And last but certainly not least, the final Things We Love Summer Of Beer dinner hosted by Toro.
This is how all beer dinners should be hosted. This dinner was quite possibly the best beer dinner we have ever hosted. Toro not only brought it, but they have set a bar that all restaurants should strive to follow or achieve for any beer dinner being hosted.
Jen Fields, the GM and I got together and sorted out a plan to host the final Things We Love Dinner for the summer. We wanted to go big on this dinner. Price was not an object and the size was to be very limited. I am not going to lie, it was once of our more pricey beer dinners. But once you see what it entailed, it was well worth it. If you have never been into Toro before, it's a very quaint and small restaurant. They have two large high tops in the center of the restaurant and we put them together for a limited 20 person engagement. We wanted it to be exactly what the restaurant is, super casual and super chill with some of the best food in the city being served to you. Again following the mantra of Things We Love, we chose beers and ciders that the everyone in the restaurant agreed on, and Sous Chef Mike Smith, created a wonderful menu to compliment the choices.
In my evil mind, I wanted people to feel sorry for themselves if they missed this dinner. I wanted them to feel bad about not jumping all over this opportunity. Toro is not only one of the best restaurants in Boston, but they treated this beer dinner so well, you should feel sorry for yourself if you missed it. And let it be a warning to you to never miss a beer event at Toro ever again.
I don't want to spend too much time hyping this up. I want to get right into this recap and waste no time getting to the glorious food.
Welcoming:
Bud Light Lime Margarita with tequila, elderflower, grapefruit, and lime.
B.L.L tempura rock shrimp with lime salt, shrimp mayo, and charred jalapenos.
I don't need to get into the controversy that we stirred up by backing Toro's decision to use BLL in a swanky beer dinner. I already did that in way too much detail here. We did it to be cheeky on purpose. We did it because it was a pricey dinner and we were there to have fun.
Needless to say, this is was an awesome choice. The BLL margarita was delicious. The rock shrimp and shrimp mayo were wonderful with slightly spicy charred jalapenos, nice crisp but light batter and creamy mayo. It was on both plate and in drink, sweet and tangy flavors.
So much going on here. What we did for this course was highlight the comparison of a Belgian Geuze to this terrific Spanish cider Toro carries that drinks just like a sour ale or a geuze. We were really surprised at how much the cider was like a gueze and how terrific it was. We wanted beer geeks to know that something like this existed.
When Jen mentioned cheeses and charcuterie for this course, I immediately agreed knowing how acids and sour beers are perfect for cheeses and fatty meats. What I didn't know was that huge trays of meat and cheese would be coming out in bulk portions. Each one of the cheese and meat boards was served to every four people at the table family-style. We had agreed that family-style was the best way to serve this dinner. We have been big fans of this since the Journeyman dinner. But this was impressive.
Now, you will have to forgive me because I did not write down every cheese or bit or charcuterie. There was so much going on with both plates. But I encourage you to click on each picture and enlarge them to see the details on the boards. I was most impressed with the crab apple butter on the meat board. The little pink dollop in the center of the board. It was a well rounded condiment for all the meats. So fun to explore and try the different condiments.
This post has been a long time coming. In a way I am kind of glad I waited to post about this dinner. It was over the summer time and with this colder fall season already in full swing, why not revisit a warm period of time with fun summery foods? Let's try to imagine full green trees, open windows, warm temperatures, and this fun summer event.
Aquitaine is very fun and very well respected bistro in the South End of Boston. Alexis Kimler-Gelburd, the general manager decided it would be a fun idea to expect our offer to partner up for our summer beer dinner series that took place at fine restaurants all over the city, all summer long.
Although Aquitaine is a wine bar, they love beer too. Their experience bartenders were excited for this dinner as well Chef matt who helped sculpt this delicious menu for us.
Aquitaine serves one of Todd's favorite burgers in the city. A few BA power meetings have taken place over a beer and a burger at Aquitaine. Not to mention regular dinner service at Aquitaine is insanely good. You can see the proof here.
Meeting Alexis and realizing how cool she is and how interested she was in hosting a beer event with us, we decided it was a perfect place to host a Summer of Beer Dinner. As some of you know, we stopped hosting themed beer dinners. No more working with rigid guidelines or themes, no one brewer to be featured, just a glimpse of what is seasonal, fresh, and what we love at that moment by way of beer and food.
**Please forgive the image quality. I left the house without my Nikon and captured the dinner withiPhone images.
Welcoming: Penn Weizen Cocktail
Aquitaine's version of a summer French Shandy. Made with Pennsylvania Brewing Co. Penn Weizen and St. Germain. (Yes, it's in a BBC glass. I will explain later in the post.)
Wonderful fresh Island Creek Oysters nicely fried with a good malt batter. Sweet and perfectly paired with the Summer Ale. The fresh oyster and it's sweet and tangy High Life mignonette was another way the beer balanced. Its vinegary tangy with the creamy texture of the oyster gave the beer a creamy yet fresh and effervescent quality. Oysters and this Summer Ale were made for each other.
Second Course: Pretzel Crusted Hake
Endive Marmalade and Coriander with a mustard broth.
Huge portion of fish with this course. Amazing flavors with the mustard broth and pretzel crust. Gorgeous, juicy fresh Hake. And of course a beautiful farmhouse ale from Great Divide. Cloudy, sweet, yeasty and spicy ale that worked well with the fish and coriander that tied it all together. We were all taken back a bit with the size of this course. Aquitaine was not stingy with the food or beer pours. This did mean we were in trouble for the next few courses though. Wide eyes for the rest of the dinner.
Although this picture may not reflect the size of this Boudin Blanc sausage, it was huge! House-madesausage and battered and deep fried like classic summer carnival fair. Fresh corn and pepper cool relish and Peeper Ale. The Peeper is an unfiltered hoppy pale ale with a little more gusto than a typical pale ale. Full bodied and very hoppy, just what the fatty corn dog needed and a little tanginess and fresh sweet corn to help with some added depth and flavors. This course may not seem like was all that or perhaps lackluster due to the images, but let me assure this was a massive course and perfectly fitting for a summer meal.
Chef Matt really liked stepping outside of the fancy box for a minute to create something fun. Poor Alexis had no idea where to get the red baskets they were served in. It is a French bistro after all, but it sure was fun stepping outside of the box. The diners seemed to really enjoy this course as well. Beer dinners do not need to be stuffy.
Obviously this was one I had a hand in choosing based on the beer. I have used Cherry Woods before andPechish Woods at the Journeyman Summer Of Beer dinner. I love this beer and we were fortunate enough to get some of the last bottles of it. Cherry Woods is a lightly sour ale with a huge Cherry Pie filling aroma and beautiful cherry taste. That color is gorgeous too. Chef Matt made some glorious brisket with a cherry bbq sauce and light summer picnic sides to go with it. The acids in the sour Cherry Woods and the fatty brisket were made for each other.
This was another course that the pictures are not doing it justice. It's brisket, man! It was delicious and a nice curveball to the diners with a lightly sour ale for the main course.
Dessert: Frozen Boilermaker
Irish Whiskey Ice Cream with a malt caramel swirl.
This was an Alexis course. She is from the Berkshires and loves BBC beers. She keeps them on the menu at Aquitaine. Her favorite beer and a perfect way to end the night. Their take on a beer float but going the extra mile with a delicious house-made ice cream. A lot of the people in attendance at this dinner were not BeerAdvocate's. We like it when this happens because things like a beer float really blow some minds. It's very simple and very easy to make and yet it seems to make a good statement every time. We love that Aquitaine really hooked this up too with the Irish Whiskey ice cream. The boozy sweet cream and the dry roasted porter added enough contrast to actually bring out the ice creams rich flavors and the deep rich and dry flavors of the porter.
One thing to note about this dinner was the speed in which everything was presented. The dinner began at 7pm and we were done by 9 or 9:30. We were not rushed by any means, but this was a beer dinner that just flowed nicely. Often times you end up with weird lag time between courses. Sometimes it can't be helped with the size of certain kitchens. But this dinner flowed with ease.
The portions of this dinner were big and the size of the beer pours were full. One thing people hate about beer dinners is high price tags and stingy portions. Aquitaine did not hold back and they made sure we all need wheelbarrows to take ourselves home with.
A fantastic dinner. Aquitaine really rose to the occasion with this beer dinner. I hope you were all able to get the gist of this dinner with my iPhone pics. It was such a good time.
On Monday, we hosted our final dinner in the summer series, Things We Love Summer of Beer at Toro restaurant in the South End of Boston. Things We Love is a beer dinner concept that was designed to shed beer dinner images. No longer do we work with one sole brewer and only their profile. We work with what we love at that moment and what we love to eat, fresh and seasonal. The idea is to gain a better inclusion of the restaurant staff, and a better idea of the restaurant itself. So many times, people leave beer dinners talking only about the terrific beer they just had. We want people walking out of our events thinking in new ways about beer and food together.
We wanted to shed themes and concepts to elevate the beer novices and foodies, and also bring down the beer nerd who demands the finest foods, rarest beers, but won't pay more than $45. The idea is to have fun and not work with impossible people or parameters. These our dinners, our favorites and our idea of fun. This can also include a wine pairing with the dinner, a battle of beer versus something, a beer cocktail... No limits anymore, but one rule, the main focus is the beer. You are being welcomed to sit at OUR table. To add any restrictions or rules about how it should be done changes the concept completely.
When I sat down with Jen Fields, the General Manager at Toro, we talked about our past histories in the restaurant world of Boston. Jen and I both used to work a crummy, yet popular hipster dive bar in Cambridge. We know our bartenders in this town. Boston has become quite the town for craft cocktails and craft beer. One thing that has never changed, is the need for cheap beer and shots of bourbon or fernet after a long day.
At Toro, head chef Jamie Bissonnette loves Bud Light Lime. So does a lot of the kitchen staff. If you are a beer nerd, this is probably cringe worthy to you. But this is burden of true Beer Advocate. It's not our place to tell anyone who they are or what they can and can't drink. It is a beer in their hands after all. It's obvious we advocate for better beer and will always do so, but the hardened beer geek must realize we are BeerAdvocate and not Craft Beer Advocate. This doesn't mean that we are in the pockets of Budweiser because we don't shamelessly rip them apart every chance we get. The arguments against them are stale, old and tired and no one is really saying anything new about the big bad beast that is Anheuser-Busch. Having said that, we would still defend and support a craft brewer long before the corporate beasts if problems arise. And at the end of a hard day in a hot kitchen, you want slamming back beers. And if BLL is their choice, so be it. They have earned the right to drink whatever they fancy.
When I sat down with Jen to discuss the menu for our beer dinner, I asked her what is everyone in here drinking right now, what do they love right now. And she mentioned Jamie's BLL affinity. This made sense to me, because at his other restaurant Coppa, also in the South End, he features awesome Shandy's on his cocktail list using stouts and 21st Amendment's Hell or High Watermelon Wheat. It's called the Merman, with the wheat beer, and it's delicious and hilarious with the name proving there is a time and a place for every beer. Beer cocktails are fantastic. We even featured a French Shandy at the Aquitaine TWL dinner.
We got a consensus of what everyone wanted to drink. And Jen thought it would be funny and awesome to make Bud Light Lime Margarita as a welcoming drink since we told her that we LOVE beer cocktails and that they should feature one. She thought this would be a good way to kill two birds with one stone. Get Jamie's choice in there, make a beer cocktail, and be completely cheeky about it without having any pretensions at this dinner. One, Toro makes slamming cocktails with Andy McNees behind the bar. It's only right to have something fun. Jen, was also a bartender in this town and knows how to make a good drink, this was all her idea. Two, it's in line with our idea of featuring what we love with beer cocktails. Three, we made it into a cocktail and enhanced it.
Bud Light Lime Margarita; tequila, elderflower liquor, grapefruit and lime, with lime salt. We paired it with tempura rock shrimp that used BLL in the batter, lime salt again, shrimp mayo and charred jalapenos.
One person saw the dinner being advertised on their blackboard, and asked how much Bud was paying us and the restaurant to use their beer. Another person, a member of our website, actually turned it away at the dinner. Rude and silly if you ask me, but then again I tell no one who they are and what they can and can't like. Not to mention random tweets from judmental dickheads who weren't even there to to try it, but saw Todd's tweets about it. I find it ridiculous, all the kerfuffle one beer cocktail has spurned. Not to mention it tasted fantastic, made the beer quite enjoyable, and worked amazingly well with the pairing. His loss, not mine.
We are not in Anheuser-Busch's pockets, it's ridiculous to even have to say that. We have not, nor have we ever or will ever, sell out to AB. It was Jen's idea to highlight one of the most respected Chef's in Boston, Jamie Bissonnett's favorite, as well the the staff favorite. For the love of fuck it wasn't a big deal, but it had enough people's panties in a bunch that I felt like I had to say something about it.
The dinner was a huge success. We had so much food and beers, it was well worth it. And the next time we do a dinner like this or a tasting social, I will have no problem featuring a macro product if the timing and idea behind it, is right.
Once we, hosted an Aztec-themed beer dinner at Upstairs on the Square. We featured and incredible ceviche on a bed of avocado with Negra Modelo. There was an historic aspect to the beer, the style, and it worked out so well. In a Russian-themed beer dinner, Budweiser, sent me Bud made in Russia for the dinner. You see, beer is the number two drink in Russia behind tea. And Budweiser did this for us with no questions asked, no favors exchanged. It tasted very different from our Budweiser and it was really good and more malty. It was paired with corn belini's, boiled eggs, caviar, and creme fraiche. It was amazing to be honest. And you'd never know if you had such a deep snobbery, it prevented you from being adventurous.
I am not asking anyone to roll the way we do. You can do whatever you like, pair how ever you see fit. But we're having mad fun and keeping it real with what our friends and restaurants we like. When you see the pictures from the dinner, which I will blog about very soon, you will be jealous you missed an event like this. Hang your heads in shame if one light hearted beer cocktail prevented you from coming to this dinner.
Edited: I forgot to mention how when we started Things We Love with Hungry Mother in Cambridge, we featured a battle of the cheap beers at that dinner. 10 courses and one was a fried chicken course served in a paper basket with watermelon and cole slaw. We featured their shitty beer of choice which was Genny Cream Ale vs. our choice of Narragansett. We served it in paper cups to be cheeky that an upscale southern restaurant could stay true to it's down and dirty roots. Everyone had so much fun popping open the cans and hearing the simultaneous cracking from the cans. It was awesome, Narragansett won, and a whole room full of diners had fun. All done with "shitty" beers.
We also did our second TWL with Hungry Mother for a Valentine's day, and that time we featured a beer cocktail with Miller High Life. We had 40's of HL on the bar and made and awesome cocktail with Vida Mezcal, grapefruit 'concentrate,' beer syrup, Miller High Life, salt. It was awesome.
No one complained once during those dinners that cheap macro beers were being used. They served a purpose and ended being awesome and people loved it. They were fun, they tasted good, and they fit with our theme of having fun the way we like it.
Journeyman in Union Sq. Somerville, helped kick off BeerAdvocate's "Things We Love: Summer Of Beer beer dinner series being hosted through out Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville all summer long.
What an epic dinner to kick things off. Working with Meg Grady-Troia was an absolute joy. Her excitement and love of beer was clearly evident. They were just as excited to work with us as we were to work with them.
Chef's Diana Kudjarova and Tsi Wei Lim really came through for this dinner too with some excellent pairings. The food worked so well with the beers. This dinner was all about comfort foods. Rich, delicious, and remarkably simple dishes.
Pork Skin Cracklings for the table.
First Course: White gazpacho, spring greens, and ricotta cheese.
Beer: Sixpoint Brewery "Sweet Action" 5.2% abv
The cream ale and the creamy cool soup. Delicious peas and pea tendrils with a ricotta cheese foam. Just the right balance.There was quite a lot going on with this course, not only was the ale creamy and delicious but the soup also had a lovely lemony flavor to it. Fresh earthy greens and sweet pes with the malty beer were wonderful together.
Second Course: Pig's Head Torchon with condiments and white beans.
Beer: Russian River "Pliny the Elder" 8% abv, and Stone Brewing Co. "Ruination" 7.7% abv.
Oh delicious course, how I loved thee. A special treat sent courtesy of Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing co. A special favor asked for and received just to make this beer dinner that much more epic. We pitted against some very fresh Ruination from Stone Brewing co. Quite a battle indeed since the Pliny was sent to us the day it was bottled. 10 days old and amazing!
We called this our fatty course. Fats verses hops. Alpha acids in super hopped Double IPA's and grapefruit flavors of the Pliny with slightly stickier malts on the Ruination verses fatty pigs head torchon and white beans. The condiments were a spicy celery salad, kimchi mayonnaise, and a divine miso-butterscotch paste.
To be honest, as epic as the torchon was, the best flavors for the pairing were the Pliny and the white beans. The cleaner, more crisp flavors of the plny and the delicate flavors of the beans were a match made in heaven, while the sweeter and maltier Ruination was better with the spicier kimchi and spicy celery. They both worked well with the miso-butterscotch paste.
Third Course: Fried blue fish with allium and potato.
Beer: Cisco "Pechish Woods" 4.9%
Fats versus acids again. Lovely fatty blue fish with a lightly tart, wild peach ale. Allium is the proper name for the onion genus. It's fancy for spring onions in this case. The sweet onion flavors added the right balance for the lightly tart peach ale, and the salty, fatty blue fish.
The real winner on this plate though, was not the fish, not the beer, not the onions. It was the potatoes. Thin mandolin sliced potatoes, layered and cooked in lard. Yes, lard! Crispy cooked, soaked in delicious lard. It tasted like scalloped potatoes.They look like potato chunks on the plate, but they are sliced out of a pan like a lasagne and layered.
The Pechish Woods is exactly how I like sour beers. Lightly funky, lightly sour. I know most beer nerds want the harsh sour and super funky beers, but that is not enjoyable to me. I don't enjoy having my throat burned out by super tart acid in sour beers. I don't enjoy beers so infected with funk, that one sip makes you bloated to the point you look like the guy who blew up in Big Trouble in Little China.
No, this beer is perfect for me. Like the Cherry Woods, it's lightly effervescent, and flavored just beautifully. The tart was just strong enough to work through the fats, and just smooth enough to feel like you have had your throat ripped out by Patrick Swazye on Road House.
Fourth Course: Beef Wellington with curry and braised greens.
Beer: Pretty Things "December 6, 1855 East India Porter" 6% abv
Fantastic family-style Beef Wellington with Chinese 5 spice, curried potatoes, braised greens, and rice. A nice fusion of English and Indian that compliments the style of the thick beer, East India Porter from Pretty Things. A recipe for an English porter recreated by Dann Paquette, emulating the style of English beers being drunk in India in the 1800's.
This beer was a lot more full than I had remembered from the first time I tried it. It went perfectly with the curried potatoes and the rich meat inside the Wellington. The braised greens added a good layer of earthiness and the rice tied everything together. The beer had rich coffee notes, and roasted malts and just the right amount of bitterness.Rich, hearty, filling, and completely satisfying.
And if this wasn't enough to send us all over the edge, dessert comes out.
Dessert: Treacle Tart and Shoofly Pie with Elderflower Whipped Cream
Beer: Schlenkerla "Helles", 4.3 abv
These may not look like the fanciest of desserts, but they didn't need to look fancy with the way they tasted. Treacle tart is a basic short crust with a lemon juice, golden syrup (treacle), lots of butter and bread crumbs. It's like a pecan pie in a way, but with all butter. It was so rich and divine. A very classic English dessert.
Shoofly pie is classic Dutch-Amish, American classic pie made of molasses and brown sugar. Again, super rich, filling, and so delicious. Paired with the Helles, a smoked lager beer from Germany, the house favorite of Journeyman, the smokey flavors that taste like bacon with the warm molasses and warm buttery treacle were just a miracle of a food combination. The crisp lager cut through the richness while the smokiness played with the butters and sweet flavors of the pie and tart. Unbelievable finish to an amazing dinner.
And just to make sure we were fully pushed over the edge, macaroons filled with black treacle ice cream.
And that's how Journeyman rolls. Things We Love was quite a success. Full bellies and big smiles on everyone's face as the left.
It's taken me a while to put this post together getting sidetracked with other projects. I think it was a good thing that I waited. Journeyman recently suffered an unfortunate accident with a vehicle that crashed into the front of their building causing the restaurant to close while they fixed the structural damage. Now they that they are open again, this post is exactly what you need to see to whet the appetite and drag your butts over there to support an amazing local gem. They will not disappoint you.
A financier, a Chocolate Advocate, an opera singer, a doctor, and a BeerAdvocate walk into a restaurant.....
Seth Hill, the beverage director for Journeyman in Union Sq. Somerville, Ma., invited us to a small wine tasting on a quite little Monday evening. Me being a wine lover, I was absolutely interested in going. Dragging Todd out to expland his horizons on wine a bit, wasn't as hard of a push as I thought it was going to be. He was thinking the same thing I was. The last time we had dinner at Journeyman's it was unbelievable. And wine or not, we just knew this was going to be good. We were so right.
Seth had us sit at a communal table with some nice people Neil, Neil, and Tania. The doctor, the financier, and the opera singer. Made for a fantastic evening of good and widespread conversations.
Click to enlarge the pictures.
Flight of Vermouths
Sutton Cellars Brown Label Vermouth, Dolin Blanc Vermouth, and Cocchi Americano.
Paired with cured fish and a white bean salad.
This was the most surprising course for me. I know next to nothing about vermouths. I didn't even know they were wines. I thought it was a liqueur of some sort added to cocktails and martinis. Being able to sit back and taste them, get a better understanding of them was great for me. The men at the table seemed to like the more herbal, earthy one which had a lot of Fernet Branca qualities about it. It is the last one pictured, the Cocchi Americano, but I liked the Dolin Blanc the best. The one pictured int he center. It was soft, subtle, and floral. Really delicate and delicious.
They all worked really well with the white beans and the cured mackerel. There was also some cured ham on the plate that added some smokiness that really brought out those herbal notes on the Cocchi Americano. It went in the right succession. The white beans for the Sutton Cellars, the fish for the Dolin, and the smoked meats for the cocchi.
Sour-style Beers
Panil "Bariquee Riserva" and Cantillon "Bruocsella 1900 Grand Cru"
Paired with Wheatberry risotto, bone marrow, herb, and pea tendril salad.
Fats and acids. Fatty bone marrow and acidity from two sour beers. The buttery broth, and earthy wheatberry risotto, creamy and butter-like bone marrow with just enough sear on it to make it have crispy edges, with bright green and fresh tasting pea tendrils paired with the more fruity and acidic Panil Bariquee, and the much more mild and softer Cantillon.
I felt like the bone marrow was best paired with the Panil based on the deep fruit character of the beer and the acidity, while the Cantillon balanced the wheatberry and pea tendrils. Deliciously rich, but not overbearing. A perfect pairing and a delicious way to highlight contrasts in these sours.
It was also nice to feature this beer pairing in the center of a wine tasting. The folks at our table who were not that familiar with these kinds of beers, really liked it. For us, it felt like home.
Category-Foiling Wines
Heidi Schröck "Furmint" and Frères Grosjean "Premetta"
Paired with Spanish Mackerel, potato and tarragon.
Mackerel has been slowly but surely becoming one of my favorite sea food dishes as of late. I hadn't really been that familiar with it before going to Belgium. I love it. This again was a fats vs. acid course. Fatty fish oils versus bright wine acidity.
This was one of the first times white wine worked for me. My palate maybe changing, or maybe I am finding the right kinds of white wines to drink lately, but normally they are not for me. I cant usually drink too many white wines as they give me a headache very quickly and easily, and they tend to have an off taste to me that I have yet to understand what the cause might be. But not this time. The Furmint worked exceptionally well with the potatoes and tarragon and the light taste of the fish under all the oils.
The Premetta, was excellent in it's ability to work with the fish and it's salty skin. Seth described this as being a sort of Hamburger wine. It had remarkable light qualities to it but also a big enough, fruity balance for the oily and salty fish. And the tarragon potatoes also worked well here as tarragon tends to be sweeter and worked with the brightness of the Premetta.
Cabernet Francs from the Loire
Domaine de la Pepiere "La Pepie" and Clos Rougeard "Les Poyeux" Saumer-Champigny
Paired with Pork Knuckles, parsnips, radish, and greens.
Let us bow our heads and give thanks to the 380 pound pig that gave it's humongous life so that we could be the happiest gluttons in town. The oldest pig on the farm sourced from about 40 miles away. This pig gave us this huge pork knuckle, the smoked, cured meat on the first tasting, and even bits of ham in the parsnips.
Neil the doctor, took the reigns and cut this bad boy up. So many different tastes of pork in this huge monstrosity. Light meat surrounded by thick and flavorful fat, and then gorgeous dark meat from the bones. But there were different tastes on that dark meat depending on where Neil hunted it down. He found the most delectable pieces of meat that most might have ignored. The sides came to the table, and thinking the the pork was in the parsnips, we didn't expect to see this giant bone in pork knuckle come to the table like being presented with a massive ham at Christmas dinner. But family-style servings of this beast was the perfect way to go.
The La Pepie was my favorite to drink and sip on. It was very light bodied. It worked with the parsnips and the light meat cut of pork. While the more oak-y Les Poyeux, it was almost like it was taylor-made for the darker cuts of meat. Big, rich oak flavors and sweet ham. The greens worked with both wines wonderfully based on the garlicky and earthy flavors, while the surprise was the radish dish. It was sweet and fresh but also savory at the same time giving us a little high and low on it's own.
Lesser-known Sparklers
Camillo Donati "Malvasia Dolce" and Patrick Bottex "Bugey-Cerdon"
Paired with Pistachio cake, black treacle ice cream, and raspberry.
This course was all over the place and yet it worked so well. I think we all decided the black treacle was the best part of the desert while the pistachio cake was unexpected and fabulous. Very much like my first experience with Journeyman, where you might expect a big chocolate dessert but when you get treated to a nut cake and it ends up completely changing your thinking on how desserts should finish your night. Our first time, we had the most delicious pear cider with a nutty semolina cake. It was fantastic.
I thought that the Bugey-Cerdon was the best paring for the dessert. It just balanced so perfectly. But I think the table was most fascinated with Malvasia Dolce. It smelled like a Gueze and had this interesting aroma of peppercorns with an underlying stone fruit aroma. These aromas weren't gradual they were literally stacked on top of one and other. But it tasted nothing like that. It was very, very soft and subtle. It worked wonderfully with the pistachio cake.
Treats of Madeleines and chocolate cookies with a taste of Cappellano Barolo Chinato.
That Barolo Chinato was pure joy. Cinnamon and cloves aroma with a dry and earthy rich tobacco leaf taste. It was unreal.
Fantastic evening once again at Journeyman and most impressive was all of this for $85. This easily could have gone for way more. It was a comfortable evening with nice people that felt like old friends by the end of it. The pairings were spot on and really taught me a few things about wine.
If my two posts about Journeyman, haven't been able to convince you that they are indeed the best new restaurant in the Boston area, then you must be one of those people who simply can't be pleased. Get over there soon for dinner. You won't be left unsatisfied. Ask for one of their awesome cocktail creations too. Seth is always sending out messages on Facebook about testing, creating, trying new cocktails.
This was our second go with a "Things We Love" concept at Hungry Mother. The idea of "Things We Love" is to not have such rigid guidelines for beer dinners anymore. No more themes, no more working with only one brewer, and no cheesy holiday schtick either.
It's about doing what we want do and featuring what we love at that moment. It allows us to encompass the best of a restaurant. In this case Hungry Mother. From the beers we love, to the food we love, and even a few cocktails.
This wasn't a dinner for lovers only. This was dinner for beer lovers, foodies, friends, and lovers alike. We wanted to host a dinner on Valentine's Day that wasn't your typical wine and fine dinning meal followed by ordinary sex, mediocre chocolates, and the obligatory red roses. No, our dinner was down and dirty, and about friends, beer, soul food, and awesomeness. If you were a couple at this dinner, I have no doubt you went back and had mind blowing, wake-the-neighbors kind of sex! Nothing ordinary about what we set out to accomplish with this dinner. That's how we roll.
I ran out of the house on my way to this dinner without my Nikon. These are iphone pics so please don't front about image quality.
Amuse Bouche: Vermont Cheddar Cheese Straws
Beer: Beer Cocktail: Vida Mezcal, grapefruit 'concentrate,' beer syrup, Miller High Life, salt.
These were small but tasty little snacks we were treated to as we sat down at out table. Awesomely rich cheddar cheese flavor and a High Life Beer cocktail. Ya betta ax somebody! You could imagine my great joy in seeing High Life 40's being poured from behind the bar to fill these glorious little beer cocktail treats. I loved it. It tasted great and worked really well the cheesy straws. A little snack but the exact right taste to the set the mood for the rest of the pairings to come.
First Course: Hoppin' John "Burger" with bacon, lemony mayo, b&b pickle, fingerling chips.
This was fun. A veggie burger with the consistency of a perfectly cooked medium rare burger. And it had bacon! I love sweet bread and butter pickles. This gave it the perfect hint of sweetness coupled with the malts from the beer. Some earthy flavors from the burger with the earthy micro greens and awesome little fingerling potato chips for a hit of salt. This was cool and fun. This beer was really good too and the perfect choice. When it comes to burgers you don't need to over think your beer. A good lager or a pale ale will suffice and this was perfectly malty and exactly what the earthy burger needed.
Second Course: Cornmeal fried Chesapeake Oyster with Virginia 'surryano' ham, pea tendrils, citrus-buttermilk vinaigrette.
Both of these were wonderful. Todd got the Oysters, but we ended up switching our courses midway through. I really liked the oysters course the best with My Antonia. That is a phenomenal beer from Dogfish Head. It's a beautiful Imperial Pilsner.
The oysters were big and plump and perfectly coated in cornmeal. The dry and crisp flavor of the beer helped balance the fatty creaminess of the oysters and buttermilk dressing. The citrus in the salad and the citrus flavors on the beer helped round out this course.
The duck course was rich and flavorful. Awesome cracklins' on the side for a play of textures. I did think maybe the hominy could have been a bit softer, but this course was rich and fatty and delicious. The beer was not my personal favorite, but how it paired with the course was dead on. It was funky, extremely bread-y, citrus, and peppery. A nice choice to help off set or cut though some of the rich fattiness of the duck. Nice big chunks of duck meat as well.
Third Course: Pineland Farms Boneless Beef Shortrib Steak with Maine shrimp, Tasso ham, and creamy grits.
Or
Barnegat Light Sea Scallops with crispy pork belly confit, escarole, red onion jam, lemon brown butter.
These scallops were unbelievable!!! So succulent and sweet with a gorgeous sweet and tangy sauce. My friend Paul and I, ordered the same thing and both of our faces lit up with the first bite. These scallops and that brown butter and onion jam were so good. The pork belly was perfectly cooked. That crispy top was fantastic and the pork belly was soft, rich, meaty, and fabulous. I thought I had died and gone to heaven with this course.
The Sculpin was great for this pairing. So many times with seafood, especially scallops, people think to pair lighter beers, less hops. Saisons and other boring repeated choices. The rich sweet scallops held their own and the pork belly was an added bonus.
The steak course was just as awesome. Perfectly cooked as you can see in the picture above. Creamy grits is a specialty of Hungry Mother. They do southern food so well. The richly spiced shrimp with IPA's are a no brainer, and of course steak and IPA's are great together too. The hops and the spiced shrimp really pulled it all together though. I only had a few bites so I didn't have enough time with this dish to fully evaluate it, but the few bites Todd slipped me were outstanding.
Dessert: Flourless Taza Chocolate Cake with sorghum marshmallow and peanut butter creme anglaise and spiced tuille.
Lawd have mercy! That chocolate cake with peanut butter sauce and oozing sorghum marshmallow cream was effing amazing! It was the exact right thing with that very robust porter. I am not a Taza chocolate fan at all, but twice now, Hungry Mother has not only made me enjoy their chocolate desserts, but they have slapped me in the face with their Taza desserts and made me love them. This porter is full-bodied, chocolatel-y roasted, and delicious. To make that chocolate stand out more, peanut butter creme anglaise completely made that porter show its full roasted quality and allow the chocolate notes to come full forward. Normally if you pair chocolate on chocolate one will over take the other and allow other characteristics to appear. In this case the chocolate cake did not interfere with the beers chocolate character thanks to the peanut butter. Amazingly rich, and fabulous dessert.
Sex on a plate! Fo real!
The cheese course was right up Todd's alley. I found the cheese to be a bit too funky, and the beer too funky and lemony for me. But once again, for someone like Todd, whom loves the funk, this was a spot on pairing. The beer was heavily lemony, sour, mildly carbonated, and a bit earthy underneath all that lemon. Citrus cutting though that creamy and funky cheese. This is one of those times where similar flavors paired together work well. Funk on funk is a good thing. Grassy, lemony, creamy, earthy, beer and cheese.
And a little parting treat with our check, handmade truffles.
The black truffles were a feature on the cheese plate, but it was also offered shaved on the main courses. They are Tennessee grown black truffles from friend of Hungry Mother's, Tom Michaels. First commercial scale black truffles grown in the US.
Something to take note of. I always, always offer a vegetarian menu for my beer dinners. The menus may not always be posted because to me the meat courses just really bring it home for people, but you can always attend my beers and find amazingly paired vegetarian courses.
Vegetarians were treated to:
First Course: HOPPIN’ JOHN ‘BURGER’ lemony mayo, b&b pickle, brioche bun, fingerling chips Cottrell Brewing Company ‘Old Yankee Ale’: american pale ale (5%), Pawcatuck, CT
Second Course: WILD MUSHROOM & HOMINY STEW delicata squash, vidalias, poached ‘flying dutchman’ egg Hill Farmstead Brewery ‘Arthur’: barrell aged saison (5%), Greensboro Bend, VT
Third Course: SMOKED MAINE TOFU ‘SCALLOPS’ A LA PLANCHA white sweet potatoes, escarole, lemon brown butter Ballast Point ‘Sculpin’: india pale ale (7%), San Diego, CA
The same desserts were offered.
This dinner was amazing. It really is Hungry Mother + BeerAdvocate = 4 eva!
They really now how to make comfort food elegant and flavorful and truly wonderful. They respect beer and really get it. Their waitstaff is friendly and patient. They consistently blow me away and prove time and time again that they are whats up in this town.
Todd's birthday dinner at a very special new place in Union Sq., Somerville called Journeyman. A new restaurant focusing on local and fresh daily offerings. This restaurant is tucked away in a small nook next to the Independent in Union Sq. A great spot for beers before or after dinner.
Journeyman is the project of a handful of food-loving friends who believe that fine dining should be a comfortable, intimate, and delicious experience. We’ve created a small, refined restaurant that serves elegant but unpretentious food and drink with relaxed and respectful service.
Our food comes from local farmers and artisans, often people we know and respect in our personal lives. We grow edible herbs and flowers in our window garden, and are working to become an active member of the Union Square Community by supporting as many local producers as we can, including some neighborhood favorites like Taza Chocolate and Pretty Things beer.
Our beverage program focuses on the strange and wonderful back alleys of production, featuring wines made in traditional ways in unusual areas, beers brewed with special care all over the world, and a wide selection of superb aperitifs and digestifs. We bring in our teas from Upton, and our coffees from Counter Culture, and the selection rotates regularly.
When I first heard about Journeyman, I met a guy name Seth Hill, their beverage buyer, who told us about this new place opening and it was going to be very small with maybe 35 seats and a menu that changes every day to every couple of days based on what is available and what was sourced locally from the area markets and surrounding farms. Cocktails, wines, and he assured us good beers too. Sounded right up our alley.
The restaurant is a very large open space from floor to ceiling but still small enough and intimate enough for a small restaurant with only around 35 seats. Open kitchen that kind of feels like a kitchen in someones apartment. Simple decorations and boxes of herbs next to the window. Great location.
We were most impressed with the pricing. You can do a 3 course, 5 course, and 7 course tasting in both meat or vegetarian for $39, $65, and $85. This is very reasonable for fine dining. Especially with locally sourced foods. You won't that anywhere with this kind of quality. Also, we were most impressed that they advertised on their website that not only do they pair the courses with wine but beer as well. Most places will accommodate you with beer, but never make mention of it unless you ask. Our fine dining in this city really appreciates beer and we as BeerAdvocates, couldn't be more thrilled. Our constant questions for restaurants are why would you feature the finest ingredients on your menu, the finest wines, the finest spirits, but only have a minimal and lame selection of beers?
Here is there beer list from Monday night.
Started off with a Bushnell Spritz, a cosmo with a sugar cube and bitters topped with champagne (Dope yo!) and Todd had a Pretty Things American Darling.
We opted for the 7 course tasting. Why not jump right in? It's new, the waitstaff was super friendly and fun, why not indeed?
First Course: Butternut squash puree.
Simple, elegant and very fresh. Not spiced to hell with nutmeg and allspice either. Just tasted like gorgeous warm squash. Look at that gorgeous orange color. So many times you see butternut squash soup and it's pale yellow and loaded with cream.
Obviously it didn't suck. This is what every plate we were served looked like when we were done.
House-made breads with butter served on a slate rock. Nice touch.
Second Course: Wilted spinach salad.
A sort of deconstructed salad with lots of veg and purees. I don't recall what everything on the plate was, but it was so tasty and delicious that believe me when I say I decimated this course. The colors once again really stand out and make for a lovely presentation.
Third Course: Celeriac Broth with Oysters and Chorizo.
THIS!!!! This course was so unexpected and so awesome. It was very simple yet the flavors were so unique and fantastic. Loved this course. Spicy chorizo which I believe is house-made with fresh and amazingly soft and delicate yet fatty oysters.
Fourth Course: Cod and onions.
Soft poached cod with leeks, spring onions, braised onions, pickled onions, and a ravioli with caramelized onions. This was another unexpected yet fantastic course. The cod was so deliciously soft and flavorful and the onions were perfect. Each adding their own unique tastes to the plate so that each bite was different.
Fifth Course: Charcuterie Plate and Pork Belly Raviolis.
A split in offerings for both Todd and I. Their menu was rotating in and out of things so we picked a few different choices here. Awesome rillette (center right) and lamb (bottom of pic) on the charcuterie plate. The real winner here though is the pork belly raviolis with (I think) a clementine reduction and onions. TO DIE FOR!!!!
Sixth Course: Foie Gras with persimmon and grapefruit foam.
Who does that? Who serves two huge slabs of Foie like that? Not that I am complaining mind you. Delicious, chilled, biting fresh grapefruit foam to help add acidity to the fatty foie. Rich and delicious just as you would expect. Just a bit too much for us though. We did the tackiest thing and asked if we could take it to go. No way I wanted to waste it, but after a few bites I could feel my heart slowing down.
Seventh Course: Lamb two ways.
Braised and grilled with butternut squash ribbons, eggplant, chickpea puree, fresh green chick peas, and roasted chick peas.
Middle Eastern inspired and simply presented. Loved this course. The lamb was delicate, soft and perfectly cooked. The chick peas added various textures to the plate and the squash ribbons added a hint of sweetness to the plate. Delicious and again simple.
Vino with dinner and Todd had Oerbier from De Dolle. Todd was a happy man to have that this foie and lamb course.
Intermezzo: Lime sorbet with coconut.
This course is a bit fuzzy for me forgive me. I was reaching food coma status at this point. It had limes and coconut but I can't remember what the foam on top was. That doesn't make it less tasty or mean that it's a forgettable course, it just means I was enjoying the shit out of myself.
Dessert: Semolina Cake
Whole grains and semolina cake with coffee foam, rice pudding, lemon sauce, and sorbet. Off the top of my head I forget what the bruleed sauce was. Might have been vanilla. Once again things we're getting a bit food coma fuzzy for me.
This was a very nice and clean dessert. Lot's of flavor pops that all seemed to work in harmony despite how contrasting they were in comparison to one and other. As the Official Chocolate Advocate, I am saying that not every fancy restaurant has to serve you a big rich chocolate dessert to feel like you were treated like absolute royalty on this culinary adventure.
They paired this course with an awesome sparkling pear cider. I haven't had a more aromatic, and fresh tasting cider before. I really dug this and will have to find out where to buy it. It was the exact right pairing for this dessert.
Treats: Lapsang Souchong Tea Custard with butter cookies and brownies.
Word is bomb!!! That tea custard was phenomenal! Normally that tea is too smoky for my liking but this was subtle tea and smoke flavors on a custard. It was awesome. I couldn't stop eating it. And a natural fit with the small brownie and cookie bites. Awesome ending.
Amazing meal. So well excecuted, extremely friendly staff, just an awesome time. I can't wait to go back and visit them. The prices were good, the restaurant is cute and intimate like being in someone's loft. Very inviting. The chefs, Diana Kudajarova and Tse Wei Lim are also interested and maybe doing a beer event. More on that soon!!!
I was sick and tired of beer dinners. Sick and tired of trying to come up with concepts for beer dinners. I had hosted a series of cool beer dinners in the past like the Aztec Beer Dinner, or Soul Food Brunch pairings, chocolate beer dinners, Russian beer dinners, even the now infamous Gallia Belgica.
All of those events were cool. No scratch that, they were amazing. But I now I am done with concepts or themes. I am done working with one sole brewer and only their line up of beers for beer dinners, and I am done with beer dinners that serve amazing food, but all anyone walks away with is, did they get enough of the geekiest beer being served that night.
I am through with coming up with beer dinners for beer geeks. A lot of them will never be satisfied and only want dinners that include full pours of Allagash Gargamel or something equally rare, they want the finest food to be served with it, and only want to pay $45 dollars max to be served like and eat like kings.
Sorry beer geeks, it's simply not about you anymore.
It's also not about the uber foodie either. I am frankly sick of them too. They don't have any idea about good craft beer (some of them anyway, not all of them), and they still turn their noses up at the idea that beer can be and is amazing with food.
Of course I am completely generalizing here, but you get the idea.
No Mas! No more creating dinners to suit other peoples needs. I wanted to create a series of dinners that highlight the things we love. From the restaurants, the chefs, the waitstaff, the style of food, and various beers. It may also include a wine versus beer tasting, a beer cocktail or spirit served with the meal, or even a beer battle itself!
The idea is to elevate the foodie to beer, and bring the beer geeks back down to reality with good solid beer and food offerings.
We had been discussing a possible beer dinner with Hungry Mother in Cambridge. A favorite restaurant who hadn't hosted a beer dinner before but was really contemplating the idea of working with us. I decided this was the right place to launch such an idea. Anyone who is local around here already knows Hungry Mother and how awesome they are. If you don't, drop whatever it is you are doing, shut your mouth, and go over there and have dinner immediately.
Their style is Appalachian-style southern food with local ingredients, and French techniques.
** When I say Appalachian, I mean App-il-lay-chin. The fine folks at HM will disagree with me until we are all blue in the face, but actually being from Virginia, and more the Appalachian Mountain chain extending way up into New England, I am right! Only in the deep corners of the south and the Blue Ridge Mountains do you call it "App-a-Latch-chan."
This is the kind of place that will serve you cheesy grits and bacon that will make your mama cry. They will serve it with a Hickory Dickel (Gingerale, George Dickel, a tiny hint of liquid smoke, and a bacon lardoon garnish. They will serve you a gorgeous country-style gnocchi with peas, mushrooms, and bacon, but serve you a Genesee Cream Ale with it. This is exactly our kind of place.
Together with Todd and Jason, myself, Alon and Rachel Munzer, Barry Maiden, John Kessen, and the various waitstaff and barkeeps, we created a fun menu to showcase the fun stuff Hungry Mother likes to create, and we all had a hand in picking our favorite beers for this menu. Beers that WE loved and it didn't have anything to do with whether they were super rare or super generic. It's all about what we love and what we wanted to share with our friends and patrons.
I want to highlight that at the very bottom of the menu listed all the things Hungry Mother loves.
Things We Love: BeerAdvocate, Deep Ellum, The Gallows, Carolina Chocolate Drops, East by Northeast, pizza, opera, Dylan & Mira, our lawyer, Jamison Farm, Tetris, Anson Mills, Eastern Standard, Muddy Pond sorghum, bourbon, hot dogs, Ridgeway Blue, rainbows and puppydogs, Kanye, days off, snood, golf, ukuleles, drinking, Strangeways Here We Come, (ex) data synapse, Joe-Joe's, Brazil, Hulu, bonfires on Wiborgs Beach, boo ya later.
We welcomed everyone to dinner with southern specialties of house made dilly beans, boiled peanuts, and homemade chips.
*Click to enlarge any image.
Great social foods to pick at and get introduced to your table. We sat a lot of people together in groups. The Dilly beans were spicy and tangy, the chips were crisp and addicting. I will take the word from everyone at the table that said the boiled peanuts were fantastic. They ate them all! I am a southerner who who doesn't care for boiled peanuts. I know, it's pure blasphemy. But it's a classic none the less and perfect for the table.
We also opened up with a beer cocktail of Campari, sorghum syrup, and Smuttynose Star Island single.
First course:
Miss Lewis' Tomato Aspic with Deviled Quail Egg and Bacon.
Beer: Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project American Darling, 7% abv
I think this was my favorite course. The aspic was soft and extremely flavorful with tomatoes. The deviled quails egg was cute and packed just the right amount of pop of creamy texture and flavor contrast for the beer. The bacon was just an awesome hint for the plate that tied every thing together. Really, who can deny a lovely piece of bacon? They should have had a piece of bacon on every course served for this dinner.
The beer was perfectly fresh, crisp, and delicious. Just a tad too hoppy for the aspic though. Not enough to clash, but while pilsners and lagers are excellent for tomatoes, the added hop bite of American darling, almost proved to be to much. But as a hop head, I never mind big hops.
HM always offers a pork plate of some sort. This was the perfect portion size for wonder flavors and two different variations of pork. Paired with the most classic beer for pork, Schlenkerla Marzen larger. Smoked beers are made for pork dishes. It's a simple pairing but packed full of flavor and proved during this dinner why we love it.
Third Course:
Catfish Caveach picholines, capers, poblanos.
Beer: Allagash White, 5.2% abv
Caveach is basically a method of pickling fish. It was fantastic catfish too. It had a lovely earthy rustic taste to it and the Allagash White really went perfectly with it. The tangy capers and vinegars tastes were smoothed out by the lovely and soft flavors of the wit bier. The soft texture and hearty flavors of the catfish were fantastic.
Fourth Course:
Shrimp and Grits with HM tasso, cornbread croutons, and rosemary.
Beer: Cape Ann Fishermans IPA, 5.5% abv
You can't have a real southern meal with out grits. HM always has a grit offering in some way. Shrimp and grits are a classic southern, soul food offering. These grits were slow cooked, creamy and deliciously buttery. The shrimp and sauce was extremely flavorful and worked well with the malty IPA. Malty and hops are good for rich sauces like this. I really didn't want this course to end.
Fifth Course:
Fried chicken picnic with "kohlslaw", compressed watermelon, and Texas Pete.
Beer: Narragansett vs. Genny Cream Ale
Yes! Yes, we did go there with fried chicken and cheap beer at a fancy beer dinner. Genny Cream Ale is a favorite of the HM staff, and Narragansett is a Todd favorite. We thought, why not battle them out and see which cheap beer is the favorite among crowd?
The best part of this was serving the chicken in paper baskets and the beer served in cans with paper cups on the tables. As soon as the beers were delivered, the cracking noises in sync around the room from the cans was amazing. It was super fun and had everyone engaged. I have never seen that many smiles for cheap beer in a long time. It goes to show you that there is a time and a lace for every beer. Only one person wasn't really thrilled with the cheap beer choices because he prefers Budweiser for his cheap beer of choice. I am a PBR girl myself, but I didn't let that stop me.
Before I announce the winner, lets talk about the food. Compressed watermelon? Yep vacuumed sealed so that all the juices compressed further into the melon. Sprinkled with salt to give it an awesome contrast to the insanely sweet and delicious melon. The "kohlslaw" was light and creamy and packed a delicate hit of flavors.
The fried chicken was perfectly southern. Juicy and that right bit of nearly burnt skin flavor. It tasted just like my mom's pan fried chicken and no one beats my mom's chicken! I was surprised to find out it was not pan fried. Close enough though. They deep fried it in a deep fryer but set the chicken high in the fryer like it was pan frying.
Winner: Narragansett!
But winner by a slim margin. The way it worked for me and a lot of people tended to agree was that the Genny Cream Ale was perfect right after the grits and worked extremely well with the "kohlslaw." But it was the 'Gansett that over took every thing by working perfectly with the watermelon and fried chicken.
Very fun course.
Sixth Course:
Pulled Jamison Lamb with hominy tortilla, corn and tomato chow chow.
Beer: Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye, 8% abv
Wonderfully tender lamb. Flavor explosion with the southwest-style flavors perfectly matched with the malty and bitter Hop Rod Rye. This was one of the best matched courses with the beer. Unfortunately this was also the course where we all realized that this we may have been in over our heads. We still had desserts and cheese coming!
Seventh Course:
Meadow Creek Grayson with green tomato and sour cherry jam, crystal malt, and house made beer bread.
Originally we had planned for the beer to be Cerise from Founders. The reason being is that that beer tastes exactly like cherry pie filling! Something so southern, and cherries were in perfect season. However, there was none available and I think it worked out for the better.
Cisco Cherry Woods was available. It too had a delicious cherry pie filling taste, but with a much more crisp and delightfully sour bite to it. Not too sour where it burns your throat going down. It was very enjoyable and delicious. I am not usually a fan of sour ales, but this is one I very much enjoyed and could drink more than one glass of.
The sour notes and carbonation cut right through the cow's milk cheese allowing for an excellent pairing.
The beer bread was homemade and soft and the sour cherry jam was actually pretty mild. I think most people were expecting more of a cherry pop to the jam, but it was soft and mild because of the green tomatoes. If if had been more sour, the beer and jam would have over powered the pairing. I really enjoyed the sweet little accent of the crystal malt sprinkled on the plate as well.
Eighth Course:
Chocolate cake, sorghum buttercream, Benne brittle.
Beer: Left Hand Milk Stout 5.2% abv
Yes!! Chocolate cake covered in chocolate. A sesame seed brittle on top and Left Hand Milk Stout served in coffee cups. I loved that detail. HM has such cool flare.
This cake was rich and balanced by a lovely sorghum buttercream filling. It was very reminiscent of a New England whoopie pie. Rich chocolate flavors, butter sesame brittle, and rich, bitter, chocolate-y beer.
When we realized we were in trouble with the lamb course, this surely sent us all over the edge. And we still had one more to go.
Taza is a local favorite of HM as it is with many local shops and restaurants. It's a natural fit for those shops and restaurants who keep it local and source ingredient from their area and local producers. I am personally not a huge fan of Taza Chocolate, but just for this once I didn't mind it. The cookies were soft, buttery, and had that perfect balance of salt by being topped with sea salt. Sweet and salty always works. The cookie dough covered up the flaws I normally find in Taza Chocolate.
The cocktail was a nice way to end the night. We were all so full and in full on food coma mode. The cocktail was soothing and settled our full bellies.
And there you have it. Hungry Mother's first beer dinner showcasing their favorite things with a combination of our favorite beers. From the details of the paper in the fired chicken course, to the mini mason jars filled with gorgeous tomato aspic, to the coffee cups filled with milk stout, they really knocked this one out of the park. For their first ever beer dinner, they really seemed to get it. Look for more events with BeerAdvocae and Hungry Mother in the future. I know I certainly can't wait to work with them again.
The idea that having a fun and a well received beer dinner without serving the most rare and geekiest of beers was made abundantly clear with the super fun fried chicken course. A successful event that proves we need to listen to ourselves more. Trust our own ideas and go with what we know works and what we love. It's up to you to come with us or not. As you can see, if you don't, you might be missing out on some really amazing food and some real good times.
After the Knighting ceremony of Todd and Jason Alstrom, Charlie Papazian, and Greg Koch by theKnighthood of the Brewers' Mash Staff (Belgian Brewers' Guild), we were invited to have lunch with Michel Moortgat of Duvel, the next day. We were told meet at a certain cafe and have some beers and then lunch.
We didn't know lunch was going to be such a fancy ordeal. I certainly didn't know as I showed up in capri pants with Chuck Taylor's on and no socks! My version causal and European casual should be explained in the fine print of all events we're invited to.
Also, in not being prepared for such an exquisite meal, this post is full of lame quality iPhone images. Had I known what we were in for, I surely would have brought my big camera with me. I did manage to get some fairly decent shots however. Enough that you will still be jealous and you will understand the general idea of how fantastic the meal really was.
We were then taken from the cafe to this gorgeous restaurant called Comme chez Soi.
It all began in 1926 when Georges Cuvelier, a brave inhabitant of the
southern Belgian Borinage region escaped the coal mines to open a small
restaurant in Brussels. A regular customer told him each visit : "Georges, in your restaurant we eat like at home." It did not take long for him to come up with the name "Comme chez Soi".
When the restaurant moved to its present location on Place Rouppe,
Georges Cuvelier's daughter married Louis Wynants, a pork-butcher from
the Flemish town of Tienen. Louis Wynants took the quality of the
kitchen to higher levels.
Their son was Pierre Wynants.
He studied at famous restaurants throughout Europe and met
Marie-Thérèse. From this union came two daughters, Laurence and
Véronique.
Laurence, the eldest, has married Lionel Rigolet, a young culinary talent who rapidly became a key element for the thouse.
The couple now has little Jessica and Loïc, a fifth generation...
They opened their famed private dining room to us, set in their kitchen to watch the chefs prepare the food and then serve it to us. On the walls were autographed placards from Leonardo DiCaprio, Catherine Deneuve, and Woody Allen to name a few.
We were given printed menus with the chef's signature on it. The lunch prepared for us was a sample from their regular menu only tweaked with beer.
We opened the lunch with pours of beers from Liefmans Kriek, and a new sweeter, fruitier, yet still tart Lambic from Liefmans. As well as being serves shrimp bites and mille-feuille of salmon.
Tiny, little shrimps rested in the center of these crispy rings. For such tiny shrimps, they packed quite a bit of flavor. Nice little decadent noshes with a very rich and fruity beer to kick things off.
Then we were served a trio of tastes. Melon sorbet, kriek gelatin, topped with Jamon Serrano or Jamon de Iberico. Don't quote me on the ham. It was a cured Jamon of some kind, but I didn't write down the exact name. Delicious non the less.
The center was a cool gazpacho with a prawn and cabbage topping. And the last taste was a cabbage roll with lamb. All fantastic with the Liefmans Kriek and the newer sweeter Kriek.
First course:
Marckerel fillet marinated with yuzu, squid salad with olive oil, and a coulis of sweet peppers.
Second Course:
Catfish with lemongrass, butternut mash, and baby carrot coulis.
Third Course:
Grilled chicken stuffed with shitake and tarragon and a Maredsous sauce.
Fourth Course:
Selection of Belgian and French cheeses with a beer glaze garnish. (Look at the detail in the beer glaze.)
Dessert Course:
Fruit Consomme with mint, and Kriek sorbet. (Kriek sorbet in a bath of fruit consomme with mint, a molding of fruit and gelatin with fruit leather on top, and a praline garnish.)
And last but not least, we were treated to "Delicacies" of Pate de Fruit, Chocolate filled with a soft passion fruit filling, housemade nougat, Macaroons, white chocolate, and filled micro pastries.
I would only be able to top a meal like this if I could return the favor for Michel Moortgat if I were to take him to Craigie on Main here in my neck of the woods. That's saying a lot.
This was actually the first Todd's Taco night to feature a brewer with a special taco paired with a rare beer or newly released beer. We featured Rob Tod of Allagash Brewing Co.
Previously, I did a quick write up about Todd's Taco Night Feat. Fluffy White Rabbits from Pretty Things. But that was actually our second adventure with Todd's Taco night at Green Street.
[Fried oyster taco]
The feature for Allagash was Bi-Curieux paired with a fried oyster taco with a remoulade. You got a 6oz pour of the beer plus a fried oyster taco for $3.99. That's the way Todd's Taco night works. A generous pour of the beer and a taco for a low, low price.
Bi-Curieux is a super rare beer that was made by barrel-aging Curieux, a Belgian-style tripel with local hops for a year and half. This was one of the last barrels around.
Chef Greg Reeves really out did himself with this taco pairing. He hadn't even had the Bi-Curiuex, but was able to really nail it by pairing it with a fried oyster taco. The sweet oysters and sweet malts played around while the hops cut through the remoulade. It was very fresh tasting and delicious for being one of the last kegs floating around.
Also on hand was Vagabond, 2008 Interlude, and Allagash White.
Supporting friends of Allagash and BeerAdvocate.
Adam Fisher, BA Festival Captain and dan Kaldak, BA Festival Volunteer. Will Meyers Brewmaster Cambridge Brewing Co., Matt McGrath, BA Festival Captain. I don't know the person in the green shirt.
Trevor Kliner
BA Festival Volunteer. Rob Tod, Allagash Brewing. Co. Aaron Mateychuk, Brew Master Watch City Brewing Co. and some punk ass photo bombers in the background.
JC Tetreault, BA Festival volunteer and long time BA member. Danny V. of VeeVee in Jamaica Plain.
Shawn Dunn, Global Brewers Guild and Dan Kochakian, Ale Street News. Marc Leuchner, BA Festival Captain.
Angelo Scarnera looking quite happy being surrounded by sour and wild ales. Jason Alström, Todd Alström, Co-Founders of BeerAdvocate.com with Ken Pajak of Cafe Amsterdam in Anchorage, Alaska and Angelo Scarena, good personal friend to BeerAdvocate and myself.
And this was my happy little collection of Bi-Curieux, Interlude, Vagabond, and a Stone Fence (Bourbon, bitters, and apple cider).
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