Last Friday night we had the chance to enjoy an evening with Seattle brewery
Pike Brewing Company, beer and Brewmaster Charles Finkel! The dinner took place at the
Manor Bistro, consisting of a four course meal with beer pairings.
The meal started off strong with an amuse of Pike's "Dry Wit" a wonderfully floral Wit style beer, unfortunately my beer was molested by an orange slice while I was preoccupied which completely destroyed any aroma of the beer itself, and seriously masking any flavor. Beer + Fruit Garnish = Stupid.
The next course was a delicious Stilton soup garnished with crispy parsnips and some sort of flavored oil paired with the Naughty Nellie Golden Ale. I thought the two worked really well together, the soup could have been the whole meal and I would have been happy.
Course three was a trio of salmon: Smoked Salmon, Basil cured Salmon, and a Salmon Tartar. This, for me, was when things started to stray from good. The Basil cured salmon was flavorless and a bit chewy, the salmon tartar was also seriously under seasoned and what flavor that existed wasn't very enjoyable. The smoked salmon was delicious, salty and pleasantly smoky. There was some sort of yellow pepper puree and salsa garnish along with the dish that added nothing to the palette. I savored every morsel of the smoked salmon along with the paired Pale Ale which I found to be enjoyable. The hops maybe a bit over powering for the delicate salmon flavor, but worked well with the smoke. The disappointment of the food made the accompanying beer less memorable unfortunately. I think it was at this point in the evening when I started to focus more on my plate rather than my glass....chef habit.
Third course, entree.....ok, I'll try to be polite here. The beer, The Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale, was poured way before the food hit the tables. So by the time our meal came almost everyones beer was gone. But the beer was amazing and made a real impact on the evening I thought. This ale is brewed with a small percentage of peated Scottish malts adding tasty smoky sweetness and hints of Scotch Whisky to the brew, without adding boozy character which I find with most barrel aged Scotch ales. The hops were subtle, doing well to not hinder the malty flavors from shining through. After completely enjoying almost all of my beer the food finally hit the table. A free range chicken breast "stuffed" with Quebec Oka cheese and sage, eggplant cannelloni, some sort of roasted tomato sauce and grilled peppers. Now, when I see "stuffed" I assume the breast will be "stuffed". Rather the skin of the chicken was lifted and the cheese and sage placed under, the thing with this method of "stuffing" is that while the breast is being roasted the cheese has nothing containing it and just slithers out from under the skin and melts away...a complete waste. The chicken breast was at least juicy and tender, and delicious with the sauce. The cannelloni on the other hand was, in my opinion (and in the opinion of almost everyone at the table), a disaster. The eggplant was under seasoned and had nothing to make it short of boring, and wrapped around this bland mass was a severely al dante piece of pasta. The thing that really pissed me off about the dish aside from all of these things was the blatant over use pepper, which we already saw in the salmon course. Three massive pieces of grilled pepper, essentially an entire grilled pepper was the veggie portion of our plates. I didn't even eat it, out of spite, because it seemed like such a copout. I would have been happier with a side of boiled mushy carrots, at least it would have seemed like they tried. Overall third course fail, and thats not just my opinion but the unanimous opinion of the other seven people at my table. Sorry folks.
Fourth and final course, a bread pudding made with Pikes huge and delicious xxxxx Extra Stout was paired with the Old Bawdy barley wine. The bread pudding was tasty, moist and spiced well. The fig compote on the pudding was enjoyable but cold, bringing an uncomfortable hot-cold complex to the dish which would have been more enjoyable if it had been all the same temperature. The Old Bawdy blew my mind though! Granted it was my first barely wine experience, it was a perfect end to the meal. Heavy on all fronts, this extra malty and heavily hopped brew was balanced perfectly kicking the ass of any taste buds in its path. Four days later I still cannot stop thinking about it, and look forward to delving into the world that is barley wine. I cannot believe I have waited this long to try this style out.
Overall not a mind blowing evening, the beer being the star of the show most definitely. The company of Mr. Charles Finkel was a huge perk of the evening, bringing entertaining stories and history along with him despite the small room being extremely loud and some people not very engaged in his presence. I hope to one day enjoy his company again in a more comfortable setting, ideally working with him on my own terms to produce a beer dinner at the Sugarbowl....who knows. Here's to hoping. Cheers.
