Beer vs Wine. Paired with food. At the Hideaway Grille…read more
The Hideaway Grille has done three similar events. Once a year more or less. I think once with wine and once with beer. This time with both, together, head to head (so to speak).
Upon arrival the bar was already hopping. Happy hour started at 5:30, and it was happy when I arrived sometime after that. They have these homemade chips on the bar that are fantastic. Not sure if they are an everyday thing or not, but Id go back for those alone. Truffle oil and garlic is a great match with potatoes, and when those potatoes are cut in house it just gets better.
The event worked like this - assigned seating, the owner of the Hideaway knew many of the guests so she was able to put tables together that worked really well. By the end of the evening, Table 5 was the rowdiest, but each table had a great time.
Before each course the beer and wine choices were described by the associated beer and mine masters. Each was chosen with the food in mind. I drink far more wine than beer, but I found both selections each time were a great choice. On occasion the beer outshone the wine, and vice versa, but there was no clear "miss" and some clear "hits".
Our first course was a shrimp & lobster bisque (I did not sample that but the table loved it). I have to say both the beer and wine went nicely with it, as was the case for each course. I say this as the soup was cream based and both the beer and wine choice took that into account.
The second course was a stuffed chicken, it was a perfect size, perhaps 4 bites. Easy to cut, the chicken was moist and tender. Very nice. A sherbet followed to "cleanse our palettes".
Then came the risotto - which for me was the fav of the evening. The risotto came with two seared scallops, which were nicely seared. I enjoyed the scallop, but loved the risotto, with hazelnut throughout. I asked if that was on the menu, and I then learned many of these dishes were created for the event. Perhaps a dry run for some new menu items? Id vote for the risotto.
Then came the pistachio and gorgonzola crusted filet. Also terrific. My filet was medium, I prefer very rare and for me it would have been a knockout that way. However, even more cooked, the flavors were terrific and happily devoured by all. They came with a potatoes, but I cant comment on that, I simply enjoyed the filet too much to get to the potatoes.
The dessert was some sort of rich chocolaty thing, which tasted great, but for me the dollop of whipped cream (which was soooo much more than just whipped cream) and the homemade sponge candy were the stars of the plate. This coming from someone who pretty much never choses a chocolate dessert, and I ate half the actual dessert too. It was very very good. That pastry chef can bake.
All in all, if you have a chance to come to the next event you should. This one was $50/ticket (tax and tip not included), and well worth it for the food, the drinks and the FUN. There were even some raffles, bottles of the evenings wine raffled off. Fill disclosure, I won one, but this review was already being written in my head, so no undue influence.
Their facebook page is the way to keep up with what's happening at the Hideaway Grille. https://www.facebook.com/hideawaygrille?fref=nf
Thanks to Alex L (CM) and Yelp for making me aware of this event.
