July 25, 2017 – The beer-centric Felton restaurant and alehouse Cremer House has just hired Peter Henry as its new executive chef. Chef Peter most recently worked as executive chef at Michael’s on Main in Soquel and has also worked locally at Café Rio in Aptos, Pajaro Street Bar & Grill in Salinas and at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. In fact, it was the former head chef at the aquarium, David Anderson, who encouraged him to attend Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in San Francisco.
The new chef promises to continue Cremer House’s policy of serving only homemade, seasonal, organic dishes, but he plans to adds some new menu items and double down on some of the restaurant’s most popular fare.
For example, while continuing to serve the restaurant’s famous Sunflour Pretzels, he is also adding Pretzel Bread Pudding as a dessert and Pretzel-Beer Cheese Fondue. Customer favorites like fried chicken and bison meatballs will remain on the menu.
At the same time he is adding slightly more upscale dishes, such as his Porterhouse Pork Chop with Apple-Pomegranate Chutney, made using Santa Cruz Scrumpy Pomegranate Cider—a Felton product that is also available on tap.
“Many of our beers lend themselves so well to cooking and it’s an interesting new challenge to figure out how to use them and pair them with our dishes,” says Henry. “I want to add more layers of flavor to our dishes.”
Another of his new offerings is Shiitake Crusted Scallops served over polenta with Sherry-Prawn Beurre Blanc. Chef Peter says he sees the seasonal specials changing more frequently as produce comes into the market and he is looking forward to fall when he wants to serve Beer Braised Short Ribs, made with spicy Anomaly Milk Stout from Faction Brewing of Alameda—also available on tap.
Cremer House is owned by the same folks who own the New Leaf Markets in Felton and Boulder Creek, making sourcing organic ingredients especially convenient. Former partner Emily Thomas, of Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing, left the company a few months ago to pursue new projects.
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