St. Veronus Cafe and Tap Room (722 Words) ((Draft Two))

      As I walked up towards the historic building on the corner of Hunter and Water streets downtown Peterborough, I admired the old red and gray brick building. The old Commerce building, which was once home to the Commercial Bank of Canada until the 1980’s, is now the home to St. Veronus Café and Tap Room. Opened by Roland Hosier in 2002, St. Veronus serves delicious Belgian food and beers.  The outside of the building stands out as the only four-storey building on the block with red aging brick going from the second storey up and newer gray brick wrapping the main level.

    When I first walked into the tap room, I was greeted by a kind looking server dressed in a clean white button up shirt and black dress pants. Surrounded by the dark wood tables and stools, bar and shelves, I couldn’t help but notice the wide variety of imported beverages I had never heard of. The delicious smell of freshly baked garlic bread filled the air reminding me of when my mom would bake bread when I was a child. My mouth instantly watered. As I sat waiting to speak to Roland, I looked around the tap room and saw the many photos of happy customers enjoying a beer. It really felt welcoming and cozy.

     Shortly after I was seated, Roland arrived to be interviewed about the restaurant and building. We sat in the main seating area in a comfortable red booth.  He quickly began by telling me his inspiration for the cuisine he serves and what his customer base looks like. “I spent some time as a kid in Belgium, so I knew about the food and beer culture there, so I was inspired by that. I find mostly families, retirees, professional people, and blue-collar workers come here, everyone except teenagers and students just because of our price point.” (R. Hosier, Personal Communication, March 9, 2019) When asked if he felt customers were more drawn to the Belgian cuisine or the international beers, Roland responded that the two go hand in hand because many of their dishes are cooked using the beers they serve. (Personal Communication, March 9, 2019) The top selling dish on the St. Veronus menu happens to also be the national dish of Belgium, (moules frites) mussels with fries. “Almost five years ago, we began to offer half price mussels on Tuesdays and that has been a real hit with our customers” (R. Hosier, Personal Communication, March 9, 2019)

    The restaurant is split into 2 main dining areas and the tap room. The tap room was sectioned off with more dark wood and windows. Retro beer advertisements hung between the windows looking out onto Water street, and a cozy little booth down a couple of steps in front of the Hunter street windows all made me feel like I could be in Belgium. “I really liked the classic styles of eating establishments in Belgium. There are cafes that; in English, are called ‘Small Browns’ which feature this style of wood work. A bit more up scale and formal than that are Brasseries. St. Veronus falls between a Small Brown and a Brasserie. I was looking for a mid-point between quite casual and medium formal.”  (R.Hosier, Personal Communication, March 9, 2019)

    We sat and discussed the building’s history, and then went on a tour of the main floor of the building. I was taken to the beer cooler which was once a bank vault. The two-ton vault door opened, and the aroma of beer quickly made me want to try some samples. Bottles of wine lined the shelves inside and several large kegs of international beers were connected to the taps. I see why they keep all that golden nectar locked inside an old bank vault.  We walked to the second seating area where I couldn’t help but look at the original marble mosaic floor that I’m sure would be hard to recreate and the gorgeous plaster work towards the ceiling. The first word that came to my mind was ‘rich’.

   Seeing the many dishes come out of the kitchen going to smiling customers, the welcoming atmosphere, the friendly staff will all have me returning to try some mussels and sample a few beers from their huge selection. It is the beer destination in Peterborough but you won’t hear about it on the radio! Social media and word of mouth is where you may hear about St. Veronus Café and Tap room.