Eat Cetera: Beer Vs. Wine, Beer Pairing Madness, Pi Day Pie
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<p>The age-old battle between beer and wine will finally be settled on Monday night at East Village restaurant <a href="http://www.restauranthearth.com/">Hearth</a>, when the eatery hosts their very first Beer vs. Wine dinner—"a cage match of matching abilities!" It's $90 for four courses, but that also includes two glasses of wine and beer <em>for each course</em>. Chef/co-owner Marco Canora plans to serve four "original, rib-sticking courses" such as chips and dip with beef tartare, quail egg, onion dip and potato chips, which will each be paired with one wine and one beer. </p><p></p>On Hearth's website, Canora agonizes, "God I love beer, God I love beer...but I always drink wine with food. Can I one day see the light? Can beer be an equal player at the table with our kitchen's creations?I think not on paper, but in practical terms, we must investigate." Get involved on Monday, March 14th; pairings include Sly Fox Pikeland Pilsner from Pennsylvania Vs. Gruner Veltliner Smaragd, Rudi Pichler, 2007; and a Hopf Spezial Weisse from Germany Vs. Reisling Dry Hermann Wiemer, 2008. <p></p><em>403 East 12th Street; (646) 602-1300</em>
<em>Ken Goodman</em><p></p>On March 16th, beer is again on everyone's lips at <a href="http://gothamist.com/2010/12/09/new_restaurants_18.php#photo-1">Octavia's Porch</a>, the "Global Jewish" restaurant on the Lower East Side. On this occasion, oak-aged beers from Innis & Gunn are the priority, and two out of the four on the menu are only available in the U.K. Chef Nikki Cascone has crafted a special menu including Wild Mushroom Knishes with Beer Mustard and Apple Cake with Caramel Rum Sauce. The beers include a "sweet & spicey" Rum Cask; a Winter Brew with "hints of ripe fruit, vanilla, and caramel"; a Canadian Brew aged in Canadian Whiskey Barrels, then matured for a total of 71 days; and Original Innis & Gunn, which tastes of malt and toffee, "giving way to mellow oak with vanilla overtones."<p></p>The four course pairing menu costs $48, and the entree features your choice of smoked fish with red onion, cucumber relish and cauliflower puree; or grilled Romanian steak with beer-bbq sauce, potato shilkas.<p></p><em>40 Avenue B; call (212) 677- 4096 for reservations.</em>
<p>Smuttynose is one of our absolute favorite craft beers, so we're please to report that the Mexican fusion BBQ restaurant MexiQ will host beer pairing dinners with Smuttynose Monday through Thursday next week. Chef Jonathan VanSleet's special four-course menu is paired with four Smuttynose suds for $39, and includes a free Growler with 25% off the first fill. The menu begins with a New England Seafood Stew with fresh North Atlantic seafood, roasted tomato and fennel paired with a Shoals Pale Ale. </p><p></p> For course two, a citrusy Star Island Single beer complements a Tostada De Jaiba with juicy jumbo crabmeat, mango-lime aioli and fresh scallions on top of a corn tostada. For the main event, a Wheat Wine Ale is served with Blackened Chicken Breast, which comes with smoked tomato and mulato chile salsa and an apple, bourbon and raisin stuffing. For dessert Robust Porter with a Chocolate Espresso Cheesecake. (All courses can be ordered individually as well.) <p></p><em>37-11 30th Avenue, Queens; (718) 626-0333</em>
<p>And to balance out all that beer, there's pie! Monday, as every nerd knows, is March 14th. MARCH 14th, DON'T YOU GET IT?! Duh, 3/14. Pi? 3.14 (google the rest). And so, in solemn observance of National Pi Day, <a href="http://www.mortons.com">Morton's</a> steakhouse in downtown Brooklyn (where they've been known to <a href="http://gothamist.com/2009/04/21/cost_of_ice_cubes_rising_too_at_lea.php">charge extra for ice</a>) is serving slices of their "famous" Key Lime pie for $3.14. They usually charge $11 for that bad-boy, so that's a savings of... oh, you do the math. </p><p></p> <em>339 Adams StreetBrooklyn; (718) 596-2700</em>