Bites 'n Brews

Banjos and Fiddles

Becki — Tue, 21 May 2013 02:03:01 +0000

American Craft Beer Week finished as a success! In addition to having a delicious craft brew every evening, I also obtained a keg of epic deliciousness that is Schwarz Schaff (schwarzbier) from LAB Brewing Company and got a chance to try some specialty tasters from Ladyface with two of my favorite girls!
I met Avery and Janelle at Ladyface for a girls’ night and rare beers. Avery abstained for this trip.
We each got a flight of the special lineup – Bastille (obsessed with this song, by the way) Imperial Wit, La Cerise Kriek and Ladyface One Year Anniversary. Drool. Everything was epically wonderful.
With all of my pairing “expertise”, I went for mac and cheese with jalapeno and bacon. I can’t not get this when I go to Ladyface nowadays. Stuck and happy.

The week ended up in a random way. Brew Chief Joe and I went to the 53rd Topanga Banjo and Fiddle Contest and Folk Festival!
I cannot believe I’ve never attended before now, let alone knew it existed!
Held back at Paramount Ranch, this fest goes all day featuring fierce competition in voice, bands and beginners alike, as well as tons of food and western-style arts and crafts.
Banjo Joe in his element.
When at an outdoor festival, one must always find and buy kettlecorn, if possible. Mmmm, breakfast.
Walking around was like attending a dozen mini-concerts. Rehearsals were everywhere!
We got to see the Bluegrass Hoppers from UCLA in action. They were awesome. Unfortunately we weren’t able to stay long enough to see who ended up as a finalist, but I’m still hoping they moved on!
The vocalist competition took place at the train station.
And the main stage featured 50 different intermediate/advanced competitors. This guy in the overalls played the harmonica and blew. my. mind. He played something in G-minor. Classic, bluesy and mind-boggling. I wish I could describe it better.
The lineup of competitors was varied. These kids remade Ed Sheeran’s “The A Team” song into a bluegrass style.
One of them had the best accessory ever. Bluegrass-playing Mohawk. Not something you see everyday, and I loves it.
We wandered a bit more, enjoying the intense heat that was burning into the back of my legs after just seconds.
After we found shade, we were greeted by an impromptu jam.
This man and his instrument are my heroes. A bucket, a stick and a string.
Impromptu jam session #23.
Impromptu jam session #48.
#81.
Man in overalls. Just cuz.
Yet another jam session.
And my favorite jam session of the day.
So cute it hurts.

And so ends American Craft Beer Week! I finished up Sunday by rehydrating with Golden Spur Saison and working in the brewery all day. I could not be more content at this very moment.

Ladies at Ladyface: Two Years!

Becki — Wed, 15 May 2013 06:16:44 +0000

American Craft Beer Week started off with a huge bang! Ladies at Ladyface: The Fermentables and Comestibles Education and Tippling Society celebrated our two year anniversary!
I stuck to my latest tradition and started off with mac ‘n cheese with jalapeno and bacon. For a night like we had ahead, food was necessary. As was a warm-up beer…
It was a HOT one out, so I grabbed a nice light Palo Comado XPA.
The week had started off with a high of 100 degrees, so the patio misters were more than welcome as the sun slowly set and the earth finally began to cool.
Our youngest member who was unable to attend either the first meeting or the first anniversary (on account of not being created or born yet) joined us for dinner.
Little Avery lovin’ on her Auntie Michelle!
The theme of the day was “favorites”. We were supposed to bring in our favorite beer… One of my ultimate favorites is aging in my cellar (aka a cardboard box sitting in a cool closet), and I just wasn’tt prepared to be unselfish and share it, so instead I brought six of my other faves. Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier is one of my favorite wheat beers, along with Franziskaner – musty with intense notes of banana and earthy cloves.
Lost Coast Downtown Brown – nothing too fancy about this one. Just a quality brown that’s always a good go-to when you’re looking for a lower alcohol beer with lots of roasty nutty malts and gentle hops.
This was one of the first, if not the first, recipe I made for the blog with beer. Bison Brewing Organic Honey Basil is the heart of my Honey Basil Chicken recipe, which I’m looking forward to grilling again this summer!
Michelle brought in Pilsner Urquell – the original Czech Pilsner.
Nancy Gold of the Maltose Falcons brought in two homebrewed clones of Allagash Curieux – one aged with oak cubes from a rum barrel and one with oak cubes from a bourbon barrel. Droooool.
We were all very fond of both. I think I preferred the toasted rum cubes, myself.
Janelle (I believe this was her donation) brought in Anderson Valley Brother David’s Triple – a deliciously boozy Belgian.
Cyrena brought in a beer she’d gotten overseas at the Westvleteren Trappist brewery (there are only eight Trappist breweries in the world), and was kind enough to share it with us. This beer does taste a little closer to heaven.
We had a handful of other beers – New Belgium’s La Folie was my mother’s donation from afar since she now lives in Colorado and was unable to attend. J.J. brought in Duchesse de Bourgogne which tasted like it was made of sugar cubes after the intense sourness of La Folie.
Ting Su of the Eagle Rock Brewery showed up with some Los Angeles ladies to participate as well!
Ting brought in Deuce – Eagle Rock Brewery’s second anniversary ale which is a super-loaded version of their flagship beer, Solidarity. Toasty and full of chocolate, roast and hints of smoke – scarily drinkable and clocking in at 10%ABV. This could throw you for one if you weren’t aware of the alcohol content.
I capped off the evening with an old favorite – bread pudding!!! I left that night overstuffed and overhappy.
Happy Two Years, ladies! Here’s to two more!

Golden Road Brewery Tour

Becki — Fri, 10 May 2013 03:53:05 +0000

I finally got a chance to check out the actual BREWERY instead of just the pub!
Of course, beforehand I had to fuel up in said pub. I can’t go on a brewery tour without fuel. I’m not completely insane.
There was a big group of us and they assigned ordering to me. I closed my eyes and pointed. Roasted potatoes with soy chorizo and vegan ricotta. Surprisingly pleasant, even for someone who lives for bacon!
Vegan wild mushroom fritters with vegan pimento – for someone who hates mushrooms and loves pig, also surprisingly pleasant. One might even say delicious!
Pretzel with non-vegan cheese. Two vegan options are more than enough in my opinion, no offense to all my vegan/vegetarian readers out there!
We topped it off with the charcuterie plate full of cheese, grapes, spicy peanuts and cured meats. Okey, fueled up. Tour time.
We made our way through Chloe’s – the exclusive club for all those who love beer.
As you can see, I hadn’t quite gotten my lens repaired/been able to remove the lens yet…
We made our way into the gigantic offices/cold room. Don’t worry, these are separated. They don’t actually cryogenically freeze the employees. Yet.
This be a pretty big walk-in. I be pretty jealous. I become pretty chilled…
That ought to satisfy the LA consumers for a few days…
Once we got back into the warmth, we were greeted with all these empty cans, waiting to be filled with Wolf Among Weeds.
And finally, into the brewery!
They had to remove the roof of this building in order to lower these fermentors in by crane.
They’re kinda big…
And finally, a glance at the 50bbl brew system. Fifty. Barrel. Brew. System.
They run their wort through the hop dosing system before sending it to the boil kettle.
Instead of filtration, they have a separation tank. This spins the chilled wort around and all of the solids are brought to the center and removed – basically a second whirlpool tank, but faster and cooler looking.
The canning machine! We didn’t get to see this in action, but that makes for easier pictures anyway. These are spun around, sanitized, purged with CO2, filled and capped/clamped.
The quality assurance room/lab. If anyone for some reason calls in about their beer having an issue, the Golden Road team is able to come in here and taste that exact same batch to see if it’s a problem based on brewing or by handling. I think I’d be good at this part of the job.
I’m checking out how good I am at quality assurance right now.
In other news – I took my camera in to the repair shop and after a lot of hammering from the backroom and me cringing as I listened to each bone-shattering crack, the shattered cover was removed and my camera is at the ready to take some more awesome pictures!

The Bruery

Becki — Wed, 08 May 2013 00:37:28 +0000

I’d like to preface this post with a photo.
I haven’t been able to get the UV lens to come off of the camera yet, so unfortunately the pictures I got are quite sad. I was able to go down to Anaheim and got a (blurry) tour of The Bruery by the Sr. Director of Brewing Operations/Everything Else, Tyler King.
The Bruery has three separate buildings – offices and barrel aging space, the actual brewery and a distribution center/warehouse which also hosts more barrels.
This is their 3bbl pilot system. As you can see, it’s very fuzzy and soft-looking so some of the brewers use it as sleeping quarters… Out, damned crack! Out, I say!
Their old (also unfortunately fuzzy and blurry) fermentors are about to get swapped out for shiny new ones.
They propagate their own yeast on site instead of working through other labs. Their new fancy schmancy lab and lab technician are in full swing!
And here’s where I finally got (some of) the focus under control.
The Bruery is currently distributed in 21 states AND in Europe! After seeing the 15bbl system they work and finding out they have a staff of about 50, my mind was boggled. And impressed. Massively.
Brand new 60bbl fermentors!
Many, many kegs waiting to be filled with golden, amber and ruby deliciousness! And then some more!
One small section of their barrel aging program.
One bigger section of their barrel aging program. The scent of spirits, vanilla and oak swirling around the giant warehouse is intoxicating!
All of their bottle-conditioned beers, packed up and ready to be sent out!
And now these await me in my cellar (read: cardboard box in a dark cupboard) while they age out. Luckily I got two (or more) of each, so I should probably try them fresh as well, yes?

Tap Takeover at Dish

Becki — Wed, 01 May 2013 00:39:51 +0000

Last night, Enegren Brewing Company took over the taps at Dish in Thousand Oaks.
Chef Alfie had been inspired by a few of EBC’s beers and decided to put together a burger pairing for Dish’s weekly Monday Craft Beer and Burger Night.
While the boys set up for the evening, I greedily studied the menu and proceeded to order each of the featured burgers.
Buffalo Mole Burger, inspired by Captain Patrick’s Irish Stout – A thick, juicy buffalo patty cooked perfectly to medium, topped with a savory mole sauce emanating essence of dusty cocoa, sweet onions and a delicate spice of pepper. The dry Irish stout enhanced the smokiness of the burger and brought forward the rich chocolate in the mole while taming the spice.
Three Little Pigs, inspired by Protector Imperial IPA – This burger was a little overwhelming at first. Stacked to high heaven and no knife and fork in sight…
We topped it with the tender brioche bun and proceeded to compress it until it was almost short enough to take a full bite. House ground pork patty topped with the thickest bacon I’ve ever seen topped again with barbecue pulled pork and crispy onions. The hoppiness of the beer cut through the adiposity of the bacon while balancing out the sweetness of the barbecue sauce.
I also happened to see a new addition to the chalkboard – Onion rings coated in Golden Spur Saison batter, served with warmed zesty dijon mustard dipping sauce spiked with Golden Spur. The batter was light, flaky and piping hot. Everything was greedily consumed and copious amounts of napkins were used.
In addition to the five beers on tap, the boys brought along a cask of Vanilla Oaked Valkyrie – a favorite of the brewery regulars.
Ron of Dish tapped the keg in the early evening and we were pleased to see many glasses being sent out around the restaurant.
After a taster of the cask, I was designated the task of disposing of any “mispours” made by the boys. I didn’t complain – gotta do what I can to help out!
Overall it was yet another delicious night, as seems to be tradition when there’s beer and food involved.
The night was almost ruined for me when my camera bag betrayed me and threw my beloved camera onto the street, cracking the lens right down the middle. While I stood in shock, hyperventilating, internally cursing and trying not to faint, Commander Matt calmed me down and showed me that the body and actual lens of the camera were fine – the protective UV cover had taken all the abuse. The above picture is proof that my lovely camera still lives. Crisis averted.

Said camera bag may be burned and replaced for its betrayal.

Boys in Short Shorts

Becki — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 23:07:15 +0000

It’s been a busy week – that seems to be a new tradition. On Wednesday I had a beer and food pairing event at Sagebrush Cantina in Calabases that I designed and had to get there early to set up. I happened to get there just a tad too early and used the extra time as an excuse to go visit Pedaler’s Fork across the street.
I was a tad too late for breakfast…
And just hungry enough that I might be able to finish a piece or two of flatbread.
Smoked chicken and shishito peppers! Smokey and sweet.

The crew from Lagunitas happened to show up as I was enjoying my first bite. They ordered some fancy whiskey for themselves…
…and a shot of Lagunitas Sucks for me. I had a speech to give so I was behaving.
Behaving is very difficult with Pedaler’s selection of 32 taps, but I stood my ground.
Except for a small sip of the fizz that mixologist Thor was trying out. Thor (his actual name is Tor, but I can’t not call him Thor) also happens to be a Chiver!
In exchange for letting me call him Thor, I gave him a Bill F***ing Murray shirt. Good trade, in my opinion.
I enjoyed the last of the sunlight in the rustic restaurant before going back across the street to set up.
Beer. Check.
Other beer. Check.
More beer. Check.
You get the idea. Check.
All in all we had about eighteen different breweries attend with about thirty two beers. I’d spent the past week putting together and finalizing all of the food pairings. Unfortunately for you guys, I got too busy hosting and giving speeches (aka a single two-minute speech about how to taste the beer before I ran to Lagunitas and told them to “beer me” whilst holding out my four ounce glass for a fill) and was unable to take pictures of the actual prepared food. The event and pairing was well-received by all, and brewery tours were promised by reps. It was a good evening for me!

In other news, I’m slowly adding to my beer/brewery photography portfolio. I apologize in advance if these explicit photographs offend anybody.
Behind the scenes for Enegren Brewing’s new beer Shorts Day.
The official pic.
The boys decided to try out the entire brew in their short shorts.
The official beer picture for Shorts Day Spring IPA…
And the background model in all of his white-legged glory.

Again, I’m so sorry.

A Tease

Becki — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:21:38 +0000

Most of my pictures have been taken through my phone in the past week, and nothing in much of an order. Here’s a little bit of what I’ve been up to, iPhone style.
~~Dodger~~ Padres game!
The most overpriced beer in the entire world. Seriously, $10 for 12oz? We forgot the tailgate beers, so I guess we have ourselves to blame…
Some experimentals from Custom Pie! I’ve been quality checking them throughout the past weeks and I’m proud to say I was the first purchase ever!
Awesome turkey burger with garlic aioli and avocado from Prohibition Burgers and Beer in Encino – one of my new favorite hangouts during the work week.
Girls’ BYOB night – Samuel Adams New World Tripel. Faintly sweet, earthy/musty and dry. I’m loving their barrel series!
A trip to the 500bbl brewery – Miller. This place is HUGE! The packaging line is extremely impressive – even when it breaks and shoots the tops of cans everywhere.
The craft team from my company went down to Irwindale for training and a “homebrew” session.
Relax. Don’t worry. Have a… homebrew? Or take one sip and give it to the person sitting next to you. I may have done that…
Heat exchanging.
Cold break!
This SABCO Brew Magic system be crazy! Circulating mash – the entire brew took us three hours. Using two row sped up the conversion time.
Pulled pork made with Batch 19, stir fry veggies with Blue Moon and lemon cake made with Leinenkugel Summer Shandy.
Aaaand back to Ladyface for some delicious brews a la Ladies at Ladyface!
The theme was “all things fermented”. Spent grain bread, edamame and kimchi!
El Segundo’s awesome IIPA – Two 5 Left.
Mac ‘n cheese with jalapeno and bacon – not fermented, but I couldn’t say no. Next month is our TWO YEAR anniversary! Everyone’s bringing their favorite beer – time to dig into my cellar!
A new place opened in Calabasas – Pedaler’s Fork is a craft beer bar, farm to table restaurant, coffee shop with its own roaster and a bike shop.
The most delicious cup of coffee I’ve ever consumed from 10 Speed Coffee at Pedaler’s Fork. I’m in love.
Headed to Public School 310 last night.
Lots of rotating taps and a steady craft selection.
Lovin’ local!
The rotating selection of the week. El Segundo Citra Pale!
Hyper Bella at The Chive.

Now off to a long workday with a beer pairing event tonight! Beer, food, happy, happy.

Sierra Nevada Brewery

Becki — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 19:45:18 +0000

Last weekend the craft division of my company was flown up to Chico by the awesome crew of Sierra Nevada!
We were flown via Southwest – lucky for me, I got to score some extra points from this trip for all my future Colorado trips!
Random airport artwork in Sacramento.
After a ridiculously speedy flight, we all hopped into a huge shuttle van and drove 90 minutes up to Chico.
After a quick unpacking session, cans of Old Chico (not available in SoCal) were grabbed from the hotel lobby and consumed, followed by a trek to downtown Chico for dinner and some more brews.
We somehow ended up at this dance club/billiard hall/restaurant that was obviously hoppin’. At this point, I hailed a cab for myself and headed back to the safety of the hotel.
Many of my coworkers had a rough start the next morning, but thanks to my quick escape at the early hour of midnight, I felt somewhat alive. Our first stop was the brewery gift shop where we were given gift cards and set loose. I’m now the proud owner of a few shirts and an awesome lip balm that has hop oil in it.
We perused the grounds and found these awesome bike racks…
And a bike pump! Every brewery should have one of these!
Lunch was up next. We sat on the patio enjoying the beautiful warm weather and scanned the extensive beer list.
French Saison for me! Hair of the dog for everyone else!
I ordered the Sierra Nevada salad – fresh greens picked from the garden out behind the brewery, goat cheese and candied walnuts.
We were given some amazing samples of experimentals and beers that haven’t been or will not be released to the public. Barrel-Aged Narwhal Imperial Stout. Out of this world.
The brewery tour was next!
Sierra Nevada uses only whole leaf hops in their brews. The floor and tanks were littered with beautiful cones.
Hop room! Freezing cold and smelling of joy. Oh, how I love the hops.
Wonderful artwork for Life and Limb that for some reason didn’t make the cut??? Gotta love the fig leaf action.
The bases of the huge fermentors that stick out atop the brewery.
Everyone jumped aboard the awesome pub-bike and we pedaled out to the hop fields.
They’re a little more barren than the last time I was here…
The remains of the garden from where my lunch was cultivated.
HotRot – this composting machine is loaded with all the remains from meals in the pub and takes twelve days to turn all of that into what looks like sawdust. The smell is horrendous, the outcome is awesome.
After biking back, we toured the nanobrewery and got to sample some of the Beer Camp brew that Roger from The LAB participated in – milk stout with almonds. Divine.
The tour ended with a sample of Ovila with mandarin oranges straight from the conditioning tank.
Up next – dinner!
Cheese plate appetizer.
Filet mignon with lobster butter. Yes, please.
This rocked my world. I’m drooling as I recall…
The next morning we were up bright and early and back to Sacramento for our flight. This may be the best airport fare I’ve ever had – it’s a toss-up when it comes to burritos. I got lucky.
We had an even faster flight back.
Descending through the thick marine layer.

It was a wonderful, fast-paced and delicious trip. With all these brewery trips, I’m seriously loving my job!

Samuel Adams Training

Becki — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 23:22:58 +0000

I’m back from a wonderful three days in Boston! Two coworkers and I were flown out to Boston by my company for training at the Samuel Adams brewery. This’ll be a picture-heavy post – lots of phone pics as well since I didn’t feel like hefting my big camera bag along the miles of walking.
We flew out on JetBlue. Only four hours and ten minutes out with tons of leg space – at least in comparison to United and American! Plus a personal TV screen on each seat. Win! We dropped our bags at the hotel and set out for a walk in the freezing rain.
jm Curley is a newer place across the street from Stoddard’s Fine Foods and Ale. We grabbed a beer to warm up and perused the menu. The new seasonal special – housemade donut fried in bacon fat with strawberry-rhubarb filling, basil crystals and a foie gras glaze. You read that right. I couldn’t not.
Holy geez.
Yes. I can say without hesitation that this is one of the top three things I’ve ever consumed in my entire life. Ever.
Next up was Union Oyster House, and we were lucky enough to score seats at the bar!
I consumed my first oyster! After very low expectations (my imagination went from dry-heaving to salt water sneezes to other horrible things), I was pleasantly surprised – sweet and tender without a freaky texture! I don’t think I’ll eat another one, but I’m glad I tried it.
They had quite a full lobster tank which included this eleven pound beast. I didn’t consume him.
We were sent by the bartender to a locals’ favorite, Durty Nelly’s, which was full of big brand beers plus a Samuel Adams. We continued along the way, going to a place and asking the bartender where his/her favorite place was and continuing in this manner.
After a few jumps, we enjoyed a freezing cold stroll for about half a mile before hailing a taxi to take us the rest of the way back to the hotel.
The next morning we were in the lobby at 7am (4am California time) and took the subway down to Samuel Adams Brewery.
Study supplies were stacked on the tables…
and a group of seventeen total (me being the only female) slowly tried to jar ourselves awake.
Breakfast was brought in by Max’s Deli Cafe – delicious every single morning!
We had ten hours of intense lectures interjected with mini-tours of the brewery.
Our instructor and Certified Cicerone, Ken Smith. He has an insane amount of energy – far too much for me when it was 4am my time, but once the coffee started working, I thoroughly enjoyed him and his exciting speeches and lectures.
Head Brewer Dean!
Looking out from the brew system. At lunch I snuck over and Dean was kind enough to let me watch the transfer and sparging of the mash.
I also got to try the first wort from next years Utopias he was brewing this day! Nothing like a hot cup of sugar water to wake you up in the mornings!
During the sparge Dean was able to give a quick tour of the place.
We walked into the barrel room and were bombarded by the wonderful scent of spirits that emanated from the racks of barrels.
Foeders!
These 68bbl fermenters used to be in the main brewery but have recently been moved into the new building they recently obtained after their neighbors closed business.
Another lovely view as I creepered around the place.
The whirlpool tank – after initial whirlpool in the boil kettle, the wort is transferred here and whirled again to get rid of as much trub as possible before filtering.
Lunch was delivered again by Max’s – roasted salmon, shrimp skewers and fancy salad and grilled veggies.
They brought plenty of dessert options which were greedily consumed by the class I was with, and then by the brewers Dean and Bob.
I also got a sneak peak at the 26.2 Pale Wheat that Sam Adams is releasing on April 15th for the marathon! Sweet, smooth and crisp – perfect for rehydration after running a marathon.
After ten hours of sitting, we were released and headed over to Stoddard’s Fine Food and Ale.
No casks were available, so I stuck with a local porter. We ended the night a little earlier than the previous one… We’d learned our lesson after each having a small headache for the majority of the day…

The next day we met in the lobby again at 7am, but class was cut short after about an hour when poor Ken wasn’t feeling well. We set out to explore the city. And by city, I mean foods and pubs in the city.
I walked towards the water and found Granary Tavern. After sipping a Saison from the local brewery Pretty Things, the boys met up with me and we each ordered a gigantic, lovely, delicious, more adjectives lobsta roll. Tender and succulent with housemade dill mayo, wrapped in a warm cushion of a frankfurter roll. Happy sigh.
Every bartender we’d come across had told us that Mr. Dooley’s had the best pint of Guinness in the city. I don’t like Guinness, but I felt like I had to order one when we got here. Maybe it’s the gas blend, maybe it’s the Irish people pouring the pints, but this was the most delicious Guinness I’ve ever had! It had much more flavor than I remember – chocolate, charcoal and vanilla cream.
Our next stop at The Green Dragon had a Chiver! We got a slightly drunken history lesson and some good pictures with him. We had a beer dinner scheduled that night, so we headed back to the hotel to relax for an hour before piling into a taxi and heading over to Post 390 where the dinner was being hosted.
Oh boy.
Smokey salmon over wilted mixed greens, potatoes and a pickled quail egg paired with Sam Adams Noble Pils. I had about half of this, minus the egg, before I decided I should probably go slowly with the extensive menu.
Pork and apple croquette in a cauliflower and cheese soup paired with Sam Adams Boston Lager. Again, I had to stop halfway through.
Char grilled duck in a white bean cassoulette paired with Sam Adams Double Bock.
Some kind of a chocolate custard with rich ganache and meringue on top. Honestly though, this was the highlight of the entire meal:
UTOPIAS! I’ve never had the chance to try this before – 29%ABV, extreme flavors of Bourbon with a high sweetness and hints of oak, smoke and vanilla. I could’ve sipped a few ounces of this over the entire night and been content.
Utopias 10th Anniversary bottle. I wants it. I wants it so much.

Our final day consisted of a six hour class with beer and cheese pairings and tastings.
Ta-daaaaah! We got shipped off to the airport and flew back to Los Angeles on a long 6.5 hour flight.

Can I be a professional student of beer for a living?

Tuning Fork

Becki — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 23:42:52 +0000

Nineteen days ago, something astronomically amazing and delicious opened up in Studio City.
Tuning Fork is a brand new gastropub located off of Laurel Canyon Blvd and Ventura Place. I was blessed with the opportunity to get in there about a month ago to give a beer education and pairing class to the staff, and was able to make it in to try even more off the menu.
Everything I was able to sample last time was mind-blowing…
~~Unfortunately~~ Fortunately, I wasn’t allowed to order off the menu. Chef Marc, who is absolutely insane and a complete genius, saw me come in, ran over to me and said, “Don’t touch that menu. I’m making your meal.”
You never argue with Chef Marc.
First out came the Water – flatbread with salmon, housemade horseradish creme fraiche, spiraled cucumber and red onion. I’m not a fan of raw salmon, lox or any other name you can give it, but I could not stop eating this. I can actually say that I am now a fan of raw salmon…on this flatbread…
Duck and goose Foie Gras served with crispy fried onions, cranberry bread, candied almonds, dried grapes, pickled red onion and sour cream and bacon ice cream. Seriously. Combine a piece of everything and prepare to be sent off to another world. Again, I’m not a fan of liver at all, but this dish was mind-boggling and so beautifully presented. At this point, I was getting quite overstuffed… Luckily, I had a friend join me to help finish of the rest that was yet to come.
Our producer from Summer Campbell, Jenny! Luckily, like me, she’s willing to try anything and be told what to eat by a mad/genius chef.
After the Foie Gras came our palate cleanser – pickled melon and cucumber. So simple, yet so unique and utterly delectable.
This was followed by the Lost Sailor – beer battered whitefish, fresh tartar sauce, pickles and pepperoncini all wrapped up in a soft brioche roll. Crisp, light and flaky with nice acidity from the pickles cutting through the creamy tartar sauce. All of this was balanced by a Lagunitas Hop Stoopid thanks to a wonderful pairing suggestion by our waitress.

At this point, I couldn’t fit anymore in.
So Chef Marc brought out the big guns – Death by Chocolate. Rich pieces of fudge studded with raisins and splattered with housemade raspberry sauce, artistically served with a huge steak knife piercing through. This dish is rich and filling without being overly sweet, but the presentation alone makes it worth the order.
Our meal was capped with a blend of raspberry syrup and The Bruery’s Mischief Belgian strong pale ale. High carbonation and a dry finish scrubs the palate clean while the light sweetness of the raspberry syrup helps you reminisce the last breath of the Death by Chocolate.

I’ll be back for another forced order by Chef Marc as soon as I possibly can! As for now, Happy Easter to you all! I’m headed to Boston on Monday for training at the Samuel Adams Brewery! Plenty of pictures to come!