PBR & "Presentism"

True historians deplore the application of current values to the words and deeds of historical figures. They call such sloppy and lazy thinking "Presentism." Persons with such a view of history tend to discount our founders because of the compromises they made in the context of the times they lived. I am no professional historian, but I feel sort of the same way when I order a Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and an observer asks: "You drink that?" (The 'that' pronounced with two syllables).

What could possibly the connection between discounting, for example, the legacy of Abraham Lincoln because he believed in repatriating former slaves to Africa and discounting the quality and flavor of a PBR because today it is a "cheap" beer? Well, if you believe the present view that PBR is the hipster equivalent of "Fatty Natty," only a short history lesson can connect the dots for you.

Back in the day the history of PBR was a case study at the prestigious Harvard Business School used to teach the value of branding. The lesson it taught: Do not screw around with a formula that made your brand the most popular product in your market just to save a few cents per unit in production costs.  The lesson I also see is to avoid "Presentism."

You may know that Pabst was the blue ribbon beer winner at the World's Fair in 1893.  But you may not know that until the 1970s it was considered a premium beer with sales that exceeded Budweiser. In fact, Pabst reached its production apex in 1978 after which it suffered a precipitous decline that has taken years to reverse.  So what happened?

They screwed with success.

Like "New Coke" which came later, the managers of the Pabst brand changed their formula to make production a little cheaper. It was, after all, the most expensive mass produced beer to brew. The change had something to do with buying grains with lower sugar content. The effect however was devastating. The once strong and popular premium brand quickly lost market share and, more importantly, respect as a premium lager.

You also probably do not know that after it was clear the formula change was a bad idea, the company returned to their original ingredients and lowered the price to try to attract former fans back to the brand.  Sales did go up, never to the high of 1978, but the perspective that it was now a "cheap" beer remained.

To most applying a "presentist" view of the product, that has not changed. But recent beer history tells us the PBR has won medals as one of the best American lagers at least 12 times since 1990. It won the World Beer Cup as a "Premium Lager" in 2006.  Once hard to find, you can savor this premium draft beer on tap for ridiculously low prices at Buds. Bottles and cans of PBR are staples at The Pine Bar and Capitol Oyster Bar. Those iconic 16-oz "Tall Boys" are available at El Rey, LeRoy and The Midtown Pizza kitchen.

So though I have been accused of bringing PBR to parties because it was the only beer others would not pinch from the community coolers and that "Bud" snob Cornbread Carp once declared it was the only beer he would not drink, history and my own taste buds have taught me to stick with my favorite beer because it has a premium taste for a "Natty Light" price.

The moral, if you pay attention to history, is that Lincoln is still a great president and PBR is still a great beer.  Rampant "presentism" is truly a lazy and false way to evaluate history. Thankfully, PBR is still around to defend its brand. But "Honest Abe" has to depend on honest and persistent historians.

Let's all raise a cold PBR to him.

"Ever notice how you come across something once in a while you shouldn't have messed with? That's my PBR."

Man Bites Gump

A Lunch in the Gump Gump to Go in the Gump

It is not news when dog bites man, but how about when man bites a Gump? That is exactly what I did last week when Lunch in the Gump involved eating a Gump: A "Gump" sandwich from Midtown Pizza Kitchen that is. For those of you still skeptical or baffled by our use of the "Lunch in the Gump" moniker for this blog, know this: It has been called "The Gump" by kids in Montgomery for years.  One of the ironies of life in the Gump was nailed by a man from Wales who married a Prattville girl and moved to Montgomery.  He said: "I can tell whether someone is from Montgomery or not by the way they describe it.  Those that love Montgomery moved here from elsewhere.  Those that make excuses for Montgomery are from Montgomery.  I, for one, love it here."

Being from Montgomery I understand this well.  I also understand why we locals "affectionately" use the term "The Gump" to describe our hometown.  So once I learned that Midtown Pizza Kitchen in the Z-RED (Zelda Road Entertainment District) was serving lunch seven days a week I was intrigued to find the have a sandwich called "The Gump" and had to try it.

Glad I did. "The Gump" consists of sun-dried tomato and olive pesto, melted provolone cheese, ham, pepperoni, salami, and mortadella. It's a square sort of thing.  And heavy. Especially for only $7. The trendy kettle chips were a nice compliment to the sandwich which was difficult for one moderately hungry person to eat. But it was different and good. A refreshing break from the typical Chappy's sandwich tray selection of club, chicken salad, egg salad sandwiches and the like.

Actually, I am a little embarrassed to admit that I did not really know Midtown Pizza Kitchen was open for lunch seven days a week. And while I do not normally drink beer with my lunches more than once or twice a week, I noted they still serve PBR, the LITG beer of choice for those with discerning tastes.

Those of us who play down our pride in the recent growth in epicurean selection in the Gump when we bashfully acknowledge our roots to outsiders ought to eventually realize, as I have, that the Gump is really improving in many areas.  Midtown Pizza Kitchen is a part of that improvement. So, let's all be a little more positive and upbeat when we respond to the question: How do you like living in Montgomery?  When those who have lived here only a few years appear to love it more than we do, it seems a little dysfunctional.  It's sort of like a relationship you really enjoy but hide from your family or friends because you are afraid they may not like her as much as you do. I can assure you, most people who have moved to the Gump over the last 10 years like her plenty. So maybe we no longer need to be afraid to say: "I like the Gump!" 

Of course, if your peers look at you like you are crazy and that bothers you then you can always back peddle and explain you were talking about the sandwich at Midtown Pizza Kitchen.

And foreverafter be known as a wimp extraordinaire.

Sal's Reincarnated as Midtown Pizza

The news has been a roller-coaster ride recently which has caused a disturbance in the usual LITG posting schedules. Royal weddings, tornadoes and real commando raids have (in some cases) rightfully taken the national interest above mundane lunch ramblings in the Gump. I exclude the royal wedding from that list because, actually, I was more interested in where the Gump Guinea Pigs might be deployed for pizza than I was with "Kate's Poise." Of course our hearts go out to the victims of the recent storms and we urge you to support relief efforts with your time and money. However, we did have a new restaurant open up in the Gump and we have to let you know about the Midtown Pizza Kitchen.

Hopefully, the escapades of our little furry and expendable commandos (the Gump Guinea Pigs) will continue to entertain. We know their role is not even comparable to the importance of double-tapping Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan, but they do serve a role-if not nearly as dangerous or as important-in making sure we in the Gump are not exposed to poor lunch spots. At least we have the comfort--small that it might be--of knowing that if the GGPs have been in and made it out alive, it is probably a safe bet for lunch.

It was in this spirit that last week (before the tornadoes and death of OBL) that the commander of GGP Commandos ordered the group to lunch at what is now called Midtown Pizza Kitchen on Zelda Road a/k/a the "Z-Red" District. We had previously reviewed the Sal's Pizza that had occupied that space before the sad demise of the Nancy Paterson food dynasty. The reviewers had given the place glowing marks.

But when new management opens a similar themed restaurant in the same space, in the interest of gastronomic safety, it requires a squeak peek job for the Pigs. What we found was that Donovan--the on-site manager of Sal's--is still there and, we were told, chef Christophe Zagagliais is back also. So you can expect similar northern Italian pizza and pasta selections that you saw at Sal's but with some new items and names. We hit the "Zelda" because of the delicious Italian fennel sausage and found it to be very different from the type of southern Italian pizza you will get from pizza delivery joints.

The team happily devours a Zelda Road on Zelda Road.

As with many new openings, the places are often slammed and the service staff overwhelmed (especially on weekends). So although the food was good and reasonably priced (especially if you stick with the cheese pizzas), the service could be improved and we have no doubt Donovan will have the staff ship shape in a lot less time than it took to plan the Royal Wedding.

After our foray into Z-Red, the debriefing was pleasant and the opinions uniform that Midtown Pizza Kitchen was going to be a hit. One of the team even bought a souvenir.


Some of the GGPs are smarter than others....