20 | MAY 28 - JUNE 3, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM
CITY LIVING TABLE HOPPIN’
THE NEXT DRAFT
After surviving pandemic-plagued opening, Oakholm Brewing turns two Matthew Tota Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
Dawn Abbruzzese and John Piccolo at Piccolo’s Restaurant on Shrewsbury Street, where Piccolo and Bill Brady will host a wine dinner June 7. RICK CINCLAIR/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE
Chefs John Piccolo, Bill Brady to host wine dinner on Shrewsbury St. Barbara M. Houle Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
An exciting collaborative dinner event with executive chefs John Piccolo and Bill Brady is scheduled for June 7 at Piccolo’s Restaurant, 157 Shrewsbury St., Worcester. Brady, owner of Brady’s, 37 Mechanic St., Leominster, and Piccolo together created a sixcourse dinner menu that will incorporate their unique cooking styles. Marcio Santos, chef at Piccolo’s Restaurant, will be in the back of the house with the host chefs. A “visiting
chef ” may join the group, according to Piccolo. The dish: The wine dinner at 5:30 p.m. is $157 per person, inclusive. Seating is very limited and by reservation only. Call Piccolo’s Restaurant (508) 754-1057 after 4:30 p.m. (open Tuesday through Saturday) to reserve, or purchase tickets at the restaurant. “We expect the event to sell out quickly and it’s first-come, first-served. No exceptions,” said Piccolo. The event marks the first wine dinner at Piccolo’s Restaurant in several years, “way before COVID-19,” according to Piccolo. “People had been ask-
ing me to do a wine dinner and I talked to Bill and we decided to go with it. As chefs and both members of the Escoffier Society, we’ve been known to raise a glass together once in a while,” joked Piccolo, who recalled how he previously had teamed up with other local chefs in presenting wine dinners. “We’re excited to be in the kitchen, pair the wines and share the experience with friends,” said Piccolo. “It promises to be a unique night of fine wine and food.” See HOPPIN’, Page 22
The first time Andrew Woodward handed me one of his beers, his brewery only existed on paper. In June 2019, the 90-yearold barn at Oakholm Farm in Brookfield looked worn and dusty, an enclave for spiders, and had not yet transformed into Woodward’s handsome taproom. A broken concrete foundation occupied the spot where his 10-barrel brewhouse now sits. And instead of a beer garden, wild grass grew into the woods. We stood under a tent, drinking beers from a trailer Woodward had rigged with taps and a cooler for kegs. I visited the farm to write about the idea of Oakholm Brewing Co., the brewery Woodward founded with his friend Chris “Babe” Predella and Predella’s father, Rick, leaving impressed with their dream and tenacity. I told Woodward he would have an instant hit when they opened, and not just because of the location. Oakholm debuted in May 2020, one unremarkable weekend in the middle of a state shutdown, limited to selling beer to-go in a parking lot. Quarantining, I spoke to Woodward, the head brewer,
Andrew Woodward, head brewer and co-founder of Oakholm Brewing Co. in Brookfield, stands in his taproom, transformed from a dusty 90-year-old barn. MATTHEW TOTA
about the occasion by phone instead of visiting, forced to see the new taproom and brewhouse through photos. He sounded optimistic despite the circumstances — the worst a new brewery could ask for — reassured by the initial response and by canning five of his beers. A year later, Oakholm has become one of those true destination breweries, having more than survived the chaos of 2020. It enters its second See DRAFT, Page 21
