Somm Showdown Alisha v. Andrey

I wasn't planning on blogging about the Somm Showdown since this is not an everyday restaurant you can visit, but this blog started on food adventures and this definitely was one!

I also want to support my St. Louis Sommelier heros: Alisha Blackwell and Andrey Ivanov and then executive chef Josh Charles was also involved so it was a great opportunity!

Executive Chef Josh Charles, Alisha Blackwell, and Andrey Ivanov

We didn't know the menu until we got there...

Menu

Love the "contestant" nicknames! Ha!

Nicknames

Chef Josh's courses were all quite challenging, so I was pretty impressed on how the sommeliers came to pick their wines.

The salad course came with a couple of hot peppers, but not all of them were hot so you didn't know what kind of bite you were going to get. (I admit I left those for Patience.)

Local vegetables with Honey + Thyme Vinaigrette

My vote went to Andrey this round since the Prosecco was very subtle with tight bubbles and let the salad shine, regardless what kinda of bite you had. Although if it were me, I would have gone with something closer to what Alisha picked.

Patience and I were stoked by the scallop on the menu although we were sad at how small they were. The scallops had been smoked for some time, and then served with passion fruit and lime. Talk about a tough pairing.

Smoked Scallop with Passion fruit and lime

Andrey had the perfect "passion fruit" wine pairing up his sleeve, but Alisha suggested a Riesling. I was torn.

The last course was a little heartier with fingerling potatoes and cheese curds in a gravy mixed with foie gras. I almost reached over and stole my neighbor's plate when he didn't finish.

Foie Gras, Roasted Potatoes, Brown Gravy and Cheese Curds

A heartier dish meant red wine and again we had two very different pairings. Andrey selected a fruity Gamay while Alisha picked a drier Italian wine. I preferred the drier wine myself since this dish was so rich.

Alisha came out the winner putting poor Andrey at 0-3. I hope he gets his chance to win again soon!

Photos by Patience Scanlon

PW Pizza Uinta Beer Dinner

I was not familiar with Uinta Brewing at all before this dinner, probably because they're from Salt Lake City, Utah. Utah has a lot of weird rules about ABV, so three out of the four beers were only 4% ABV.

The other important business we must discuss up front is that the brewery's name is pronounced "U-WIN-ta".

Now we can get down to drinking and eating!

We started off light with the 801 Pilsner and Kale & Barley Salad. Perfect for me and definitely the best pairing.

Kale & Barley Salad paired with 801 Pilsner

The first pizza, a delicious Roasted Fingerling Potato Pizza on Honey Wheat Crust with gruyere, smoked leeks, and rosemary lemon butter. This was paired with the cleverly-named Ready Set Gose (pronounced GO-SA). Potatoes and leeks on a pizza? Thumbs up!

Roasted Fingerling Potato Pizza paired with Ready Set Gose

The next pizza, Beer Braised Mustard Green & Bacon Pizza used the original crust with mozzarella, tomato confit, peppered citrus aioli, and extra virgin olive oil. This was paired with the Hop Nosh Tangerine IPA. Not too hoppy, but still too much for me. This beer is a little more citrusy than their original Hop Nosh IPA. I loved the huge chunks of tomatoes on this one.

Beer Braised Mustard Green & Bacon Pizza paired with Hop Nosh Tangerine IPA

The Baba Black Lager was very smooth although this was paired with an intense Banana Gooey Butter Cake. I don't think too many people could handle the huge, thick cake. The lager was better off on it's own.

Banana Gooey Butter Cake paired with Baba Black Lager

Since the next two are sold out, I had to sign up for the one in November... Civil Life!

Resources:

PW Pizza = http://pwpizza.com/

Uinta Brewing = http://www.uintabrewing.com/