For those excited to warm up for next month's impending beer-and-food-pairing onslaught courtesy of SF Beer Week, hold onto your hats. The remainder of this month brings three beer dinners, all showcasing distinct culinary and beer-making points of view.
If you're looking for an immediate beer dinner fix (along with a magical school bus ride back to elementary school), check out tomorrow night's "Cafebeeria Dinner" at Social Kitchen and Brewery. For the sixth dinner in its monthly Brewmaster's Dinner Series, the brewpub will be donning lunch-lady hairnets and rolling out high-scale reimagined cafeteria grub paired with the house brews of master cicerone Rich Higgins.
Brewmaster's Dinner VI: "Cafebeeria"
Where: Social Kitchen and Brewery, 1326 Ninth Ave. (at Irving), 681-0330
When: Wed., Jan. 12
Cost: $30 ― includes food, brews, and a hefty dose of nostalgia. Let's just hope the schoolyard bullies don't steal your lunch money.
Highlights: "Fruit salad," orange and pomelo with apple chips and kölsch vinaigrette, paired with Social Kölsch; "mystery meat Sloppy Joe," ground beef or house-made brewer's malt "tofu" on a brioche bun, paired with Old Time Alt; "mac and cheese," goat cheese ice cream with toasted macaroni-and-honey clusters, paired with Rapscallion Belgian Golden Ale
Now in its 30th year, craft brewing juggernaut Sierra Nevada is the subject of one upcoming feast. This Nor Cal brewing pioneer had an exciting 2010, launching a multitude of new brews to quench the thirst of the uninitiated and the beer geek alike. Have you noticed those shiny, corked bottles of Sierra conspicuously stacked in the beer aisle of your local Safeway? These beers, each brewed in collaboration with another American craft brewery, represent the spirit of the last 30 years of microbrewing innovation. Continuing the collaboration theme, the brewery is teaming up with Berkeley's Spenger's for a Jan. 20 seafood pairing.
One Fermented Evening
Where: Spenger's Fresh Fish Grotto, 1919 Fourth St. (at University), Berkeley, 510-845-7771
When: Thu., Jan. 20,7 p.m.
Cost: $40
Highlights: Spice-crusted Kona kampachi, paired with Kellerweis; ti leaf-smoked duck, paired with Sierra Pale Ale; banana and candied macadamia nut pancakes, served with IPA
Berkeley's Jupiter Brewpub will be host to another "Collabeeration" beer dinner with the Drake's and Triple Rock breweries Jan. 26. While the chef and brewers are still tinkering out the pairings, expect Jupiter's Quasar Double IPA, Triple Rock's Keyser Soze Imperial Stout, and some special treats (most likely of the barrel-aged persuasion) from Drakes, paired with a four-course dinner.
Collabeeration Dinner
Where: Jupiter, 2181 Shattuck (at Allston), Berkeley, 510-843-8277
When: Wed., Jan. 26, 7-9:30 p.m.
Cost: $50 (includes tax and tip); for sale from each brewery beginning Jan. 12
Highlights: Smoked salmon bruschetta; blood orange and grapefruit salad; braised lamb osso bucco; chocolate mousse budino with huckleberry sauce
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