WV Gourmet

Sure, they might not have been very good at paying their rent, but I was sorry to see Pullman Square’s Moe’s Southwest Grill close last year.

Fortunately for Huntington burrito lovers, Moe’s is back. Sure, it’s called “Dos Amigos“, but it’s a carbon copy of Moe’s, even seemingly down to the appliances and tableware.

This, as I discovered at lunch today, is emphatically a good thing. I grabbed their premium-priced pork burrito, piled with a tasty cilantro-lime flavored rice, black beans, a spicy home-made salsa, olives, and a sprinkle of fresh, shredded cilantro (yum) for $5.99, and left both well fed and happy.

It came with an acceptably heaping portion of hearty, fresh tortilla chips, and free access to a salsa bar where you’ll find a very passable, well-balanced pico de gallo and an excellent corn salsa, among other things.

Their menu is a lot slimmer than Moe’s, but they will make tacos or salads if you prefer, and offer ground beef, chicken, and steak in addition to the pork. The menu includes beer and margaritas, although neither are actually on sale just yet.

Moe’s Dos Amigos is brought to us, the Herald-Dispatch says, by the owners of the Hall of Fame cafe just across the road. As you’ll read in the link, they’re promising an emphasis on freshly made cuisine, and even though the staff were obviously still learning the ropes today, it’s a promise that rings pretty true. The marinated, slow-roasted pork was delicious, the range of salsas had been made with some skill, and the portion size was just right. I’ll be going back to try the chicken.

The best thing about it? There’s no embarassed-looking fool shouting “WELCOME TO MOE’S” at you when you walk through the door. That’s one Moe’s standby I am not sorry to see the back of.

A tip for out-of-state beer lovers: don’t come here. It sucks.

A bizarre reverse loophole in WV liquor legislation prevents the sale any beer greater than 6% alcohol by volume in West Virginia. Despite several recent efforts by pressure groups and state lawmakers, it looks as if the situation isn’t about to change, and this means that the bulk of the superb, delightful produce of the burgeoning American craft beer industry is just not sold here. The Charleston Gazette’s beer expert Rich Ireland has the full story of the collapse of the most recent attempt to fix this ridiculous situation, together with some pithy commentary with which I heartily agree.

What to do, then? Either head out of state and pick up beer at a store in the surrounding area or, if that’s not an option, get some shipped from one of the many on-line stores. Doing either of these things is probably illegal, although your chances of getting busted seem very small. (Or you can brew your own, but that’s a post for another day.)

This sad situation means many thousands of superb beers are out of the reach of many West Virginians who don’t live within easy reach of an out-of-state outlet, or can’t afford the high shipping rates of the online merchants.

Exhibit one: the American IPA, or India Pale Ale. To my mind, the finest of American beer styles, and one of the most popular creations at any craft brewery. But barring one Sierra Nevada seasonal (the delicious Anniversary, which appears in WV stores every fall and barely squeaks under the 6% line) and Harpoon IPA (which is entirely too shy and retiring for my taste) there’s nothing that qualifies as a real IPA to be found in WV; most mainstream examples fall in the 6.5% to 7.25% area.

And one of my favorite IPAs is from Bells, a brewery up in Michigan that’s among the larger of the many US microbreweries. Named Two Hearted Ale, it sports a handsome label with a picture of a trout; both the name and the imagery are owed to an Ernest Hemingway short story about a fishing trip on Michigan’s Two Hearted River.

If you’re used to the swill that passes for beer in most WV store coolers, it’ll raise your eyebrows. It’s full-bodied even for an IPA, and is towards the higher end of the ABV scale. But slosh it into a nice wide-mouthed glass — don’t, for the love of god(s), drink it from the bottle — and the hop aroma will practically fill the room. The floral, citrusy bouquet is unmistakable, and decidedly appetizing. Take a sip, and you’ll find it’s not as mouth-puckeringly bitter as some IPAs can be, despite the considerable hop flavor. Balance is the key here, and although I love the more off-the-wall IPAs many micros have developed, Two-Hearted is decidedly an easy beer to drink.

For a microbeer, it’s comparatively widely distributed in around the eastern US. My regular source is Ashland Beverage Center in Kentucky, but it should be available in good PA and VA stores too. If you know of a good supplier in other areas, let us know in the comments.