Amsterdam Brewhouse

The cheddar sauce on the mac and cheese begins as Boneshaker, the brewery's own IPA; the pretzels are folded from beer bread and finished with a wort caramel reduction; the schnitzel is breaded in spent grain pulled straight from the mash. At Amsterdam Brewhouse, the beer does not sit politely beside the plate — it works its way into the cooking. This is the waterfront face of a Toronto brewing company, a large-format craft brewery and pub strung along Queens Quay in Harbourfront, where the kitchen treats the tanks behind the bar as a pantry as much as a tap list.

The smokehouse runs deepest. Twelve-hour smoked brisket turns up all over the menu — stacked on a toasted Kaiser roll with apple butter barbecue, poblano lime slaw and crispy onions; folded into the Boneshaker mac and cheese; plated on its own with smash-fried ruby reds, baked beans and cheddar hush puppies. The fullest expression is the Amsterdam Barbeque Tower, a shareable rig of baby back ribs, a full pound of that brisket, Downtown Brown Iberico pork sausage and Buffalo wings, sized for a table that wants the visit to feel like a beer-and-barbecue outing rather than a quiet dinner.