Chef Inspired ~ Sommelier & Cicerone Paired
Was it a Throwdown? Hmmm…If it was, it was a perfect union of FOOD, WINE & BEER challenging any one out there that could come close to what we pulled off last nite! Bring it, Flay!
The Perfect Pairing Team of Chef Mike Shannon & Sommelier Leslee Miller strikes again! This time with our friend and colleague, Cicerone Michael Agnew of A Perfect Pint.
Looking for a Cozy Way to spend your winter nites…here it is, eat and drink your way to MN Paradise! Named some of the Twin Cities Best Food and Wine Pairing Classes – Chef Mike and Sommelier Leslee are unstoppable. With the addition of Beer Geek, Cicerone Michael, they are Untouchable. Displaying only their true raw & enthusiastic talents last nite, they brought the Cooks of Crocus Hill of St Paul classroom to a hault with some of the Twin Cities Best Pairings to date!
Cozy Comforts of Beer, Wine & Food was the name of the game and these three brought their best goods to the table. From top to bottom, the menu was laid out with a collection of Braised Winter Greens, 4 Cheese Mac n Cheese (OMG, by the way!), a Ginger Orange Cornish Game Hen, Braised Pot Roast to a S’more Pot de Creme. While each bevi expert lined up their wares rotating courses with impeccable pairings, it wasn’t until the two paired each a beer & a wine to the final courses of Pot Roast and the S’more Pot de Creme, that we were all sweating from the unbelievable chemistry of Food, Wine, Beer Heaven. While the dishes were outstanding, and with Chef Mike at the helm, who can deny Amazing Food? His original creation of a “Sommelier Requested” (wink) S’more Pot de Creme was the cherry that hit the topping. A quick torched smudge of marshmallow cream over a baby pot of crunchy graham and decadent chocolate creme, come on!! Get out of town?!! Where does he pull these creations out of?! Again, proof that a southern boy knows how to make dessert.
With all that said, we wanted to share with you first hand What we Paired, Why we Paired and How we Paired these last courses ~
Sharing our Best Kept Secrets of the key to Perfect Pairings!
For the rest of the Beer and Wine Pairings to each course, Check out A Perfect Pint’s Blog today listing all beers and wines poured!
Comments 5
I saw when the schedule was released that the number of courses for this class was shortened from five to four. Was this change intended to allow Chef Mike to spend some additional time talking about the dishes? I know from the first two of these KT and I attended (which, again were terrific!) that you and Mr. Agnew each have so much to say about each beer and wine selection and the pairing that Chef Mike was often left with less time to contribute verbally than usual.
Just curious! 🙂
Actually Nick, the side dish that went with the hen was almost a course all its own. And yes, it gave Michael and I more time to discuss the beer/wine pairings and a little more time for Mike S to flow in and out of discussion with a bit more ‘prep’ talk in there as well. Funny, however. We still ended up with 8 pours! Can always still squeeze in the liquid libation… Looking forward to seeing you both at another class.
Those eight pours sound wonderful, and would have been entirely lost on me this last week as I’ve been recovering from a cold. I’m back to about 95% now and have a 5:00 appointment with KT, a corkscrew, a bottle, and two wine glasses!
Our attendance at another class is long overdue; the holiday months are largely responsible for that, unfortunately. They’re our favorite thing to do for date night, and we’re hoping to double with a couple of friends sometime soon. I can’t wait to see the next schedule!
Still bummed I missed this one, but it looks like there’s some great stuff coming up at cooks this spring!