Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Craft beer dinners abound
The dog days of summer may be too hot for full-bodied red wines but are perfect for crisp, hoppy and increasingly sophisticated locally brewed beers. Enter the latest culinary wrinkle to hit South Florida restaurants: the craft-beer pairing dinner.
Two notable ones will take place this month. Andy’s Live Fire Grill teams up with Fort Lauderdale neighbor Tarpon River Brewing for a 4-course, $55 dinner on Wednesday Aug. 14. And Burt & Max’s in western Delray Beach will feature the beers of Boynton Beach’s Due South Brewing Company at a 5-course, $69 dinner on Aug. 29. Tax and tip are additional.
Chris Miracolo, who recently arrived at Burt & Max’s as executive chef after a long stint with Fort Lauderdale’s The Restaurant People at TRP Taste and S3, and Andy’s Live Fire Grill executive chef Kyle Dowgiewicz have created menus that pair well with the crisp lagers, hoppy IPAs and creamy ales flowing from local breweries.
The Andy’s Live Fire Grill menu includes beer-and-cheddar soup topped with housemade smoked pretzel paired with Gator Ale; elote (Mexican street corn) salad paired with Native Lager; a palate cleanser of jalapeno-lime granita paired with Prickly Pear Zinger (a sour Berliner Weiss); and a grilled Duroc pork chop with bacon-apple chutney and cheese grits paired with Hopsta La Vista IPA. Dessert will feature kiwi/watermelon and blueberry/ lemon ice pops paired with Honey Love Imperial Cream Ale.
Tickets for the 7 p.m. event may be purchased online at EventBrite.com. For information call 954-903-9945. Andy’s Live Fire Grill is located at 1843 S. Fed
eral Highway, Fort Lauderdale.
Miracolo and Due South Brewing’s Doug Fairall will discuss the food and beer pairings at the Burt & Max’s event. The lineup will feature: Lemon Coastline Lager paired with wahoo tataki (with Meyer lemon curd, sriracha and soy pearls, micro wasabi and sticky rice croquettes); Caramel Cream Ale paired with “Three Little Pigs” (Chai-brined Duroc pork belly with bacon marmalade, petite mustard greens, smoked hocks and vanilla-scented stone fruit mostarda); Grapefruit Category 5 IPA paired with hearts of palm (with avocado, ruby red grapefruit, heirloom tomato, basil coulis and goat cheese foam); Throwin’ Shade IPA paired with kimcheebraised short rib (with sweet potato mascarpone puree, and Brussels sprouts slaw). For dessert, Chocolate Berry Porter will be paired with a devil’s food cupcake with zacapa dulce de leche buttercream, raspberry gelée and raw chocolate dust.
For reservations and information, call Amber Clark of Rapoport’s Restaurant Group at 561-826-1790 or email aclark@rapoportsrg.com. Reservation deadline is Aug. 27. Burt & Max’s is located at 9089 W. Atlantic Avenue, Delray Beach, 561-638-6380.