Sunday, October 7, 2012

The Block Traveling Table

Since I really enjoyed my first visit to The Block, I couldn’t wait to go back for a Traveling Table with STLwinegirl, Angela Ortmann. There were only three courses for this traveling table, no dessert, but I think this worked out for the best due to heavy courses and leftovers shared.

This Traveling Table was also special because each course paired a local beer in addition to a glass of wine, so I knew I had to pace myself and just sipped on both pairings.

We started with a “lighter” meat, Pastrami Cured Salmon compressed cucumbers, mixed greens, horseradish emulsion. The horseradish was a non-factor as the sweetness of the cucumber stood out the most. This paired best with the Gruet Brut Sparkling from New Mexico because the dry brut tamed down the sweetness. The Urban Chestnut Zwickel is also a lighter beer, but it has an odd nutty flavor to me.

Next up was the “medium” meat, Braised Pork Belly, crispy poached farm egg, grilled brioche with house-made jam, and better known as “Bacon & Eggs”. I stuck with the poached egg and grape jam while finding a good home for the pork belly. For this course, I preferred the Belgium-style Pale Ale Perennial Hommel since it had a milder finish than the A to Z Pinot Gris from Oregon, which was a little too dry.

My favorite course by far was the Grilled Sirloin, which also came with a large and tender beef rib. Since my friends were so full from their pork belly, I was able to score quite a few leftover sirloin pieces. I would have been happy with this course alone. The sirloin was perfectly pink and juicy.

This course was paired with the wine Elyse C’est Si Bon, meaning “It’s so good”, from Sierra Foothills, CA and the beer was a Charleville Tornado Alley from Ste. Genevieve, MO, a heavier ale. The wine had a much smoother finish to pair well with the sirloin, while the beer was a little too strong.

Resources:

STLwinegirl = http://www.stlwinegirl.com/

The Block = http://theblockrestaurant.com/

Urban Chestnut = http://urbanchestnut.com/

Perennial = http://www.perennialbeer.com/

Charleville Vineyard = http://www.charlevillevineyard.com/

Photos by Angela Ortmann

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