Snowboarder-turned-restaurateur Josh Beeby created a menu featuring the unique flavors of Belgian food and drink.
Josh Beeby's business card already reads “Owner/Dishwasher/Bartender/Where Needed.”
He could easily add “Beer Evangelist.”
Beeby has created an unusual haven— a Belgian-inspired restaurant and bar, tucked below street level in downtown Greenville. Away from the bustle of nearby Main Street, The Trappe Door is the underground sanctuary in which Beeby preaches the good news that flavorful Belgian foods and beers are meant to be enjoyed together and with friends.
“Nothing stuffy about it, just good, hearty eating with good quality beers and good quality people,” he says. The hands-on restaurateur is a native Australian and former professional snowboarder who financed his athletic adventures by working nights in restaurants and pubs. He settled with his wife, Rebecca, in Greenville about 13 years ago, eventually becoming owner of Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria—just upstairs from the basement he would transform into The Trappe Door in 2011.
Beeby birthed the idea for The Trappe Door while dining at a Belgian restaurant back in Sydney. He and Rebecca later visited Belgium’s Trappist monasteries (where monks still make beer), breweries and eateries, seeking inspiration for their restaurant.
“All of our favorite bars and restaurants were down under the ground, in basements,” Beeby recalls. “They had so much character.”
The character of the menu at The Trappe Door is distinctly Belgian, with Beeby’s creative tweaks.
Moules frites (say “mool freet”) is the coastal country’s signature meal. The Trappe Door offers these steamed mussels in a choice of six broths, including mariniere (white wine, shallots and garlic).
“That’s a pound and a half of mussels in whatever broth you want and fries on the side—frites—all hand cut in house and double fried, the Belgian way,” he says.
Belgians enjoy their frites with a dollop of mayonnaise on top, so Beeby invented 12 different homemade mayo flavors for his menu, including bourbon barbecue, raspberry Dijon, truffle, chipotle, curry and wasabi.
For more authenticity, try the foods with traditional Belgian brews. Showcasing 150 different bottled beers and 10 more on tap, the restaurant allows guests to explore the flavors of Belgian lambics, sour reds and browns, Trappist ales and more.
“It’s great to be able to show people how beer can go with food, and vice versa,” Beeby says.
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23 West Washington St. Greenville, SC 29601
(864) 451-7490
Serving lunch and dinner Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. (to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday). Late‑night menu served 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. Thursday through Saturday, with bar open to 2 a.m.
MOULES MARINIERE
SERVES 2
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 shallots, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
½ cup white wine
½ cup fish stock
2 pounds fresh live mussels
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, diced
Clean mussels by filling sink with cold water and pulling out any string-like ropes from the shell. Pick through, one at a time, and make sure none are open. If a mussel is open, tap it gently with your finger; it should close up. A mussel that does not close is dead and needs to be discarded.
Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and garlic. Saute, stirring constantly for about a minute or until softened. Deglaze the pot with the white wine, and then add the fish stock, mussels and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cover the pot, and let the mussels steam for about 8 minutes or until all the mussels have opened. Add the butter and parsley and stir until the butter has melted and all ingredients are well mixed.
Serve in bowls with the broth in the bottom, discarding any mussels that didn’t open.