High Brau Taphouse collaborates with La Petite French Bakery for weekly Saturday night events
Chef Chana’s French fries are baked and drizzled with olive oil and a sprinkle of fresh oregano and sea salt. Photo courtesy of La Petite French Bakery.
By Emily Kemme
Someone wise once said marriages are made in heaven, and they might have easily quipped that business partnerships are, too. Because just as it takes two to tango, business people who sync ideas will clean up the dance floor.
The weekly Chef’s Happy Hour events at High Brau Taphouse in Greeley are a good example of that sort of partnership. But as with marriages that last, it takes dedication, and in this case, a lot of skill, to make it work.
A crusty baguette topped with organic basil pesto, fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and peppery basil leaves. Photo courtesy of La Petite French Bakery.
Ben Harmelink and Rob Baumgartner opened High Brau on 16th Street across from the University of Northern Colorado four years ago. The sleek, wood-paneled bar has 30 rotating taps showcasing a variety of Colorado’s 700+ craft breweries, as well as wine, craft spirits, cider, kombucha and mead.
Up one door to the west is La Petite French Bakery, a narrow shaft where at the end you’ll find Chef Fahd Chana, pâtissier, turning out breakfast delicacies like croissants, danishes and pastries. He rounds out days filled with more baking — you won’t want to miss the French delights, including baguettes, flatbreads and classic European-style grab-and-go sandwiches topped with cured ham, gruyere and juicy tomato slices atop a bed of peppery arugula.
The problem is this: there is only one Chef Chana and his baking skills are well-known around town. Typically, the sandwiches and pastries run out early in the day, so if you show up hungry during your lunch hour you could be out of luck.
That’s where good ideas happen, like Saturday night happy hour events at High Brau.
During the first COVID-19 shutdown, Chana suggested to Harmelink that the two businesses knock out a wall between the adjacent buildings. It wasn’t as hard as it sounds; there had previously been a full door, so cutting it down to make a Swiss Chalet-style half window wasn’t difficult.
Every Saturday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Chana offers savory French baked goods to pair with beer at High Brau. Along with hand-cut pomme frites — potatoes baked in the French style with sea salt and fresh oregano — you can order baguette sandwiches, French onion soup or Mediterranean flatbreads spread with house pesto, organic basil, sun-dried tomatoes and organic olive oil. All the happy hour food is made fresh for the event.
In case you’re wondering, beer and Mediterranean sandwiches have a solid relationship. Harmelink recommends pairing light, crisp, easy-drinking lagers or pilsners with what are essentially upscale ham-and-cheese sandwiches.
“A beer with more character will bring out the elements, like the earthiness of the cheese, the saltiness of the ham,” he said.
La Petite French Bakery and High Brau Taphouse share a Swiss Chalet-style pass through window between their businesses. It permits customers to access pastries and Mediterranean sandwiches from the bakery when the two businesses are open, including Saturday night Happy Hour events at High Brau. Photo by Emily Kemme.
But he becomes lyrical when talking about the pizza crust.
“When was the last time you had a pizza where the best part was the crust?” he asked.
Harmelink thinks that crust — with its oily, traditional Italian flavors — pairs best with botanical beers, like drier profile, slightly tart fruit beers, particularly those made with cranberry, cherry or hibiscus. A cherry saison from Sanitas Brewing Company in Boulder might work, as could a Hibiscus Yuzu blonde from Bruz Beers in Denver. High Brau also has wine, long considered a safe pizza pairing.
Because High Brau only sources one keg of each beer, when a keg is gone, they switch it out to something else. What that offers is an opportunity to sample a different beer with one of Chef Chana’s delectable preparations each time you go.
Throughout the year, High Brau and La Petite also host ticketed beer and tasting events served with tasting flights of 5-ounce beers, ciders, meads or kombucha and four small plate courses, including an appetizer, savory dish, soup or salad and dessert. They partner with a number of local chefs.
“The tastes complement and contrast, like French onion soup, which is hearty and savory — if you cut it with a pale ale or American lager, it balances out the whole palate,” Harmelink said.
Special events range between $40 to $75: watch for two-for-one sweetheart deals on High Brau’s social media.
The Saturday night Happy Hours cost whatever you choose to order and each company is paid separately. In that, the idea has evolved from a marriage of two tasteful partners into what might be considered a community-wide fling.
To go taste and enjoy High Brau Tap Haus Chef’s Happy Hour
When: Saturdays from 6 to 8 p.m.
Where: 915 16th Street, Greeley, CO 80631
Good to know: The pass-through window between High Brau Taphouse and La Petite French Bakery is also open to order artisan French-Mediterranean patisserie whenever the bakery is open for business.
Stay connected and up to date for events: Follow on Facebook or the High Brau Taphouse website | La Petite French Bakery: 970-396-2212 | High Brau Taphouse: 970-451-5904