Awesome Eats @ Blue & Gray Brewing Co.'s Lee’s Retreat

If fresh-brewed beer and foods made with fresh-brewed beer is your thing, then the Pub called Lee’s Retreat inside the Blue & Gray Brewing Co. is right down your ally. In fact, it is down an ally at the Bowmen Center off of Rt. 2 and Rt. 17.  It’s just a Hops, skip and a jump to some Beerific food and brew!

Save your round-trip airfare to London and head to the Pub for real fish and chips that is crunchy on the outside, revealing the moist Cod on the inside and topped with a lime herb butter. A great beer-battered, hand-floured cold water Cod fillet fried to perfection is a hard thing to find this side of the pond, but we did.

When I asked owners Lori and Jeff Fitzpatrick what makes their food so awesome, they replied that everything is better when made with their fresh-brewed beer.  After tasting a few of their beers, I agreed. 

The Minor Dementia is aged in Oak Bourbon Barrels for six weeks and is a whopping 13-percent alcohol content! It is a Russian Imperial Stout; the name alone is intriguing enough to try it.  The Fred Red is wickedly popular and is wonderful when paired with the Black and Blue Steak Dinner. Seasonal brews change and I caught the tail end of the Raspberry Chocolate Stout made for February. Now that is a trifecta: three great things combined into one glass of awesomeness and almost making it a dessert.

Chef Frederick ‘Fritz’ Heller is making a name for himself and the Pub with awesome dishes like the corned beef brisket that is slow-baked in their Stonewall Stout, sliced thin and served on toasted marble rye with Swiss cheese and sauerkraut. He even makes the Thousand Island dressing or you can choose their homemade horseradish mayo on the side. It’s a classic and it’s done well. I think we might hold the first annual ‘Reuben-Off’ in the area since many of the restaurants claim-to-fame is their Reuben Sandwich.  Let’s have the Reuben-lovers be the judge and declare a Blue Reuben Ribbon Winner. 

The heaping bowl of steamed Prince Edward Mussels is the bomb! Chunks of fresh garlic, shallots, butter, herbs and their Classic Lager is the bath that these babies steam in and there is plenty of the savory broth for sopping up with bread, part two of this dish. What I found interesting is the Coconut Calamari because it is marinated in coconut cream and condensed milk so the squid rings are super sweet and tender. They are then dusted with flour and lightly fried and served with a spicy dipping sauce.

The Blue and Gray breaks all of the boring salad offerings at most restaurants and creates some beautiful and delicious salads that even a carnivore would consider.  The Grilled Salad is unique because everything in it is grilled; the Romaine along with the Portabella mushroom, asparagus spears, sweet red pepper and carrots are all drizzled with a Basil Lager Vinaigrette. The Washington has mixed field greens tossed with mandarin oranges, sun-dried cherries, julienne pear, artichoke hearts and Fontina cheese and finished with a cherry wheat beer dressing. If those don’t rock your beer boat the Cranberry Chicken Salad might; Virginia-raised chicken breast infused in their homemade herbal marinade, pre-grilled then pulled. Tossed with cranberry and shaved almonds and blended with a light mustard seed and mayo dressing, these  are ‘Man Salads’ no doubt and yes, they go great with a pint of your favorite fresh-brewed Blue and Gray beer.

Their take on the bacon-cheese burger is a mouth-watering, rich and gooey Gorgonzola Pancetta Burger that melts in your mouth.  Jeff tells us that their lamb burger served with hearty waffle fries is another very popular item at the pub. Daily specials are posted for lunch and dinner using seasonal and locally sourced items.

Be it beer with a burger, sandwich, salad, seafood, or steak, The Blue and Gray Brewing Co. will not disappoint in beer-infused food choices or the brewery ‘tanks and vats’ atmosphere. Steamed Mussels in a savory broth, $7.99, eating them in a working brewery.... Priceless.

If you go to The Blue & Gray Brewing Co., go hungry and tell them you are there for their Awesome Eats. They are tucked behind the Bowmen Center at 3300 Dill Smith Dr. Fredericksburg.