I’ll have to remember to ask Chef Bruce Paton, who simply refers to himself as a Beer-Chef, when I see him at his next Beer & Food Pairing Dinner, which features the finely crafted ales of Pelican Pub and Brewery. If you’ve never been to one of the Beer-Chef’s dinners, you are in for a fantastic experience. This ain’t no “grab a slice, a dawg, and a brewskie shin-dig.” Dinners with the Brewmaster are every bit as sophisticated a food pairing as the most haute wine event, they’re just a lot more fun! One Wine Valley Chef even said, “The magical way that Chef Bruce pairs Beer & Food should have the wine industry very nervous”
Read the menu below and you’ll see what I’m talking about:
THE BEER CHEF
Presents
Dinner with the Brewmaster
Friday January 18, 2008
The Cathedral Hill Hotel
Featuring:Pelican Pub and Brewery
Reception
6:30 PM
Beer Chef’s Hors D’Oeuvre Selection
India Pelican Ale
Dinner 7:30PM
First Course
Ceviche of Day Boat Scallop with Lobster Emulsion
Saison du Pelican
Second Course
Crispy Pork Belly with Slow Poached Egg and Ancho Chili Hollandaise
Stormwatcher’s Winterfest
Third Course
Slow Roasted Duck Breast with Bellwether San Andreas Cheese Grits, Satsuma Mandarins and Fig Gastrique
Grand Cru de Pelican
Fourth Course
Nutmeg Flan with Vanilla Bean Chocolate Barbecue Sauce
Le Pelican Brun
$75 per Person Inclusive of Tax and Gratuity
Please Make Reservations
At www.beer-chef.com
Bruce D. Paton CEC [email protected]
***If you can’t make this dinner, the Beer and Chocolate Tasting on February 15th, would make the perfect Valentines gift.
Damn, I was in San Francisco a few months ago and didn’t know about this! Travesty!
Thanks for the info though – I don’t need any more reason than this to hop on a plane back to San Fran. I can almost taste the beer already 🙂
To answer your question about Beer Sommeliers, yes, yes there are. There are a handful of restaurants, primarily in New York that have a beer sommelier on staff. But at this point there is no certifying organization for that title. In Germany, the brewing school Doemens’s offers a course to become a beer sommelier there. A beer industry insider, Ray Daniels, has started a similar program to become a certified Cicerone, a new word he coined to be used in the same sense as sommelier is used regarding expertise with wine.
Hmmmmmm,Thanks Jay, very interesting.
I just looked up the word Cicerone and it means:
Cicerone is an old term for a guide, one who conducts visitors and sightseers to museums, galleries, etc., and explains matters of archaeological, antiquarian, historic or artistic interest. The word is presumably taken from Marcus Tullius Cicero, as a type of learning and eloquence.
I recently discovered your blog and I love it! My husband and I are actually pretty big microbrew fans and have been to a few beer pairing dinners in NYC. Artisinal (the famous restaurant that makes cheese) also in NYC, hosts events where they invite brewers in for a cheese/beer pairing. I just started my own blog which I’d love for you to check out – it will follow our trip around the world on the Queen Victoria and is called The Bon Vivant Traveler.
I just started working with a bar/restaurant in San Diego to do the Beer Sommelier (or Cicerone!)thing, and am glad that this movement is happening. Beers has, understandably, been overlooked as a complex crafted consumable. However, with all of the great brewers that have developed over the past 30 years (most of them in the past 15 years!), it’s time for that to change! And with a good pool of self-educated “experts” who would love to share their knowledge with the discerning public, I think this will be a very popular position.
Cheers-
Lee Chase
http://www.brewingconsultant.com
I can certainly tell you that a new day is dawning for the whole concept of a Beer Sommelier…no matter what title given. The marketplace is becoming ever-friendlier to gourmet craft beer…and the public is beginning to appreciate those who can merge the two worlds. Cheers to those able to skillfully craft beer and food…and not only bring them together in harmony, but educate those who are enjoying them as well.
Regards,
Matt Simpson
As a newly minted Certified Cicerone, I can tell you that I’m extremely excited about the program and opportunities are streaming in for me because of it. Cheers!
hello.. sorry to enter here with no permition, but i if ti´s possible, would like to have some info about beer courses in the us. my name is cony and I am from brazil, any tips i´d apreciate. see you