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November 20th 2011

Sierra Nevada Beer Dinner at The Porter

After thoroughly enjoying the last beer dinner we attended at The Porter, we were quick to make reservations for the Sierra Nevada event. This time, all of the beers came from one brewery. They were showcasing some of the special brews they made for their 30th Anniversary.

(The menu)

(First beer of the night, with swag in background)

Overall, our impressions of this beer dinner were more balanced. The portions were more reasonable, as was the amount of beer. If the theme of the last dinner was excess, this one reflected sensibility. That being said, the last dinner included more stunning highlights. This one was solid, but nothing really stood out.

(Amuse)

(Boudin Noir)

(Duck Confit)

(Dessert)

My favorite dish was probably the boudin. The potatoes that came with it were simply heaven. I found the duck confit a bit disappointing, and I could have done without that mound of cabbage. The dessert was lovely, but the only novelty with it was the cereal milk ice cream (which I’m assuming is a nod to Momofuku).

Still, I highly recommend these dinners. At $45/person, it’s one of the best values in town.

Posted at 12:26pm and tagged with: the porter, sierra nevada, beer dinner,.

October 19th 2011

bootleg beer dinner at the porter

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This past weekend I went to a beer dinner at The Porter. The theme of the beer dinner was “bootleg beer” which meant The Porter was serving beer that isn’t distributed in GA. The Menu:

Starter Beer: 2nd Self Beta Red

Amuse Bouche: Salmon Tartare (Skull Coast Scallywag Pale Ale)

Sweet Potato Soup (Short’s Humalupalicious, Strawberry Short Cake, Black Substanace)

Grilled Hanger Steak (Caldera IPA)

Chocolate Fondant (Cascade Kriek)

I didn’t know exactly what to expect with this dinner. I love going to the Porter, and I’ve been consistently impressed with their specials, but I wasn’t sure how they’d handle a prix-fixe menu. No need to worry- it was professional. We couldn’t believe that we were enjoying a meal of this quality at our favorite beer bar. For example- the amuse (above) had passion fruit, pink pepper and fried garlic in the tartare. The fried garlic gave it a nice crunch. It was a fun, bright start to the meal. We also got bread and butter- but not just any bread- the Sweetwater bread.

This soup was probably my favorite course of the evening. Uber-flavorful. And I could *literally* eat pounds of the pecan bacon brittle sprinkled in the soup. Also- I thought the beer pairings for this course (three different Short’s beers) made the most sense.

(The Short’s beers)

My one complaint of the evening was that the portions (both food and beer) were too large. When doing a tasting menu, typically restaurants will scale down the portions. Here, you can see the full serving of steak, pile of fries, bone marrow and bernaise sauce (foamed across the bottom of the plate). This was a super-rich course (oh, you don’t say, bone marrow and bernaise sauce are rich?).

By the time we got to dessert, we were all exhausted. And not necessarily in a good way. Though- to his credit- our waiter did a great job pacing our courses. (Neal or Nealan…not sure which) had the perfect demeanor. He gave us helpful tidbits about the beer and food, but didn’t hang on our table lecturing us about each element.

So, the dessert- fondant with brandied cherries, white chocolate mousse and chocolate sorbet- was actually not overpoweringly rich. I especially liked the brandied cherries with the kriek (a sour beer). I’m not normally a fan of sour beers, but this one might change my mind.

Overall it was a great evening. I just wish I hadn’t left feeling like I was about to birth a food baby. I would definitely recommend attending a beer dinner at The Porter, and I’ll probably be at the next one!

Posted at 8:59am and tagged with: the porter, beer dinner, atlanta,.