an
old-timer. The brick-and-beam
bar and dining room, last
home to Diablita, feels lived
in, and the staff conducts itself
like pros. Want to know where
today’s raw-bar oysters hail
from? They’re on it. Need a
beer rec? It’s offered with a
low-key mix of beer geek and
aiming-to-please. That the
restaurant takes its name (as
well as all the tap selections)
from co-owner Patrick Dahl-
gren’s stepfather Hugh Sisson’s
17-year-old Baltimore-based
craft brewery only adds to the
sense of the history, invoking a
brief wave of nostalgia for Sis-
son’s late, eponymous Federal
Hill brewpub of the early 1990s
(Blueberry wheat beer! Bread
pudding!). Even so, Heavy Seas
Alehouse is very much its own
creation, and a welcome one at that.
Pubs have become the contemporary
go-to, the common denominator for diners of
varying tastes and budgets, and Dahlgren and
co-owners Vince Cassino and chef Matt Seeber
are clearly trying to please a broad audience,
one that wants a beer, clams on the half-shell,
and a hefty burger, as well as the folks who
look for more formal fish or steak entrees.
Not every establishment can pull this off, but
Heavy Seas is going about it in the right way
by keeping its menu small and well defined,
with a focus on pub and regional fare. Sure,
beer drinkers will be drawn to the broad port-
folio of Heavy Seas offerings on tap, including
seasonal and cask selections, but the bar also
proffers a range of beer-influenced cocktails
such as the HS Manhattan, spiked with a li-
queur made with Peg Leg Stout, or the slightly
sweet Sea Shandy, a mix of beer and house-
made pomegranate lemonade infused with
enough rosemary to give it a hint of duskiness.
Though compact, the menu is also set up
for lots of grazing options, and items from the
raw bar, including smoked mussel salad and
lobster salad, and snacks, appetizers, salads,
and side dishes make up more than half of the
bill of fare, suggesting the restaurant expects
happy-hour nibbles to be as popular as sand-
wiches or entrees. I can certainly vouch for
the addictiveness of the spicy beer nuts ($5), a
tumble of glossy pecans napped in spices both
sweet and hot, one of five selections in the
“Snack” section. Like the nuts, other “snacks”
also play on traditional tavern fare, like sau-
sage sliders or pickled eggs ($4.50), pink from
their beet marinade and served with ancho-
vies and tarragon-dusted beets, an intriguing
play of sweet and sour, earthy and floral.
If the night is cool, however, don’t pass
up the oyster chowder ($8.50), a silky broth of
cream and oyster liquor in which two freshly
shucked oysters and a dice of potato, onion,
and celery bob. The chowder is delicate but no
wallflower, and my only suggested improve-
ment is the addition of another oyster: one to
share with a tablemate, two for me. You will
not have the same internal struggle in sharing
the buttermilk-marinated Loose Cannon-
battered onion rings ($6.50), not because they
are not delicious, but because the portion is
staggeringly generous (they also stay crispy
even as they cool—hurrah!).
The menu offers three sandwiches—a
Cuban, a burger, and a portobello
burger—but Seeber’s successes
with casual fare suggest an expert
hand for entrees, and a grilled
hanger steak ($24) surpasses even
high expectations, particularly
with the substitution of pureed
celery root for mashed potatoes
and the toss of bacon, pearl
onions, and wild mushrooms
that smother the nicely turned-
out meat. Crab-stuffed flounder
($26) is fresh, but ends up mild
to the point of bland despite a
pretty garnish of translucent
lemon slices. The real surprise
(and disappointment), however,
are the mussels and fries ($18),
which lacked real distinctiveness
and flavor, even though several
fat cloves of garlic floated among
the tangle of fennel slices floating
in the broth. So solid was nearly
everything else sampled that
the mussels seemed a puzzling
conundrum. Was it simply an off night for that
preparation or does it need some tweaking?
All of Heavy Seas Alehouse’s desserts
are made in house, and the kitchen is doing
clever things with ice cream infusions and beer
reductions. Creme brulee is dressed up in Earl
Grey tea; Pimlico pie, a chocolate, pecan, and
brown-sugar confection, is paired with black
cardamom gelato. The lovely, moist ginger
stout cake ($6.50) tastes like the best fruitcake
you ever had, only unmarred by day-glo can-
died cherries and pineapple. It is garnished
with whipped cream buoyed by a reduction
of Peg Leg stout and candied kumquats, and
while a server advises pushing the fruit off the
cake if it doesn’t appeal, that would be a waste
of a beautiful and tasty garnish.
In a short time, Heavy Seas Alehouse is
drawing happy-hour revelers, corporate shirts
and ties, couples on a night out, and a clientele
of varied ages and backgrounds, which speaks
to the sheer comfort of the place. Although
no beer is brewed on premises, Heavy Seas
Alehouse feels every bit as authentic as any of
Baltimore’s historic or contemporary brew-
pubs. It’s a worthy addition to the lineup.
Heavy Seas Alehouse is open for lunch
and dinner seven days.
photo by Sarah Thrower
11. the plump, savory patties are
dressed with a red cabbage
slaw and pickles and served
on toasted spent-grain rolls.
They’re juicy little wonders.
The roasted chicken
entree exemplifies Seeber’s
restrained approach. There are
no gimmicks here, just hand-
somely presented and patiently
prepared pieces of flavorful
chicken, served with sauteed
kale and a pretty white bean and
tomato casserole. An entree of
stout-glazed 24-hour short ribs,
served with roasted turnips and
pickled red onions, is similarly
effective and flavor-focused.
These are approachable
dishes that feel right at home in
this gleaming pub. When Seeber
decides to push things a little
bit, it’s with side dishes like a puree
of celery root and Yukon Gold potatoes, or a
full-on risotto made from coarse farro grain
and muscled up with pork confit and porta-
bello. Keep your eyes on the specials, too. For
his terrific sauteed skate preparation, Seeber
dispensed brightening grapefruit, tomato,
capers and fresh herbs. The skate, served with
sauteed asparagus, was a midweek special, and
a tantalizing taste of how far Seeber can take
diners.
There are treats everywhere, like the
arousing smoked mussel salad from the well-
tended raw bar; the house salad, composed of
locally grown baby lettuces, tossed with shaved
fennel, hazelnuts and blood oranges; and a
dandy Angus beef hamburger topped with
Stilton cheese and stout-flavored onions.
Attention is paid to dessert, too. Try the
Pimlico Pie, a regional version on the pecan
pie, served with black cardamom gelato from
nearby Pitango, or the creme brulee flavored
with Earl Grey tea.
But the best treat of all, and on their own
There are so many things
to admire about Heavy Seas
Alehouse, the thoroughly win-
ning new establishment in Little
Italy’s Holland Tack Factory.
There is the understated,
comfortable decor, mercifully
free of pirate paraphernalia.
(Frankly, I was worried about
that.) The smartly conceived
menu from executive chef Matt
Seeber is instantly appealing
and accessible, and is being
executed with impressive confi-
dence. The front-of-house staff
is welcoming and impressively
trained. They’re fully on board
with this new project, and their
pride comes through.
Heavy Seas Alehouse takes
its name from the popular line
of beers by Maryland’s Clip-
per City Brewing Co., whose
founder, Hugh Sisson, is the godfather of this
area’s microbrew movement. Sisson has no
direct involvement in this project, but it has
his blessing.
The most admirable thing about Heavy
Seas Alehouse is how well it plays to both the
beer expert and those indifferent to beer. Fans
of Heavy Seas will find no fewer than eight
brews on tap — and two on “cask” — on any
given night, along with a bracing selection of
beer-laced cocktails, like the rich and hearty
Lost Cargo, made with Heavy Seas Peg Leg
Stout, bourbon, port and bitters.
Heavy Seas beers have been craftily
worked into the pub menu, too, from the
Loose Cannon in the onion-ring batter to the
Peg Leg glaze on the 24-hour beef short ribs to
the Marzen jus that accompanies the roasted
free-range chicken. Later, there’s a terrific
ginger stout cake served with Peg Leg whipped
cream. Even the delicious bread and sandwich
rolls are baked in part with Heavy Seas spent
grain, a byproduct of the brewing process.
But none of this feels forced or arbitrary
— it feels like a chef fully engaged in explor-
ing the possibilities and potentials of flavoring
with beer. Seeber, whose most recent position
was at Craftsteak, a Tom Collichio restaurant
in Las Vegas, doesn’t pour beer where it’s not
wanted.
The everyday Heavy Seas menu is not so
much playing it safe as playing it smart. Diners
are getting to know, and to depend on, a solid
lineup of menu items that a new kitchen is
able to deliver with consistent results. Seeber
has also had time to fix the few things that
weren’t working. The menu’s original braised
pork belly appetizer, which was confusingly
paired with a slice of crab toast, has been
replaced by a tempura version, five luscious
nuggets ready for dipping in a tomato-maple
sauce.
Other things arrived on the opening
menu fully formed and have stayed that way.
Don’t miss the appetizer of sausage sliders.
Formed from good Roma sausage and given
a boost of flavor from a Heavy Seas pilsener,
Restaurant Review: Heavy
Seas Alehouse Takes a
Winning Tack
At new Little Italy restaurant, drink and food menus are buoyed by beer
by Richard Gorelick, The Baltimore Sun, March 31, 2012
photo by Gene Sweeney Jr.
12. With a name like Heavy Seas Alehouse, you might expect that the new bar and restaurant
in Little Italy/Harbor East would be a shrine to the esteemed Baltimore craft brewery. Hugh
Sisson, the brewery’s founder, said before the opening that licensing the name was meant as
a showcase for the brand. And the beer list that was previewed underscored that point — all
Heavy Seas, all the time.
But for all the Heavy Seas love, this isn’t a venue that appeals to just fans of the beer. In
fact, it is the first great new bar of the year, more than meeting the expectations set by the
Heavy Seas name.
From the service to the small details in the menu, there are no false moments here. It left
me wanting to come back, hoping to finally grab a glass of the Siren Noire, which wasn’t avail-
able the three nights I visited, and another bite of one of the excellent burgers, available until
midnight in the late night menu — a feature that will earn it many admirers in the area.
Heavy Seas Alehouse is a bar and a restaurant. Taking up a big chunk of space at the Tack
Factory, it’s divided into three dining sections: a semiprivate area in the center, called the Cap-
tain’s Lounge; an airy space near the entrance, and a third spot filled with booths and high-top
tables that shares space with the bar. The bar seats about 12 and faces away from the diners and
the street, giving it an intimate feel.
The decorating scheme could have been overwhelming. Patrick Dahlgren, the brains
behind the bar, had promised a — shudder — nautical theme in a nod to the Heavy Seas label.
I imagined something like Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean ride, with stuffed sea animals on
some walls, novelty mermaids hanging from others, maybe even waiters wearing eye patches.
(I’m half-describing Barracudas Tavern in Locust Point.)
But Heavy Seas is spare, almost fastidious. The owners have chosen to play up the build-
ing’s industrial look, and they’ve matched bare, exposed brick walls with colorful Heavy Seas
posters that pay homage to the brand with creativity.
The bar is punctuated by a tap system that, with all the colorful Heavy Seas logos lined up,
looks like a box of crayons. The restraint extends to the menu, which has mercifully few pirate puns
and features an admirable commitment to sustainable farming, with an acknowledgment of and
thanks to its farmers and growers, which include Baltimore’s Five Seeds Farm and Big City Farm.
Bar Review: Smooth
Sailing at New Heavy
Seas Alehouse
Showcase of Baltimore brewery is one of year’s
best new bars
By Erik Maza, The Baltimore Sun , 6:56 a.m. EST, February 29, 2012
The beer taps inside the new Heavy Seas Alehouse. (Kenneth K. Lam, Baltimore Sun / February 22, 2012)
photo by Gene Sweeney Jr.
a reason for going to Heavy Seas, is the
onion rings. Big, golden and crunchy, every
one perfect thing, glistening in a savory bat-
ter of buttermilk, whole-grain Dijon mus-
tard and Heavy Seas Loose Cannon beer.
They’re a triumph. And when a restaurant
lavishes so much care and attention on the
small things, you can bet it’s getting the big
things right, too.
Already, Heavy Seas has become a
destination restaurant, something never
remotely achieved by its predecessors in the
space, Tsunami and Diablita. The previous
tenants were such resounding failures that
people started to wonder about the location,
just on the outskirts of the Harbor East
development.
It turns out it wasn’t the location.
Everything about the warehouse setting —
the whitewashed walls, dark wood, black
trim and industrial proportions — seems
purposefully to evoke both shipbuilding
and brewing. Aside from some painting and
polishing, Heavy Seas Alehouse looks pretty
much the same as it did when it was Dia-
blita. (One thing needs fixing: The murky
sound system sounds waterlogged.)
The difference is that Heavy Seas is
confidently inhabiting the space. The space
will continue to grow, too. The front area is
where the crowd wants to be, but there are
quieter dining spaces, including an enclosed
back room with a smaller back bar. An en-
closed beer garden will be coming soon, too.
People love it here, you can tell. There’s
not a pandering moment at Heavy Seas
Alehouse. Neither is there a lazy reliance
on glib gastro-trends. Instead, Heavy Seas
Alehouse is attracting diners by serving a
quality product. Good thinking.
Heavy Seas Alehouse
Where: 1300 Bank St., Little Italy
Contact: 410-522-0850,
heavyseasalehouse.com
Hours: Open daily for lunch and dinner
Prices: Appetizers, $7-$17; entrees, $18-$26
Food: ✭✭✭1/2
Service: ✭✭✭1/2
Atmosphere: ✭✭✭1/2
[Key: Outstanding: ✭✭✭✭; Good: ✭✭✭;
Fair or Uneven: ✭✭; Poor: ✭]
