 |
Menu Group
Devin Otto Kimble
With a unique identity to each restaurant, the Menu Group outlets—Brewerkz, Café Iguana and Wine Garage—are loved for their hearty grub and well-crafted drinks. At the helm of things is Devin Otto Kimble, co-founder and Managing Director of the Menu Group. Armed with a wealth of experience in the hospitality industry, Devin has helmed the group’s outlets to suit a wide variety of clientele, from families to working professionals, and has a keen eye for making adaptations according to their preferences. One such example is how his kitchen has modified the buffalo wings, swapping the fiery Red Devil sauce marinade with a Thai-style sauce to suit local tastes. “My favourite,” Devin jokes, “is the way some Singaporeans eat burgers by having the kitchen cut them up into 6 pieces. Just like dim sum!”
|
Whether cut up or not, the burgers from Brewerkz are Devin’s personal favourite on its food menu. “We use nearly a ton of ground beef and freshly ground chuck to make our flame-grilled hamburgers. We also make our own sun-dried tomato, sour-dough buns by hand and serve all our burgers with great fries,” Devin enthuses. He has his top recommendations for Café Iguana and Wine Garage as well. Describing the fajitas at Café Iguana as “a real show”, they arrive sizzling hot on cast iron platters and are accompanied by hand-made chipotle salsa, fresh guacamole and fresh tortillas. The steaks at Wine Garage, according to Devin, are truly special. “They are made from 200-day corn-fed beef that is cooked to perfection on our fruit-wood grill. It is hard not to enjoy a nice glass of red wine with a steak like that!” says Devin.
Ever the beer aficionado who is known to handcraft his own beers, we ask Devin to pass on some of his extensive knowledge to the amateur beer drinker. Here are some of his important tips on what makes a good beer and understanding the world of beer.
| |
|
|
| |
1. You must like the taste.
“Garrert Oliver, the famous brew master of Brooklyn Brewery, says that a good beer should pass the 'Four Pint Test'. What this means is that after you have had three pints and you are ready for a fourth one, then the beer you are drinking is a pretty good one.”
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
2. Find one that you like.
“The world of beer has a large number of styles from ultra-bitter, extremely hoppy, American-style IPA, to sweet fruit beer, malty Scottish Ale, chocolaty Stout, sour Lambics and practically tasteless, industrial Pilsners. Brewers in the German city of Bamberg even specialize in a beer with smoked malt that is pretty much the liquid equivalent of bacon!
Brewerkz is a great place to figure out what fits one's palate. We have the largest array of artisanally brewed beers on tap in Singapore. And their flavors span the gamut of beer styles, such as the extremely popular Golden Ale, the malty and hoppy Pilsner, and the award-winning Hopback—full of flavour but light on alcohol.”
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
3. Drink it the right way.
“Another quality that sets beer apart from many other beverages is its drinkability. Wine is valued for its complexity and spirits for their potency. But beer is a restorative and meant to be drunk, not swirled, nosed and spit out (although there is nothing wrong with that when it comes to wine).”
|
|
| |
|
|
|
