Dogfish offers monthly beer dinners

The weather may still not be up to summer beach standards, but Rehoboth’s Dogfish Head Brewings and Eats is still finding ways to pack the house. Once a month in the off-season, Dogfish offers customers for a themed, eccentric, five-course meal, complete with their own beer and spirits pairings.

Coastal Point • Jesse Pryor
Dogfish Head Brewings and Eats in Rehoboth has been holding dinners, pairing their brews with an assortmet of styles of foods.

This past season has been exceptionally successful for the event, as guests have experienced everything from Latin and Mediterranean food to a pork-themed meal this past December. Earlier this week, on Jan. 17, patrons went Bollywood style, with an evening of Indian cuisine paired with some of the most favorite beverages Dogfish Head Brewery has ever poured.

“The reception to our beer-pairing dinners has been really good,” said Dogfish Head Brewings and Eats’ assistant manager Matt Patton. “Back in October and November, we had pretty good turnouts, with 35 to 40 people, and, since then, we’ve been selling out every time.”

January’s dinner paired flavors such as coconut and chutney with popular Dogfish drinks, such as their Mango Ginger Martini and the 90-Minute IPA.

“The cooks and I bounce ideas off each other,” said Patton, “and we think about what kinds of beverages will go well with the food. We always focus on flavorful foods and pick up different themes as we go along. We like to throw in some off-the-wall ideas in there, too.”

At December’s dinner, there was no shortage of “off-the-wall” cuisine, as the final course permitted guests to indulge in a chocolate-and-bacon cheesecake. Yes, that’s a chocolate-and-bacon cheesecake.

“It’s one of those things that makes you stop think,” said Patton. “But once you try it, you’re hooked.”

With each monthly dinner, Dogfish’s beverage list is carefully examined to find the best complement for each dish.

“We try to get a nice, regular beer we always have on tap,” noted Patton. “Then, we mix in some of our special releases and ones you can only find here at the restaurant. We want to give the guests something they can’t find anywhere else.”

The upcoming months promise some great meals, as well, with a Cajun, New Orleans theme on Feb. 21, a chocolate theme on March 21 and a cheese-themed night on April 18.

“These dinners are always a lot of fun,” said Dogfish chef Matt Silverman, who took the helm at the restaurant two and a half years ago. “We really get to go wild with these menus, and we’ve got people who love coming in for them.”

Silverman and fellow chef James Boyer, who spent the better part of two decades at a Cajun and Creole restaurant prior to joining the staff at Dogfish, are especially excited about February’s meal, which will aim to make guests feel as though they seated in the Big Easy.

“This one will be all about great seafood flavors and spice,” said Silverman. “There are some great restaurants in the area, but you have to really look around to find a place that has great curry dishes. It’s nice to bring something here that you can’t always get when you want it.”

“These dinners have been amazing,” Boyer added, “and the Cajun night will be a lot of fun. I’m going to get back to my roots with the food that evening. People are really going to enjoy it.”

Dogfish Head’s complete schedule of beer-pairing nights can be found on their Web site at www.dogfish.com. Meals cost $57 per person, which includes gratuity. Reservations are required. For more information, or to reserve tickets for February’s Cajun meal, call (302) 226-BREW or e-mail Matt Patton at matt@dogfish.com. Seating is limited, and the number of tickets sold for each monthly event varies with the menu.

“The more difficult the meals are to prepare,” said Patton, “the fewer people you can serve that night. We want to make sure the food we put out really captures the experience.”