He sticks his garden herbs in the craft beer (Fists of Feury) that he created with his brother, Terence, 43, now the celebrated top chef at Fork, the Old City bistro. He coos over the wild Arctic char his fishmonger flies in. He salutes his farms on the menu - Windy Acres baby vegetables, Branch Creek salad greens.
He was trained in New York (at the Waldorf-Astoria and Le Cirque), and Paris (Les Olivades), and by the French-Asian master Susanna Foo. But his new roots are here.
Quite literally. Beside Nectar's parking lot you see his own crop of peppers, squash, Thai basil, parsley, sage, and Feury's personal favorite - rosemary, the secret in his breads and the Feury family brew.
Rick Nichols: What's up with the beer thing? Did you just hop on the happening craft-brew bandwagon?
Patrick Feury: Nah, I've been fooling with it since high school. My brother Terry bought me a beer-making kit.
R.N.: But this golden pale ale, Fists of Feury, isn't a hobby beer. It's pretty polished stuff, Nectar's best-seller.
P.F.: Well, when I moved out here to open Nectar, I got in touch with Bill Covaleski, who runs Victory Brewing in Downingtown. He did all the beer menu for us; I did the food pairing. We got to be great friends. We both have young kids about the same age. Later I got to know brewers at Allagash up in Maine.
R.N.: Speaking of young children, you told me your 5-year-old son is into oysters, and your 7-year-old daughter comes to Nectar on your day off to bake bread with you. Isn't she also an ice skater?
P.F.: I used to play ice hockey as a kid. And my wife Tina was a nationally ranked figure skater. When we were dating, we used to go to the Wissahickon rink. Now our daughter is off to the rink in West Chester all the time.
R.N.: And you're also a skilled ice sculptor?
