Microbreweries are becoming common fixtures within the culinary scene. Most microbreweries feature in-house restaurants to promote the various beers that are brewed on location. These pub-style restaurants like to boast unique foods, flavors and most importantly ambience. It's true; the ambience is generally fun and vibrant. The clientele ranges from the ladies who lunch to the average sports-loving, beer-drinking guy who needs a place to escape from his spouse or meet up with the guys for a drink. However, the food menus are far from unique or cutting edge. If you compared menus from several microbrewery restaurants, you would find more similarities than not. This isn't a bad thing, because the deep-fried fatty foods lend themselves to the bitter and floral overtones of the specialty brews. The unique and wonderful flavors aren't the foods being offered, but the specialty beers themselves.

These types of gathering places like to boast a new and stylish feeling, however, they are truly historic. When we head into a microbrewery, we are literally walking into history that has been in the making for centuries. The pub-style gathering points were common in England and the surrounding countries. Most countries have some form of a pub or gathering place. These gathering places were community centers that offered refuge to the weary traveler, a place for a brewed beverage and a hot meal.

I personally love pubs and the foods they offer. While doing some shopping with friends up near Ogden, we decided to head over to Roosters. This well-known eating establishment is located on 25th Street. They offer a beautiful building that can seat both small and large parties. There is a greenhouse seating area during the winter months as well as generous patio space for summer dining. The service was laid-back and the appetizers took too long to arrive. Don't expect to be greeted at the door and you may need to request seating service if the receptionist is busy talking. This restaurant makes claims to unique and original foods. After looking through the food menu, I didn't find any truly unique items and found the food selections to be repetitive and unoriginal.

Once seated, the sun warmed my back but became an annoying nuisance for anyone that was seated facing it. Even though the greenhouse winter seating area looks inviting, it may be a bit to bright if you are the unlucky person facing the sun. The menu resembled most microbreweries with several deep-fried, grilled, seafood, pasta, and salad dishes being offered. The most unique menu options were the microbrews. House beers are offered year round and include a Two Bit Ale, Chocolate Stout and a Polygamy Porter. The seasonal beers change about every 6-8 weeks. The two seasonal beers I tried were rosemary and a holiday dunkelweissen. I would highly recommend ordering a sampler of all the micro brews to appreciate the variety of complex flavors.

I ordered the beer-battered onion loops as an appetizer, followed by a shrimp and chicken pasta dish. The pasta dish was finished off with a few sautéed vegetables and everything was smothered in a pepper jack cream sauce. For dessert, a housemade carrot cake. The server was friendly and was helpful in pairing beers to entrées. The pasta dish was good, the beer was excellent and the visit with friends was priceless.

If you're up in the Ogden area and would like a nice, moderately priced restaurant that offers family-style dining, good ambience and comfort foods, than Roosters is the place for you. The restaurant didn't offer any "wow" factors but is one place I would go back to if I happened to be in the area.

I love a good Alfredo pasta dish. The pepper jack cheese sauce that my pasta dish was finished off with was nothing more than and Alfredo sauce that had grated pepper jack cheese added to it. It was simple and delicious. For all you pasta lovers out there I'm sharing my Alfredo sauce recipe with you. Have fun making it and pairing it with your favorite pasta dish.

Alfredo Sauce

» 2 cloves garlic

» 2 cups cream

» 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (add 1/5 cup grated pepper jack cheese if desired)

» Freshly cracked black pepper

1 » In a sauté pan, add garlic and just a little bit of extra virgin olive oil. Sauté for a few seconds.

2 » Pour cream into sauté pan and reduce by half.

3 » Add freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

4 » Add pepper to taste.

5 » Serve at once.