About a month ago Carlos Rodriguez, the concept chef at Vic & Anthony’s, announced they would be hosting their 6th (I think?) beer dinner. Each previous dinner had a specific brewery theme, starting with Dogfish Head last summer, to the Real Ale dinner in April. The “Mid-Summer” beer dinner was to be different though, this time it wasn’t focused on a brewery’s line-up, but rather showcasing the restaurant’s newly improved craft beer selection, as well as showing people that there are dishes that pair with the beers they have on tap.
To start, we had Brewdog’s Paradox Springbank and Victory’s Prima Pils to wash down a piece of chicken fried bacon and a shooter of a tasty, light and refreshing watermelon gazpacho. The bacon was phenomenal, but I love bacon. It is house-cured and chicken fried while still frozen, the batter was light and crispy but the bacon was definitely the star. The Springbank was very medicinal tasting to me, not surprising though because of the scotches that I have tried in the region, I’ve found the same flavor profile, not too appealing to my palate. The Victory is a great pilsner, a better hors d’oeurve beer to start with, in my opinion.
Hors d'oeuvres: Brewdog Paradox Springbank and Victory Prima Pils paired with chicken fried bacon and watermelon gazpacho
For the first course we had Kinilaw: Gulf fish, Asian pear, blood oranges, coco-marinade paired with Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA. This is one of the few IPAs that I have tried that I would consider an everyday drinker. It is not too bitter but still has a nice hop presence. I thought it was an extremely good pairing with the fish and acidic flavors in the Kinilaw.
1st course: Kinilaw & Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA
The second course was Fried green tomatoes with more house cured bacon (yes!), pickled shrimp, arugula and a buttermilk vinaigrette all paired with Leffe’s Blond Ale. I asked Carlos about the pickled shrimp (LOVE that he is so willing to walk around and chat with the guests and answer questions) and he told me they had pickled them the morning of the dinner, which was surprising because they had such a great pickled flavor. The shrimp weren’t rubbery or overdone and they made a good acidic element on a rich plate with bacon, the buttermilk vinaigrette and a great spice component from the arugula. I could go either way on the pairing of the Leffe, it is neither here nor there for me as a beer.
2nd Course: Fried Green Tomatoes & Leffe Blonde
After the second course, we had an “intermezzo” that consisted of a mojito sorbet! How they got the mojito into such a great sorbet consistency, I have no idea, and I really don’t care. I just want more of it.
Intermezzo: Mojito Sorbet
After the delicious mojito sorbet we had the course I was most looking forward to, the steak! We had a Kansas City Strip with a masa onion ring and a bone marrow custard paired with both Avery’s Ellie’s Brown Ale and Samuel Smith’s Taddy Porter. My steak was on the very rare side of medium-rare which was fine with me because I prefer steak to be almost raw, it was tender and juicy and the toasted mustard seed butter was perfect for the steak and for dipping my onion ring in. Of the two beers, I definitely prefer Ellie’s Brown, such a classic example of the style. Rich, but not so much that it didn’t work well with the richness of the steak. Although, I do prefer a nice big glass bottle of red wine with a steak! The Taddy had a smoky flavor to me, not sure where that came from.
3rd Course: Kasas City Strip & Samuel Smith Taddy Porter and Avery Ellie's Brown Ale
And finally, dessert. We were served a Lemon Blueberry tart topped with a candied Meyer lemon and a scoop of ginger ice cream, paired with Westmalle Tripel. The ice cream was the perfect companion for the sweet blueberries and custard, while the Westmalle Tripel was a great complement to the dessert as a whole. Slightly sweet, but didn’t shadow the great dessert.
Dessert: Lemon Blueberry tart & Westmalle Tripel
*thanks to Jay for the picture of dessert since I was too busy eating mine and John’s to take a picture!
Overall, yet another great beer dinner in the books by the crew at Vic & Anthony’s! I liked the different format and would definitely attend another in that style. I can’t wait for the next dinner!
July 13, 2011 at 3:09 am
My favorite pairing of the night was the Brewdog Paradox Springbank with the CF bacon! I wanted to say hi but you were talking with someone and when I looked for you again you were gone! *sad face* GIANT JENGA! *happy face*
July 13, 2011 at 7:24 am
I loved the bacon!! we need to hang out and play Jenga soon!! :)