Table Talk: New gastropub at CityView

A tied house, in the traditional sense, is a pub that buys its beer exclusively from one brewery.

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board does not allow them. When father-and-son William and Chris Leonard of the General Lafayette Inn, a Lafayette Hill brewpub, sought to open such a gastropub downtown, they relied on William's wife, Rose, and son Jonathan to obtain the restaurant license.

So that's why the General Lafayette and the cozy Tiedhouse - which opened last week in the ground floor of the CityView Condos near the Art Museum (2001 Hamilton St., 215-561-1002) - are separate operations. (Why didn't they just call it "the Loophole?")

The Tiedhouse has modeled the beer selection and style of service after the General Lafayette, says Chris Leonard, who explains that 80 percent of the Tiedhouse beer list is from the General Lafayette. It includes "Tiedhouse lager," an amber beer produced exclusively for the Tiedhouse, plus 10 other bottled beers, such as Ayinger Brau-weisse, Lost Abbey Judgment Day, and Elysian Nite Owl Pumpkin.

Imaginative, international-style small plates (such as Mexican-style meatballs, duck confit tostada) share the billing with salads, sandwiches, and more substantial offerings such as chicken paillard and roasted salmon puttanesca. Top price is $15. It's open daily from 4:30 p.m.

New in South Philly