The Dubh Linn Gate turns five
It takes more than the luck of the Irish to keep a bar busy all year-round but the Dubh Linn Gate has now done it for five years in a row. What’s the secret? A high standard of service, variety in food and drinks, low-season specials, top notch live music, damn good Guinness and friendly staff that seem to stick around.
Point in case is manager Paul Cosgrove. He’s been running the traditional Irish Inn for more than four years.
"I really believe in maintaining standards and I guarantee you won’t find a better Guinness in Whistler, that’s for sure," Cosgrove said with steadfast conviction.
I decided to put him to the test, challenging him to pour the perfect pint. Considering I’d never drunk the stuff, I was secretly out of my depth but I played along in the interests of good reporting.
Cosgrove knows his Guinness. The Irish-born immigrant has been pouring and drinking it for years.
"I opened an Irish pub in Switzerland, worked in one in Chicago and been here for a while, so I know a thing or two about it," he winked.
He proceeded to give me a masters in all things Irish and all things Guinness. Like, did you know that Dubh Linn Gate is the traditional name for Black Pool, the body of water that lies underneath and around Dublin? Guinness recommends serving its beer at 4 degrees? Cosgrove is quick to rebuff he’s not going to argue though with someone from Ireland who wants his Guinness warmer.
"The best pint is always your local pint, right? In Ireland some of the pubs’ refrigeration systems are really quite old, making it impossible to maintain the four degrees level so I guess that’s what they’re used to," he said.
"There’s an expectation with a pint of Guinness. It has to be poured properly. Make sure you always ask the bartender if he drinks Guinness. If he doesn’t, he won’t appreciate how it’s poured. And ask how many pints they sell a week. If it’s not a high amount, don’t buy it, the beer will be old."
Dubh Linn Gate definitely sells a lot of it. Cosgrove said they’ve sold half a million pints of it since they opened and sell more in one bar than the rest of Whistler’s publicans put together.
The lesson goes on as the lunch crowd starts to settle around the long, square-shaped bar. I detect English accents to my left, and Irish to my right, but I’m fixated on my beer teacher.
"Pour it three quarters full and let it settle. Then when you top it up, it shouldn’t have more than a finger width of head. Watch the bartender is not being sly with a 45 degree angle to get head either. There should be no bubbles." Presentation is key with this heavy brown nectar.
He also recommends to get used to the taste of Guinness, it’s essential to drink three in one sitting.
"The first to get the taste, the second to appreciate it and the third to help you stick around for a fourth," he quipped.
After my first, I see he’s not really joking. I’m hooked and would love nothing more than to stay all day propped at the bar chatting, but it’s only 11 a.m. and I have things to do.
Like move on to the menu, which is still maintained by Hungarian head chef Bela Krajnyak.
"He’s a great guy, very well established in this town so it’s wonderful to be able to keep him," said Cosgrove. Krajnyak likes to change the menu on a seasonal basis, to keep abreast of changes in culinary tastes, but still maintains the tried and true basics that walk out the door every day. That would be steak and Guinness pies, shepherds pies, Irish stews and fish & chips.
The start of spring signals the return of the Dubh Linn Gate’s two-for-one dinner deals. It’s an incentive that Cosgrove said works well for them.
"Every night we have a different offering and we pack them in, which is great. We don’t want to be just a tourists’ bar, we welcome the locals with open arms too.
"People perceive the Dubh Linn Gate to be an expensive place to drink beer, which I just don’t get," said Cosgrove, who whipped behind the bar again to prove his point. He puts two beer glasses on the bar and fills them with water. "We serve 20 ounce pints here as opposed to everywhere else that serves 16 or even 14 ounce sleeves. See the difference?"
I can.
"We fill our beers completely to the top too, there’s no cutting corners. We’re not in the business of ripping people off."
One thing I’ve always loved about Irish pubs is how welcome they make you feel and in the 20 minutes I’ve spent with Cosgrove and several of his staff, I’m almost sad to leave. I ask five-year Dubh Linn gate bartender, Chas, if he gets many people that come in for one and stay all day.
"Yeah all the time. When they first come in I’ll ask them if they want to run a tab and they say ‘no, we’re just here for one’. Next thing you know it’s 11:30, I’m finished and they’re still here. It’s great."
Cosgrove believes every Irish visitor to Whistler comes to the Dubh Linn Gate, and many Americans too.
"They love their themed bars," he said.
I look around and admire the décor. While it is indeed themed, it’s actually the complete replica of an actual Irish bar in Dublin.
"Everything you see, except the chandeliers, has been imported from Ireland. The tables, chairs, clocks, pictures, wallpaper, everything."
That’s pretty impressive but important, to give the bar a real authentic feel – that’s of course it you don’t look out the window at the gondola whizzing around.
The Dubh Linn Gate’s fifth anniversary party is a two-day affair, Friday and Saturday, May 9 and 10. The bar will go back to day one – 1998s prices – for the event and they’ll introduce the new two-for-one menu. Unlimited breakfasts will be served until 3 p.m. and there’ll be live music from Guitar Doug and Kyla plus the Bowen Boys/Black Water band. Phone 604-905-4047 for reservations.
