Category: Food News

Food News revolves around the happenings within the national Hospitality Industry and how it relates to the local restaurant scene. Here in the Commonwealth, the dining scene is vibrant and is influenced by—and sometimes influences—the national spotlight.

Posted on by

The Gift of Terroir: Wine and Beer Dinners To Look Forward To For 2017

111 Wine Dinner Table Set Up

Wine culture offers an air of exclusivity that can sometimes deter novice curiosity. We all know that the best way to learn about wine is to drink it, but to educate one’s palate in the wine world requires a great deal of time and resources. I can’t justify cracking a $125 bottle of 2007 Beringer Reserve if I don’t understand what I’m tasting. Pairing dinners present perfect opportunities to sample boutique wines while cultivating an appreciation for the craft.

Aside from familiarizing amateur sommeliers with the good stuff, pairing dinners often provide a taste of the winery itself. Attendees gain access to precious anecdotes and old chestnuts as told by special guests, namely: winemakers, distributors, and chefs.

Preparing one of the courses at a 2016 dinner at VIA Italian Table.
Preparing one of the courses at a 2016 dinner at VIA Italian Table.

Plenty of restaurants in and around Massachusetts have recently added paired dinners to their repertoire, but The 111 Chophouse and VIA Italian Table have been hosting events of this sort for a long time. This year, VIA will delve deep into the art of beer pairing in addition to its traditional wine dinners.

VIA’s General Manager, Keith Carolan explains that he maintains three steadfast expectations for each of VIA’s events; in his humble opinion, dinners must prove: exclusive, educational and memorable.

A course at one of 111 Chop House's 2016 Wine Dinners.
A course at one of 111 Chop House’s 2016 Wine Dinners.
Exclusive

Seats are so limited and we feature wines and beers that people don’t simply have access to. For example the CasaSmith dinner in March, VIA is the only place in Massachusetts that you can enjoy all of Charles Smith’s Italian varietals under 1 roof.

Educational

This December the “Kings of Italy” refers to the most highly touted wines from some of the most highly touted producers Italy has to offer, Barolo, Brunello and Amarone. Instead of limiting the dinner to one region or one producer, hopefully it can shed some light on various regions of Italy that some people may not be accustomed to. The same can be said for all of the beer dinners. In a genre like Craft Beer that is so popular right now, we find that all of our guests learn something new every course, because we have local owners and Cicerones explaining the brewing process and culture of each brewery.

Memorable

Not only are we offering great wines and beers, but we give our chefs the creative license to explore things they haven’t previously attempted and work on dishes that haven’t been featured on our menu. The results have been fantastic.

Here’s a peek at the 2017 lineup:

The 111 Chophouse

Beringer Private Reserve Dinner – February 28th– $150.00
Robert Craig Dinner – March 28th– $125.00
Etude Winery Dinner – April 25th – $125.00
Far Ninete-Nickel & Nickel Dinner – September 19th – $150.00
Joseph Phelps Insignia – October 17th– $150.00
Pahlmeyer – November 14th – $160.00

 

VIA Italian Table

The Wines of CasaSmith Dinner – March 7th – $70
Wormtown Brewery Dinner – April 4th – $70
New Belgium Brewing Dinner – June 6th – $70
Jack’s Abby Brewing Dinner – October 3rd – $70
The Wines of Antinori Dinner – December 5th – $90

Ditch the wrapping paper this holiday season; instead of splurging on a highbrow bottle from the ritziest package store in town, consider offering your loved ones a distinguished experience.

Posted on by

Anthony Bourdain: Food Truths

Anthony Bourdain kicking off his Hungry Tour at Boston Symphony Hall (Photo from Instagram)

In future years, historians will look back on our era and label us as the Era of Food Porn. The overdramatized obsession our society craves is new to the food industry, one that is more synonymous with the Internet and social media culture than it is to the actual food. Our drooling reaction to photos of foods posted on Instagram and our epic failure to mimic the cooking styles of those on Master Chef are only but a few things that keep our interests piqued and Anthony Bourdain has made a career of it.

“There is no secret to food success. I’ve essentially made a career out fetishizing food by making it attractive,” says chef, writer and television personality, Anthony Bourdain during his Hunger Tour in Boston. “It’s crazy to hear people tell me, ‘watching you eat that cheese in France made me have a foodgasm.’ Like what the hell is a foodgasm?” With over nine million people using the hashtag foodgasm on social media to connect with other food enthusiasts – Mass Foodies guiltily included – it is clear to see that our aggressive acts of photographing every meal is part of today’s normal social acceptance.

Bourdain graced the sold out stage at Symphony Hall with his frank, opinionated yet charming personality, giving the crowd every reason to go wild and cheer him on as he broke down the food trends taking over the local food scenes. “You can’t even open a restaurant now without having some asshole Yelping ‘Worst Place Ever’ within the first ten minutes of the opening. If you are a Yelper, meet me after the show so I can punch you in the face,” he jokes. Bourdain hits the topics of gluten-free eating, craft beer, the term “homemade” and vegan burgers, ensuring everyone fully understood how our obsessive personalities have created little monsters in the kitchen. “Craft beer? I hate going out and seeing people sitting with a flight of beer in front of them. You shouldn’t analyze beer. It is God’s gift to us,” he says. “And don’t get me started on Vegan Burgers! They are appropriately called seitan burgers because how could you cook veggies to make them taste like beef and then call it a burger?” says Bourdain. “You are simply eating death!”

“At this point in my life, I don’t want to be a critic any longer. I don’t want to analyze my food. I just want to eat and say, ‘that’s good.’ I don’t want to think about my food or what’s in it. I want to enjoy it and experience it emotionally. I want to enjoy it like kids enjoy a bowl of mom’s soup after getting the shit kicked out of them at school,” laughs Bourdain. “I want to lose myself in my food.” For a chef who has dined in some of the finest places around the world, Bourdain is simply a man of few high expectations. “I just want to grab a meal with a beer and not think about anything,” he says and we don’t blame him. While social media has turned out dining experience into a global phenomenon, we have lost the true aspect of food – the intimate connection it creates with those around us. But like Bourdain says, “I am doomed with this job because I can’t leave it. It is what I love, no matter what.” Neither can we, Bourdain.