New Belgium Brewing Beer Dinner @ The Meddlesome Moth

Like he's done so many times before, Chef Chad Kelley, great husband of mine :) and all around culinary rock star ;), hit it out of the park last night as The Moth crew hosted Sensory Specialist Lauren Salazar from New Belgium Brewing.  The unique and playful menu was specifically created to highlight New Belgium's rare Lips of Faith series of ales while Lauren took to the mic to give her take on the unique flavor profiles of each beer selection.   

You can read about what The Dallas Observer's, City of Ate said about the dinner here or what D Magazine's Side Dish said, here OR....for even MORE Kelley Blog Fun, you can head back to our original post about this particular dinner HERE!  :)

But that's enough reading.. check out the pictures I took last night.  Gotta love my super tasty photography gig!  :) 

First Course: Pate de canard and chicharrones de pato (duck pate with crispy duck pork rinds) with a dried cherry compote paired with Transatlantique Kreik

Should I feel special to get THESE types of silly faces from the Chef himself?  ;) 

 I'm sure not many photographers get to capture this side of my husband... silly boy.  :)

Second Course:  Roasted beet salad with an almond gazpacho and white balsamic syrup
Served alongside Biere de Mars

 

The best part of my "job" on this evening.. taking pictures.. then eating my subjects!!  ;)

Captured with my Iphone. 

Third Course:  Breast of Guinea fowl with curry potato croquettes, arugula puree,

and dried mango chutney paired with Super Cru

 

Love me a sea of sparkling wine glasses... Gets me every single time.  :)

Fourth Course:  Wild California Sturgeon filet with tempura pineapple and a "coke" glaze,

served with Dunkel-weiss, a "grand cru dunkel-weiss"

 

Almost ready for the next course..

Fifth Course:  Pork belly confit with Cannellini beans and a rosemary pesto

with roasted grape demiglaze served with La Folie 

 

Chef Chad Kelley, working the line..

Last but not certainly not least..

Sixth Course:  Sticky Bun Bread Pudding, Henry's Rum Raisin Ice Cream and Black Plum Port Sauce

Paired with Abbey Grand Cru

Chef Chad with Guest of Honor, Lauren Salazar

New Belguim Brewery Beer Dinner - Coming Soon

I honestly have no freakin' idea how he does it. 

12 hour days on his feet...moving, prepping, scheduling, managing, ordering, COOKING...making sure food goes out on time, piping hot, perfectly cooked, well seasoned, well dressed, just like you ordered it...making sure the line knows what they should be doing and how they need to be doing it...all while keeping a watchful eye that everything and everyONE is in sync to produce that perfect plate of yummy-ness. 

If you've ever paid attention to how a successful restaurant kitchen is run, you'll know that besides the day-to-day chaos of trying to keep ALL of THAT in check... you still have to prepare for the NEXT great thing to bring in new customers.  How My Chef has time to think of these off-the-wall, BUT TASTY menu items (chicharrones de pato, anyone??) for special beer dinners while running and managing the kitchen during day-to-day operations.. I'll never know... but he's doing it again.  And this time, D Magazine's SideDish is helping spread the word.  I've heard seats are still available.  Get 'em while you can! 

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Brews News: Lips of Faith Pairing Dinner With Beer Expert Lauren Salazar at Meddlesome Moth - by Sarah Reiss for D Magazine's SideDish

On Monday, Sept. 12 at 6 pm, Lauren Salazar, sensory specialist and educator for New Belgium Brewery, will be at Meddlesome Moth for a night of rare beers, delicious food pairings, and entertaining discourse on New Belgium’s rare Lips of Faith series of ales. Lauren has been with New Belgium for close to 15 years and has been instrumental in developing their Lips of Faith beer program, which focuses on beer experimentation, smaller batch limited releases, special barrel-aged releases, and a combination of old world brewing techniques meeting new world imagination.

Each course will be paired with a beer selection from her prized cellar and will include:

jump for the menu…

First course:
Pate de canard and chicharrones de pato (duck pate with crispy duck pork rinds) paired with Transatlantique Kreik, a spontaneously fermented Lambic ale made with Polish cherries

Second course:
Roasted beet salad with an almond gazpacho and white balsamic syrup, served alongside Biere de Mars

Third course:
Breast of Guinea fowl with curried potatoes, arugula puree, and dried mango chutney paired with Super Cru

Fourth course:
Wild California Sturgeon filet with tempura pineapple and a “cherry coke” glaze, served with Dunkel-weiss, a “grand cru dunkel-weiss”

Fifth course:
Pork belly confit with Cannellini beans and a rosemary pesto with roasted grape marmalade served with La Folie

Dessert
Sticky bun bread pudding served with an Abbey Grand Cru.

Tickets for the event are $85, which includes tax and gratuity, and can be purchased by calling 214-628-7900. Tickets are limited, and reservations are required.

Avery Brewing Beer Dinner - The Meddlesome Moth

Another fabulous beer dinner complete... 

This time, Chef Chad Kelley and The Moth crew played hosts to the folks from Avery Brewing Company out of Boulder, Colorado.  Adam Avery, brewery president and founder, was the guest speaker for the evening...telling us about the brewery and answering questions from amongst the crowd.  As part of The Moth's Summer Beer Dinner Series (and with lots of delicious beers to try), Chad took his guests through the ultimate Avery Experience...pairing not one but TWO beer selections with each course.  :)  I, of course, had my special photographers seat at the bar... where I not only saw the behind the scenes action in the kitchen but was able to get a birds eye view (of sorts) of the guests as they enjoyed their meals.  Happy faces amongst a "happy" crowd equals a good time over all.  :)  Great Job Chef, the food was divine. :)

Avery Beers ready for the first course delivery.... 

Beer, beer...everywhere... 

1st course:  Sunchoke "Vichyssoise", Salmon Roe & Petite Chives

Avery Beer Pairings:  Avery Karma & Salvation

Followed by:  Moroccan Lamb, Couscous, Pine Nuts & Currants

Avery Beer Pairings:  Avery IPA & New World Porter

Gotta love me a sea of sparkling wine glasses... 

Can someone spot Chef Kelley in this picture?  ;) 

Third Course:  Giant Nigerian Salt Water Prawn & Piment D'Espelette

Avery Beer Pairings:  Avery Reverend & Hog Heaven

It's like he's looking at me!!... lol..

He was delicious though... poor guy.  His name was Herb.  ;)

View from the end of the bar...

Fourth Course:  Slow Roasted Pheasant, Exotic Mushroom Bread Pudding

Avery Beer Pairings:  Avery Czar & Depuceleuse

**Side Note - That big hunk of brown on the left was NOT the most photogenic piece of food on the plate but it most certainly was the most delicious!  

Mmmmmm... mushroom bread pudding??  

It sounds sooooo wrong...but tasted soooooooo soooooooo RIGHT!  

Mignardises, Chocolate-Walnut Flourless Cookies, Coconut Macaroons, Vanilla-Orange Tapioca with Sugared Mint Leaves.

Avery Beer Pairings:  The Beast, 2007 Vintage

Manager Cara, Adam Avery, and Chef Chad after all was said and done.. 

Chef Wife Perks...  ;)  

These were actually taken home by my steady beer dinner date Miss Lisa.  :) 

Thanks for never letting me come to these events alone.   

Stone Brewing Beer Dinner - The Meddlesome Moth

For those of you who keep up with our blog, you might recognize Stone Brewing from our December visit to their Escondido Brewery in California.  (You can see our cool pictures of the brewery & food from their restaurant on our past blog post - here ) This time, they flew to Texas and paid a little visit to the Moth, starting out April Ale Week with beer and food pairings like no other.  Greg Koch, Co-Founder of Stone was the HILARIOUS guest speaker this evening while Chad did a great job (as always) preparing the menu and delighting the over 100 guests with spectacular food.  :)  

Brief introductions from Jason Armstrong - Stone's Regional Rep.

Sea of beer. Enough said.  ;)

Greg Koch, Co-founder and comedian ;)

Pate on rye with malt mustard - Carpaccio with peach, olive oil & celery - Carmelized onion & gruyere tart

Beer Pairings:  Green Flash - Pizza Port Carlsbad - Stone Hwy 78 Scotch Ale

Crab "Boil" with sweet corn - Red bliss potato with andouille butter

Beer Pairing:  Stone IPA 

Cocoa braised short rib with burnt leek polenta & garlic kale

Beer Pairing:  Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale

Candied orange duckwith wilted curly leaf spinach

Beer Pairing:  Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale

Chocolate fig stout cake with Henry's malted milk ice cream

Beer Pairing:  2008 Stone Imperial Russian Stout

left to right:  Chef Chad Kelley, aka "The Hubs", Greg Koch, Matt Quinette and Keith Schlabs

Funnyman Greg went around "stamping" all he could with a personalized stamp with his jolly mug on it!

He was even passing around temporary arm band tattoos with the same thing...lol.  crazy kid!  :)

Greg and some of the bar staff

Mama Lisa was my date for the night... :)

Chad and Greg enjoying the night after all the plates had been served and speeches had been given. 

One of my favorite pictures form our visit to the Stone Brewery. 

I love this gargoyle guy! Scary but cute perhaps??  lol..