It’s borderline freezing outside, but the tables in Golden Block Brewery and Restaurant in Silverton are almost full. The bar doesn’t have a single open barstool, either – a bit disappointing, considering we stopped by this Greene Street eatery to drown our sorrows in booze.
We snag a table near the open pizza kitchen, and are immediately drawn to the chaos of the kitchen staff. They’re throwing pizza after pizza into the wood-fired pizza oven, and the smell that emanates from it is simply divine. There goes our plan to drink our dinner.
We’re greeted by a server who turns our attention to the chalkboard on the wall beside us. That’s where the beer options – all brewed in house – and the drink specials are. We opt for a flight of beer, one of the night’s drink specials – the Sinafire, which is made with Fireball and apple puckers, among other things – and a couple of shots. Bottoms up to Silverton.
The beer arrives quickly, and it’s clear from the first sip that this brewery, while not on our normal rotation, should be a stop on all beer lovers’ itineraries. The brewery keeps a constant flow of beer on tap, from the Arrastra Red Ale, a malt-forward Irish red ale, to the creamy Drill Steel Stout. Each one we sample is as tasty as the one prior, and we find ourselves drinking the beer in front of us with entirely too much enthusiasm. The kolsch is light and crisp, and there’s a blackberry sitting at the bottom of our taster, a nice, and unusual, touch. The Golden Bock has hints of caramel to it, and it quickly begins to warm us up from the inside. We’d like to try them all, but a couple of the more popular choices are tapped for the night.
After we down our drinks, the tempting wafts of bubbly, cheesy pizza we smell as the servers rush by proves too much temptation to stave off. We order a couple of pies and an order of artichoke dip to stave off the hunger that has quickly risen in our bellies.
As with our drinks, the pies arrive quickly, but the artichoke dip doesn’t find its way to our table until well after. We’re fine with the flip of the order – our pizza is so warm, and the crust so light and salty, that we hardly notice the mix-up. It’s only after our dinner partner brings our attention to the missing artichoke dip that it even registers.
When it arrives a few minutes later, we’re surprised to see it has been spread on a baguette for us, but it comes in handy after the combination of altitude and alcohol kick in. All we have to do is pick it up and shovel it in. No other coordination required.
It isn’t long before we decide we can’t fit a single drop or bite more in our mouths, and we settle up with the server for what seems like a nominal price for such a great meal. We’re a bit tipsy from the barley, whiskey, and Rumchata, but still warm as we make our way out of this newer addition to Silverton and into the cool, fall night.
Golden Block and their malty, hoppy goodness has proven a good addition to the main drag in this train-loving little town.
Angelica Leicht
