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Let’s Eat: Liquid gold inspires menu at Stack Brewhouse

Cracking a cold one in the kitchen means something slightly different for Chef Nic Gignac

We all know Stack does beer.  It was Sudbury’s first craft brewer.  

With the move to the Falconbridge location, it now does more than ales, lagers, stouts, and sours.  Come for a bite.  Executive Chef Nicolas “Nic” Gignac is ready to share his beer inspired menu. 

“First and foremost I love craft beer, and Ontario has some wonderful breweries. I have been cooking with (and drinking) Stack beer since I came back to Ontario,” Gignac said.

“My wife and I moved here in October of 2018 to help with the renovations at the new brewhouse location. We officially opened the restaurant in August of 2019,” he said. “I have been cooking professionally for nearly 15 years. I graduated from Canadore College's Culinary Program in 2009, then spent some time in Niagara cooking and creating food and wine pairings at a vineyard. 

“I moved out to Saskatchewan to further my career, where I worked my way up to sous chef, then opened my own cafe. In 2014, I moved back to Northern Ontario and opened a casual fine dining restaurant, as well as a very successful food truck in the summer of 2018. When that project ended I relocated to Sudbury and got to work.”

We all know about wine-matching, but beer? 

“It should be more common, honestly. People often associate food and drink pairings with wine. Wine has many different varietals, terroirs and other factors contributing to the complexity of the flavour. The same applies for beer. You could compare two IPAs (India Pale Ale) brewed in the same city and they could be very different. So it makes a lot of sense to pair food with beer in the same way you would pair it with wine.”

There is also cooking with beer.  There are books on this. Chapters must have a whole shelf. Chef Nic sees it as a natural progression. 

“Why not?  Beer isn't just for drinking while preparing a meal! Most people are familiar with fish battered in beer, but you can take it so much further. I love using beer in soups, sauces, dips, marinades, braising liquids, infused vinegars, and more. I also like to work with wort and spent grain from the brewing process, and have even made a hopped ice cream that was delicious.

“The simple answer is to follow the same general guidelines for food and wine pairing. You're looking to have complementary flavours or similar flavours of equal or lesser potency. The beer should compliment the flavour profiles of the food, not drown it out or be lost in the mix. 

“Big bodied beers pair well with red meat, whereas a light lager paired with a strong, coffee rubbed brisket wouldn't be very complimentary, as the rich flavours of the smoked brisket with the salt and coffee crust would over power the light lager. 

“Our Stack 72 Imperial IPA holds up well to a rich brisket, as does our Shattercone IPA, or best of all our Black Rock Black IPA (two-time national gold medal winner at the Canadian Brewing Awards). Pork pairs well with slightly sweeter or soured beers to cut through the fattiness. Our Impact Altbier (multiple gold medal winner at Ontario Brewing Awards) or Hawaiian uppercut pineapple sour would do nicely. You get the idea.

“Chocolate Cherry Stout is currently available in cans. It both pairs well with, and is great for incorporating in a variety of desserts. Stouts have a wonderful, rich flavour that works well with desserts, and our Chocolate Cherry brings in the added flavours of cherry and chocolate, opening up even more possibilities. One great dish I made with it was a black forest cake, and you can imagine how fantastic that was. I have also turned it into a gastrique to top a coffee crusted beef tenderloin, or as you mentioned, it's perfect for ribs.”

Everyone is using social media. How does Stack tell the audience what is on offer and how many engage/order? 

“The weekly features were very well-received. We've since moved into daily features, which have been very popular and regularly sell out. The daily features are posted on our social media pages, and if there is a special item or feature our followers say they would like to see, I'll do what I can to make it happen. With winter around the corner and the change in procedures for holiday party season due to COVID-19, we'll be shifting our focus towards catering. 

“We will have a ton of different options for bringing the food and beer pairing event to you, including my absolute favourite — in-home catering. That's when I show up at your home (or cottage, or work, etc) with the food and hardware, prepare and serve you a (typically multi-course, but not always) meal, then take all the dishes away and take care of all the cleaning for you. It's a great way for the event host to relax and enjoy their guests and not have to worry about anything food related. 

“We will have more details and information coming out soon, but anyone can send me an email ([email protected]) if they have any questions.”

Just like the playfulness of Stack cans labels, Gignac gets to experiment. 

“Working with the smoker is a lot of fun. There is a lot of trial and error, but every cook cycle leads to improvement and innovation. I'm excited for our new winter menu. A very popular dish I have been known for at previous restaurants is my rabbit ravioli in a tarragon cream. With the cooler weather coming, I'm currently working on another hearty pasta dish inspired by the rabbit ravioli, but showcasing our popular smoked brisket. I will also be adding more plant based options, as plant based diets continue to become more common. It's fun to develop new menu ideas and try out new techniques, and hopefully we can create some trends of our own.” 

What is Gignac eating today? 

“Well there's some fresh brisket coming out of the smoker ... so naturally I have to take a taste test … for quality control. As for beer I'll probably enjoy a glass of Shattercone or Black Rock after my shift, I never get tired of those.”

COVID has messed with everyone’s plans. Stack Brewhouse adapted to pick-up and takeout. 

“We will continue to operate with the health and safety of our guests and our staff our top priority, and we will continue to abide by whatever guidelines public health officials recommend,” Gignac said.

“Before patios and now indoor dining were allowed to operate, we offered a rotating weekly feature served by preorder and curbside pickup each Saturday. This simplified operations in terms of inventory and labour requirements, which is a big factor for most restaurants during this pandemic. The entire industry is facing many new challenges right now, but with these challenges comes innovation. The arrival of cooler weather means we'll all have to be even more creative moving forward. I'm currently developing our new winter menu, which will be available soon.”

And he has big hopes for the future.

“I am definitely looking forward to our guests, friends and family being able to get together at the Brewhouse once again, to post up at the bar and enjoy a meal, a flight of beer, and watch a hockey or baseball game, or to come together to celebrate a wedding, or birthday, or just visit with their loved ones. Until then, we will continue to focus on take out, dine in with social distancing measures in place, catering, and always developing new and exciting feature menu items and of course, beer!”

Stack Brewhouse

947 Falconbridge Rd

Sudbury, Ontario

[email protected]


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