Today is the beer chef, Bruce Paton’s 53rd birthday. Bruce has been doing fantastic dinners pairing great beer and gourmet food for over ten years in the Bay Area, since 2001 at the Cathedral Hill Hotel, where he is the Executive Chef. I’ve been to many, many of Bruce’s food events and they’re all spectacularly top notch. He does around eight each year. Raise a toast and stuff your face in wishing Bruce a happy birthday.

My new favorite photo of Bruce, which I took for the Chef’s Association of the Pacific Coast newsletter. I don’t think this is the one they used, but, by far, as I think it captures Bruce’s spirit and his great love and passion for what he does with his cooking and beer.

Giving a cooking demonstration with Garret Oliver, brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery and author of The Brewmaster’s Table at the 2005 GABF.

Bruce with Russian River co-owner Natalle Cilurzo.

The “Five Guys and a Barrel” beer dinner Sunday night at the Cathedral Hill Hotel in San Francisco featured five, count ‘em, five, brewers and their beers. Rob Tod (from Allagash), Adam Avery (from Avery), Sam Calagione (from Dogfish Head), Tomme Arthur (from the Lost Abbey) and Vinnie Cilurzo (from Russian River Brewing) all got together for one special evening of food and beer. We were all a little tired after nearly a week in San Diego for the Craft Brewers Conference, but the wonderful food the beer chef, Bruce Paton, put together certainly lifted our spirits and enriched our souls.

After the dinner, a toast was offered with Isabelle Proximus, the Collaborative Sour Ale made by blending beer, which was made by Adam Avery, Rob Todd, Sam Calagione, Tomme Arthur, and Vinnie Cilurzo; with food, of course, by Bruce Paton.

For more photos from Five Guys and a Barrel Beer Dinner, visit the photo gallery.
 

Trying desperately to catch up, here are photos from Friday and Saturday, the last two days of the Craft Brewers Conference held last week in San Diego. Friday was a day of seminars, the trade show and visits outside the resort. Saturday was more seminars during the day but the World Beer Cup Gala Awards Dinner in the evening. I still have to post the awards, but here is everything up until that point.

Tom Kerns, from Maui Brewing, Greg Koch, from Stone Brewing, and Chris Black, from Falling Rock in Denver, Colorado, at the reception before the dinner.

My vote for best-dressed at the dinner, Natalie Cilurzo, from Russian River Brewing, and Garrett Oliver, from Brooklyn Brewery. Bruce Paton, the Beer Chef, did the menu and created the meal from past World Beer Cup award winners. It was my second of three beer dinners in four days.

Friday night, Karl Strauss Breweries hosted a party at their local production brewery and bussed everyone out to the grounds for food and grog. Here, Tomme Arthur and Luke Nicholas, who makes Epic Beer in New Zealand, enjoy a pint.

For many more photos from this year’s Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego, start with Random Photos From the Last Two Days, the party Friday night at Karl Strauss Breweries and then finally the World Beer Cup Gala Dinner, all at the photo gallery.
 

I was lucky enough to be invited to a beer dinner last Thursday night thrown by The Lost Abbey, held at the Port Brewing facility in San Marcos. Tables were set up inside the small brewery, making it a very cozy evening. Luckily, everyone knew one another and didn’t mind being in a candlelit brewery with over 120 others.

One of the main reasons for the dinner was the debut of Isabelle Proximus Collaborative Sour Ale, a beer made by Tomme, along with Adam Avery, Sam Calagione, Vinnie Cilurzo and Rob Todd; and inspired by their trip to Belgium two years ago with Italian beer writer Lorenzo Dabove, better know simply as Kuaska. This was first time all six of them were able to try the beer at the same time.

Sam drew the artwork for Isabelle Proximus Collaborative Sour Ale, shown here on a cask of it. We were treated to a five-course meal paired with Lost Abbey beers inside the brewery. It was a great evening and my first of three beer dinners in four days.

For many more photos from the Lost Abbey beer dinner, visit the photo gallery.
 

Sacramento Brewing will be serving up their Spring Brewmaster’s Dinner on April 23, beginning at 6:30. The dinner will be five courses and the cost is $50. It will be held at their Town & Country location. Call 916.485.4677 for reservations. I’ll probably see you there.

The Menu:

Dinner: 6:30 PM

First Course

Fresh wild Alaskan ivory salmon with spicy pecan butter

Beer: India Pale Ale

Second Course:

Robollita (Italian bean soup)

Beer: Nut Brown Ale

Third Course:

Arugula & spinach salad with sun dried tomatoes, dry salami, and baby mozzarella

Beer: Hefeweizen

Fourth Course:

Seared breast of duck with mushroom cannelloni and golden marsala sauce

Beer: Red Horse Ale

Fifth Course:

Beer poached pear strudel served with Brussels Blonde reduction sauce

Beer: Brussels Blonde

Peter Hoey, brewmaster at Sacramento Brewing (on left), at the GABF Brewer’s Reception last year, along with Rich Norgrove from Bear Republic and Arne Johnson of Marin Brewing.

 
4.23

Sacramento Spring Brewmaster’s Dinner

Sacramento Brewing Co., Town and Country Village, 2713 El Paseo Lane, Sacramento, California
916.485.4677 [ website ]
 

On Sunday, beginning at 11:30 a.m., I sat down with 80 or so beer lovers at the Toronado in San Francisco for a Belgian beer lunch, a blunch? The Toronado has been putting on this mostly word-of-mouth event, which sells out every time, for a number of years, but this was the first year the food was done by Sean Paxton, the Homebrew Chef. The blunch lasted almost six hours through a total of eleven separate courses and at least sixteen Belgian beers (plus a few more American ones). We all agreed that Sean Paxton is a mad man, a culinary alchemist. Read the description of the blunch in the photo gallery and see if you don’t agree.

The blunch was hosted by Toronado owner Dave Keene and the food was done by Sean Paxton.

Vinnie and Natalie Cilurzo, from Russian River Brewing, among the Belgian beer and cheese plate.

For many more photos from the Toronado Belgian Blunch, visit the photo gallery.
 

The next beer dinner by the Beer Chef will probably sell out faster than any he’s done before. That’s because it will feature five … count ‘em, five … of the most well-known brewers of strong and Belgian-style beers in the country. The “Five Guys and a Barrel” beer dinner will feature Rob Tod (from Allagash), Adam Avery (from Avery), Sam Calagione (from Dogfish Head), Tomme Arthur (from the Lost Abbey) and Vinnie Cilurzo (from Russian River Brewing) all together for one special evening of food and beer.

It will be a four-course dinner, plus a toast at the end of the evening, and well worth the $95 price of admission. It will be held at the Cathedral Hill Hotel on Sunday, April 20, 2008, beginning with a reception at 6:30 p.m. Call 415.674.3406 for reservations by April 10. I’ll see you there.

The Menu:

Reception: 7:00 PM

Beer Chef’s Hors D’Oeuvre

Beer: Allagash White and Russian River Blind Pig

Dinner: 7:30 PM

First Course

Citrus Cured Curraun Blue Sea Trout with Accoutrements

Beer: Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA and Avery The Maharaja

Second Course:

Selection of Artisanal Cheeses with House Made Condiments

Beer: Allagash Interlude and Russian River Supplication

Third Course:

A Study in Duck

Beer: Port Brewing Cuvee de Tomme and Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron

Fourth Course:

Warm Chocolate Mocha Cake with Blood Orange Sabayon and Fig Syrup

Beer: Avery The Beast Grand Cru and Lost Abbey Older Viscosity

Toast:

Beer: Isabelle Proximus

 
4.20

Dinner with the Brewmasters: Five Guys and a Barrel

Cathedral Hill Hotel, 1101 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, California
415.674.3406 [ website ]
 

Last night, the Beer Chef, Bruce Paton, held his latest beer dinner with Chuck Silva and the beers from Green Flash Brewing near San Diego. With some new Green Flash beers to try, and some wonderful food, it was another terrific evening of beer and food.

The beer chef, Bruce Paton, with Chuck Silva, from Green Flash Brewing.

For more photos from the Green Flash beer dinner, visit the photo gallery.
 

Philly Beer Week begins today, and I got in last night along with several other beer writers. We began the evening at a beer dinner, courtesy of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, put on for us at Monk’s Cafe, before setting out for several other Philadelphia beer destinations.

Monk’s co-owner Tom Peters showing off his limited edition bottles of Cantillon Gueuze, with Stasha Ackerman, at a beer dinner last night.

For many more photos from the night before Philly Beer Week, visit the photo gallery.
 

The first beer dinner of spring in the Bay Area will feature Chuck Silva’s beers from Green Flash Brewing Co.. It will be a four-course dinner and well worth the $75 price of admission. It will be held at the Cathedral Hill Hotel on Friday, March 21, 2008, beginning with a reception at 6:30 p.m. Call 415.674.3406 for reservations by March 18. I’ll see you there.

The Menu:

Reception: 7:00 PM

Beer Chef’s Hors D’Oeuvre

Beer: Extra Pale Ale

Dinner: 7:30 PM

First Course

Roasted Corn Coulis with Dungeness Crab, Avocado and Cilantro Cream

Beer: West Coast IPA

Second Course:

Crispy Pork Belly with Willey Farms Bloomsdale Spinach, Black Trumpet Mushrooms and Relish of Poached Pear

Beer: Trippel

Third Course:

Ravioli of Osso Buco with Laughing Bird Shrimp, Baby Artichoke and Citrus Beurre Blanc

Beer: Le Freak

Fourth Course:

Guittard Chocolate Cake with Sichuan Peppercorn Ice Cream and California Raisin Syrup

Beer: Grand Cru

Green Flash brewer Chuck Silva at last year’s Mammoth Festival of Beers & Bluesapalooza.

 
3.21

Dinner with the Brewmaster: Green Flash Brewery

Cathedral Hill Hotel, 1101 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, California
415.674.3406 [ website ]
 

Yesterday, the San Francisco Brewers Guild held its 2nd annual Slow Beer Festival on March 1, 2008 in the San Francisco County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park. The event was co-sponsored by Slow Food San Francisco. The idea was to pair San Francisco’s local brewers with locally made foods and explore different tastes from pairing each together in a variety of ways. It was fun event and we lucked out with some gorgeous weather to help enjoy the day. A sold-out crowd enjoyed beer from a dozen breweries and food from at least ten.

Food and beer mixed happily and deliciously throughout the day, as evidenced here by Ian Marks (from Hog Island Oyster Co.), Taylor Boetticher (from the Fatted Calf), Dave McLean (from Magnolia), John Tucci (from Gordon Biersch San Francisco) and Shaun O’Sullivan (from 21st Amendment).

For many more photos from this year’s Slow Beer Festival, visit the photo gallery.
 

This doesn’t have anything to do with beer, but someone sent me a link (thanks, Cindy) correctly believing I’d enjoy it. In fact, it’s surreal, weird and perversely hilarious. Food Fight is simply the history of warfare since World War II told through food fights, with national foods representing each country, or as the Food Fight website put is.

Food Fight is an abridged history of war, from World War II to present day, told through the foods of the countries in conflict. Watch as traditional comestibles slug it out for world domination in this chronologically re-enacted smorgasbord of aggression.

They’ve also thoughtfully provided a cheat sheet listing all of the foods in the film and which nation they’re associated with. And since it’s war, expect a lot of ketchup. Enjoy.