Posts Tagged ‘idrinkonthejob’
Get Thee To a Valentine..
(Note: Updated on February 3rd (Friday) 2012 – will be updated as events unfold or get Sold Out..)
I’ve never been a huge fan of Valentine’s Day, but like Halloween, it’s a celebration/festivity that has taken on a life of it’s own. And 2012 is no exception, there are just a plethora of Valentine’s tastings for both the chocolate and non-chocolate lover – I’m not even sure if the latter exists! Some quick thoughts on Valentine’s and tastings: if you’re a restaurant or event provider who wishes to really draw people in this time of year, any theme with chocolate, sparkling wine (especially Champagne) or some over-the-top rich dish like braised meats seems to bring people in in droves – oh, and also any food/concept connected with Amore, for example oysters and fondue (both chocolate and cheese work). It’s also OK to add terms like “seduction”, “decadent”, “aphrodisiac” and even “libido” to your menu descriptions which breaks away from the everyday norm of exclusion of these concepts – Valentine’s gives you as the marketer the right to explore the racier side of life..and people will accept and forgive you for about a week! Of course, certain cultures are also associated with lasciviousness so French and Italian restaurants and themes have a distinct advantage. If you have a strong combination of all of these themes and concepts, you can also expect a marriage proposal or two to occur – and hopefully, not with your staff!
Oh, and to make all this information just a touch more confusing..Valentine’s Day is officially Tuesday, February 14th, but many events list their date on Saturday or Sunday as “official” Valentine’s Day events – it’s a celebration of love and romance, does it really matter what the official date is? I think not..
I will list the major tastings by date (Note: if you’re just looking for a listing of restaurants that have multi-course dinners especially for Valentine’s, here’s a pretty good list by Washingtonian):
Thursday, February 9th,
Sommelier Showdown (as part of the DC International Food and Wine Festival), 7:00pm-9:00pm
Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest Washington, DC 20004
Tickets are $150/per person and can be Purchased Online
See top DC Sommeliers flex their knowledge at the Washington DC International Wine & Food Festival’s inaugural Sommelier Showdown. Our experts will engage in a friendly tête-à-tête and compete in a race of the taste, using deductive tasting to identify wines with hidden labels.
To complement the wines presented, the Showdown will feature five of DCs most noted chefs who will be tasked with bringing food and wine together, including Chefs Todd Gray (Equinox), Xavier Deshayes (Ronald Reagan Building), and Jaime Montes de Oca (Zentan).
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Savory Syrah – A Global Tour
7 pm
Chain Bridge Cellars, 1351 Chain Bridge Rd. McLean, VA 22101
Wine experts all agree that Syrah is one of the “noble” varietals, capable of making some of the most complex, layered and age-worthy wines in the world. But the kinship between a $10 Aussie Shiraz and a $70 Hermitage is pretty hard to fathom! So take a worldwide tour of everything Syrah/Shiraz can be and see if you can find some common themes. We’ll taste bargains from Australia and the South of France; classic American, South African and Rhone wines; and a couple of “big guns” from the Barosa and Cote Rotie.
This class includes seven wines, Syrah-friendly snacks, and take-home descriptions of each wine and region covered.
To reserve a space, email wineteam@chainbridgecellars.com or call 703.356.6500
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TasteDC Chocolate Making 101 at Wanders Chocolaterie
How to Blind Taste Wine
February 9th (Thursday) Session 1: 6 – 7:30 pm; and Session 2: 8 – 9:30 pm
Adour in The St. Regis, 923 16th and K Streets, N.W., Washington, DC 20006
Wine Director Brent Kroll will conduct a sensory analysis on how to quantify wine flavors and origin.
Tickets are $60/per person.
Call (202) 509-8000 to Make Reservations
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Friday, February 10th
French American Cultural Foundation Presents La Saint-Valentin at the Embassy of France
La Maison Francaise, 4101 Reservoir Road, NW, Washington, DC 20007
La Saint-Valentin…a soiree for everyone at the Embassy of France! Whether you’re single, a couple or a group of friends – this year, celebrate Valentine’s at the Embassy of France! Our fifth annual “La Saint-Valentin” will be held on Friday, February 10 at La Maison Française. Throughout the evening, enjoy an open bar, delectable pastries, live music and a silent auction with luxurious one-of-a-kind items!
Proceeds raised through this event will help support the numerous and varied activities of the French-American Cultural Foundation 501 (C)(3).
Purchase Tickets Online
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Cupid’s Not Stupid, Cocktails to Fall For
Aria Pizzeria, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20004, 7:00pm-10:00pm
A valentine’s day themed cocktail reception with top DC mixologists engaging in a friendly cocktail. Mixologists Gina Chersevani of PS7’s Restaruant, Rachel Sergi from Jack Rose Tavern, and Dennis Burns from Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center and Simo Ahmadi of Todd Gray’s Watershed will be creating a cocktail that represents cupid’s magical spell.
Admission includes sampling all five cocktails, wine, beer and light snacks. Join us on Friday, February 10th at 7pm at Aria Pizzeria & Bar in the Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center.
Tickets are $55/per person and can Be Purchased Online
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Saturday, February 11th
13th Annual Washington D.C. International Wine & Food Festival
Actually a 2 Day event, it has added a Thursday Event (Sommelier Showdown) and a Friday Event (Cupid’s Not Stupid..) – this is really DC’s most popular and well known wine festival – TasteDC was actually a marketing partner back in 1999 when they first landed this event at the Ron Reagan Building.
Details: 150 international wineries pouring more than 600 wines for you to sample… Experience the wine regions of Argentina, France, Italy, Germany, Greece, New Zealand, Spain and the U.S. all grouped together.
You can purchase Tickets for each of these individual or combined events online DC Food and Wine
General Admission – Sat 2/11 2pm-6pm – Includes glass and tasting. Tickets are $85.00 Plus a Service Fee of $3.12
General Admission – Sun 2/12 2pm-6pm Includes glass and tasting. Tickets are $80.00 Plus a Service Fee of $2.99
General Admission – Sat 2/11 AND Sun 2/12 Includes glass and tasting. Tickets are $145.00 Plus a Service Fee of $4.61
Cupid’s Not Stupid, Cocktails to Fall For – Fri 2/10 7pm, Tickets are $55.00 Plus a Service Fee of $4.02
VIP PACKAGE – (2) two-day tickets, (2) Cupid’s Not Stupid Tickets, (2) Sommelier Showdown Invites, Tickets are $600.00 Plus a Service Fee of $27.95 Sommelier Showdown – Thurs. Feb. 9th 7pm, Tickets are $150.00 Plus a Service Fee of $9.24
My Apologies in advance for how this information is listed – it’s a 2 day event with events on additional days – what can I say, it’s not a 2 day event anymore, they’ve added events on 2 more days – the key is that the Grand Tasting is the central event and it’s on Saturday and Sunday (you purchase tickets separately for each day, but you can purchase a 2 day pass). My experience with this event is it gets very crowded which means if you like crowds, you’ll love this event, and if you don’t..the secret is to go on Sunday and go early do your tasting and then leave! They moved this event to a larger venue a few times, but I think it lost a certain touch of class – the Ronald Reagan building has panache with it’s high ceilings and extraordinarily over-abundant security (I think each water fountain has security!).
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Madfox Barleywine Festival
February 11th (Saturday) 11AM-Midnight
Mad Fox Brewing Co. 444 West Broad Street Suite I, Falls Church, VA 22046
Featuring our own Barleywines as well as the best barleywines brewed by our favorite breweries. Beers will rotate through the festival on draught and cask, while they last. Serving sizes are 4 oz. sample glasses. No admission cost, price per serving. See Beer List and Info.
This is a pay as you go event, no tickets sold, just show up.
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Learn How to Host a Cocktail Party at Wildfire
February 11th (Saturday) 3 – 4 pm
Wildfire McLean, Tysons Galleria 3rd Floor, McLean, VA 22102
Learn from Wildfire’s Executive Chef Eddie Ishaq how to be the “hostess with the mostess” just in
time for Valentine’s Day weekend at Wildfire’s How To Host A Cocktail Party class. Join us at Wildfire
The chef will guide guests through today’s most popular cocktails paired with just-right-for-Valentine’s-Day appetizers and dessert.
Tickets are $30/per person (plus tax and gratuity). For more information or to make a reservation,
please contact Elissa or Amanda at 703.442.9110.
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Culinaria Almost Valentine’s Day Dinner
February 11th (Saturday) 7:00-10:00 pm
Culinaria Cooking School, 110 Pleasant St, NW, Vienna, VA 22180
Join Chef Robyn as she prepares the perfect menu for Valentine’s Day or any other night of the year. Your sweetheart will love it.
MENU: Spinach Salad with Beets, Candied Walnuts & Goat Cheese; Pasta with Sausage, Olives & Sun-dried Tomatoes; Filet Mignon with Boursin & Mushrooms; Saffron Risotto; Kahlúa Truffle Triangles
INSTRUCTORS: Robyn Alexander and Pete Snaith
Tickets are $80/per person
Purchase Tickets Online
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The Power of Chocolate
Both February 11th (Saturday) and 12th (Sunday) various programs from 10 am to 3:30 pm
National Museaum of the American Indian on the National Mall
Fourth Street & Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, DC 20560
The National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) celebrates one of the world’s most beloved foods, chocolate. Theobroma cacao was for the Maya and the Aztec peoples, as its Latin name indicates, a “food of the gods.” Our festival presents a rare opportunity for visitors to explore chocolate’s culture, history, and place in contemporary society.
http://www.nmai.si.edu/Most Events are Free – More Info subpage.cfm?subpage=events&trumbaEmbed=view%3Dseries%26seriesid%3D626823
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SOLD OUT-Vegan Craft Beer Dinner with Flying Dog Brewery
Saturday, February 11th, 8 pm
DC Bread & Brew,
1247 20th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036
TasteDC Belgian Beer Fest 2008
Each course will consist of local, organic ingredients paired with Flying Dog’s beers, including their
newest release, Wildeman, a Farmhouse IPA – See Complet Menu on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/events/226490990771776/.
The great Tommy Hunter, DC Rep for Flying Dog Brewery, will be on hand to share with us the story of Flying Dog
and take us through the beer pairings as they are poured. Though the dinner’s four courses, we’ve got six awesome beers for you.
As a gift, each guest will be given Flying Dog’s new Belgian beer glassware as well as a little something sweet to take home.
SOLD OUT.
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Sunday, February 12th
13th Annual Washington D.C. International Wine & Food Festival
(See Above for Information and Tickets)
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Valentine’s Day Pastry Class
February 12th (Sunday) 11:30 am to 2:30 pm
Adour in The St. Regis, 923 16th and K Streets, N.W., Washington, DC 20006
Surprise your loved one with a fun and instructive pastry class
on how to make Rose Macaroons and Chocolate Soufflés led by acclaimed Executive Pastry Chef Fabrice Bendano
Tickets are $75/per person. Event Link Calendar
Call (202) 509-8000 to Make Reservations
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Wine and Chocolate Tasting Charity Fundraiser for National Multiple Sclerosis
February 12th (Sunday) 1 – 4 pm
Vinifera Wine Bar & Bistro, 11750 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA 20191
Featuring local Chocolatier MC2 Confections – Jacki’s Determined Soles the host to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The event includes winery representatives from Loudoun Valley Vineyards, Fabbioli Cellars, Tarara Winery, and Notaviva Vineyards. Each winery will be pouring two wines specifically chosen to pair with chocolate from MC2 Confections.
Tickets are $15/per person
Purchase Tickets Online
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Mixology Class: Bitters
Last Exit, 3155 Mount Pleasant Street, N.W., Washington, DC
When: February 12, 2012 @ 5:30pm
Come learn everything you wanted to know (and probably more) about bitters! An essential class for anyone interested cocktails. This class also makes a great early Valentine’s Day gift for that cocktail lover in your life.
Tickets are $45/per person inclusive
Purchase Tickets Online
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The Power of Chocolate (SEE INFORMATION ON FEBRUARY 11TH)
Both February 11th (Saturday) and 12th (Sunday) various programs from 10 am to 3:30 pm
National Museaum of the American Indian on the National Mall
Fourth Street & Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, DC 20560
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Monday, February 13th
Almost 2012..a Look Back at TasteDC
OK, it’s just a bunch of photos from past TasteDC events, but it kind of shows you where TasteDC comes from – it’s my imagination of how people really would like to eat and drink..a bit of a dream world, but food is so much more than nourishment..Just Enjoy!
Charlie Adler, Managing Editor
TasteDC Food and Drink Event Calendar
“Educate Your Palate”
What IS a Wine Dinner?
Weird as it may seem, a “wine dinner” is conceptually as confusing as a wine tasting to most people – it’s a very foreign concept to many Americans – literally! A wine dinner is in essence a multi-course dinner served with several different wines – this is the simple explanation. A GOOD/GREAT wine dinner is when the various elements come together in a wonderful symphony of an event: wine, food, timing, pairing, educational component (this usually means a speaker), and impeccable service. It sounds very snooty, but that’s primarily because it’s based on the fine dining traditions of the Old World – particularly France and Italy. So what IS a wine dinner?
“A Wine Dinner Is a Meal Divided by Courses”
Most wine dinners include a menu of dishes served in three or more courses. For example, when you go out to eat at a fine dining restaurant, the menu is often broken down into Appetizers, Main Dishes, and Desserts. A Wine Dinner is a smart way for a restaurant to showcase both great wine and delicious dishes that showcase their chef’s talents. And yes, there is a formula: according to the traditional European format for a dinner (actually, any serious meal!) is begin with the lightest dishes, move on to richer dishes and finish with dessert – and yes, often there is a cheese course before dessert. A very simple multi-course dinner (with or without wine, but in the European tradition, food is pretty much always served with wine) would begin with some hors d’oeuvres, a seafood or pasta dish, a light meat dish (chicken or pork), a rich meat dish (beef or lamb) and dessert. Each course would be served with a different wine in a wine dinner and possibly even more than one wine per course. This would be called a 4-course dinner because hors d’oeuvres are usually not considered a dish, so don’t count in the number.
“Each Dish Should Be Paired with the Appropriate Wines”
I’ve been to wine dinners where there is only one wine paired with each dish, and that can be very satisfying! But I’ve also been to wine dinners where there are two, three, even four wines paired per dish (that’s a single dish!) and those can be very fun – albeit confusing at times. I want to touch upon the concept of pairing: pairing wine and food means there’s a synergy of flavor that is 1 + 1 is GREATER than 2. There are some classic examples of pairings: Sauvignon Blanc and goat cheese, Pinot Noir and salmon, and Cabernet Sauvignon and steak, etc. that work but I’ve had pairings that stretch the limits. The original old school formula for pairings was “white wine with fish and red wine with meat” but this is extremely outdated – creative chefs today don’t serve simply prepared dishes that are formulaic, they often prefer to add unique flavors and cooking techniques to their dishes that can be difficult to pair. To keep it simple (I wrote a whole chapter on pairing in “I Drink on the Job” entitled “A Meal Without Wine is Breakfast”). Just like with food, most wine dinners begin with lighter-style wines (like Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling) and move to heavier-bodied wines later in the meal – this makes sense – you wouldn’t want a Big Cab with your shrimp dish/course at the beginning of the meal, that would be way too heavy early in the meal (and a poor pairing!). Also, later in the meal, your palate needs richer and bolder flavors or you won’t notice a dish, so big wines and red meat (or dishes that are braised/slow cooked to increase the rich flavors of a meal) make sense.
A quick note on pairing/wine dinners – most have a theme like “Italian Wines” or “California Boutique Wines” that create the expectation of a special celebration of a wine region or theme. This is important because a wine dinner is a “showcase” event – a chance for a wine maker to show his/her best efforts in the vineyard or a display of a chef’s talents to create gourmet offerings. The point is that usually either the wine or the food is the main center of the wine dinner, one almost always overshadows the other. For example, I attended a wine dinner a few years ago with MacArthur/Addy Bassin’s Liquor where there were over 20 boutique California wines served – yes, the food was excellent at the Mandarin Oriental in Washington, D.C. (I think it was 7-Courses, but I forget!), but every wine was introduced before each course by either the wine maker or a representative who intimately knew the wines – educational and exhilarating!
“A Speaker Needs to Introduce the Wines at the Wine Dinner”
Not particularly profound, but someone needs to talk about the wines at a wine dinner and the more knowledgeable, the better. Normally, the wine maker or a representative from the wine community talks about the wines with each dish. Some speaker’s introduce the wines before each course, but this can be detrimental: it can add too much time to a dinner and it can get tedious for attendees! Most people don’t want to sit for more than three hours or so at a wine dinner (including breaks – hey, with all that wine, you may need to visit the bathroom!) so the length of an event is important. I always suggest that the wine professional speaker introduce their wines at the event, maybe speak once in the middle of the meal and then at the end of the meal. Most people at these events would rather talk privately to the speaker, so walking around and “schmoozing” with dinner attendees is a smart move.
Things I haven’t covered in this wine dinner discussion include the importance of speedy service, event duration, popular themes for wine dinners, and the myriad of service issues with this type of event. Staffing is VERY important – experience really makes a difference. One of the most impressive wine dinners I ever went to with the wines of Chateau Pontet-Canet at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. was because of one factor: the Sommelier Caterina Abbruzzetti decanted every one!
Of course, there aren’t only wine dinners: In 14 years at TasteDC, I’ve attended craft beer dinners, whiskey dinners, Tequila Dinners, Cocktail Dinners, Rum Dinners and innumerable conceptual “dinners”, often unique and unusual, but one thing they all had in common – the dishes and the beverage were paired in some way..Hope this all whets your appetite – Cheers!
Charlie Adler, Managing Editor
TasteDC Food and Drink Event Calendar
“Educate Your Palate”
The “Where” To a Wine Tasting – Beware the Blunders..
This is Part 2 of organizing a wine tasting (Part 1 Here) – I get the phone call “we want to organize a wine tasting for a <birthday/celebration/housewarming/shower/corporate event/bachelorette party> can you help?” My first question…DO YOU HAVE A VENUE? Reply – total silence, I can literally hear crickets churping..then the mumbling and nervous reply “well, uhhh, no, uhhh (thinking to themselves “you mean I have to think of everything??”) and then often something like “somewhere in DC, Virginia or Maryland”..and now I’m at a loss of words..
Unless your people can teleport wine into their faces, you MUST FIND A VENUE! OK, but how? Couple thoughts..the most obvious venue is the place you work or hangout, maybe someone’s home. Before you make the phone call to a Professional Event Planner (that’s what wine speakers/professionals become from necessity – we have no choice!), ask a friend/co-worker if they know a nice place to hold a wine tasting. Most likely, a short brain-storming session will begin and potential spaces will be considered – someone’s new home, a great meeting place the group already frequents, a winery, etc..DO THIS BEFORE YOU MAKE THE CALL..OK, I have a confession..
Over HALF the phone calls I receive requesting a wine tasting are VENUE SEEKERS, ie. they could care less about a wine tasting, they just want to squeeze my brain for all the venues I know and just work directly with them..But that’s another Subject!
Back to your needs..hotels and restaurants should be your last choice – why? Because they charge many fees that raise the cost quickly and significantly: room/rental fees, food minimums, corkage fees for wine (a little more on this below..), plus taxes and surcharges on top of all that. Many restaurants and hotels don’t allow an outside vendor to bring wine into their facility – of course – they can sell their own wine to you for a 250-400% markup (this is a common cost multiplier – a $6 store bought wine being sold in a hotel for $21.50 to $30 a bottle ++)
Since cost is a major factor to over 90% of the people that call requesting a wine tasting, think cost first – a free venue is the best. What free venues are available to most people? A home comes to mind first, so contact friends who have a nice place, or who for whatever reason (Ego!) want to show-off their abode. What about an apartment complex – many have community rooms that are empty most of the time, and if you know someone who’s a tenant in the complex, that helps a bunch! Some other potential “free” or low-cost venues include office spaces, office building atriums, art galleries, and non-profit spaces. A note about art galleries and other public venue – they may have quite a few restrictions..well, that’s another article, Cheers!
Charlie “I Drink on the Job” Adler – Check out my book NOW Available on Kindle or Soft-Cover - I Drink on the Job
A Wine Tasting – What’s in a Name?
I’ve organized or promoted over 1,000 wine tastings and wine classes in the Washington, D.C. area since 1997 through my organization TasteDC.com. A few times a week I get a phone call at headquarters (a room in my Georgetown townhouse with 2 computers, a color printer and a Fax..but it IS Ground Zero for DC wine tastings!) asking me to organize a wine tasting or class for a group of say maybe 15 people. What’s funny/unfortunate/amazing is that the call is almost always the same – THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT A WINE TASTING IS OR WHAT THEY’RE LOOKING FOR!
A wine tasting is an event from the TasteDC perspective – it has a beginning time, an ending time and a theme to fill the middle of the tasting. Say for example, a wine tasting of wine styles: rent a room, supply it with glassware (maybe a little food – cheese, crackers and bread would be nice!), a selection of wines with say three different “styles” (could be anything, but normally it might be light-bodied, medium-bodied and heavy-bodied wines) and put them at their own tables with volunteers pouring the wine..or people could pour their own wine – then we suggest you put out an information tasting sheet on each wine..
RECAP:
- Do you have a Date?
- Do you have a Venue?
- Do you have a wine “theme”?
There are literally thousands of ways to organize a wine tasting! I do want to make note – if you use the term “wine class” that most likely means a seated event with a speaker. Does a wine tasting necessarily need a speaker? No – the simple answer is sometimes (most of the time!) a speaker ads an unnecessary expense to a tasting – speakers charge for their services and the fees range significantly (I start at about $500 per event, but I have other ways to increase my profitability – hey, don’t attendees want a copy of my book “I Drink on the Job” ?
I’m going to write more about what to look for in a wine tasting – both for a private group and for a fun public form of entertainment – keep checking back – Cheers!
Charlie “I Drink on the Job” Adler
Linked In Reply to “What are the barriers to embracing slow food, local food, healthy food? It must be more than cost. Thoughts?”
Sometimes thoughts and concepts on food just build up in my head and get squeezed out like ketchup from a squeeze bottle (organic of course!) – here is my reply to a post on Linked-In in the “Slow Food” Group discussion begun by Eric McNulty:
Q: What are the barriers to embracing slow food, local food, healthy food? It must be more than cost. Thoughts?
Reply (Charlie Adler): Blame WWII..why? The U.S. govt. and U.S. industry came together in a form of Nationalism never seen before – the war promoted uniform delivery of food to troops – so if you came from Oregon, CA, Florida or Maine (the 4 corners), you would be eating the same canned foods, Heinz ketchup, Hershey’s chocolate, etc..food science could deliver non-perishable food to troops, why not to homes in the US? This is extremely simplified, but effectively, American tastes became homogenized, and Supermarkets grew with this new food production/distribution phenomenon..
I grew up with TV dinners, frozen pizza, and all kinds of pre-packaged processed foods in the 60′s and 70′s..ironically, even though today supermarkets provide a wider range of foods, more organic, and even more “nutritious” combinations, food has never been more processed, distributed from farther distances, and more weird food allergies “du jour” appearing daily by consumers – almost forgot, and more people overweight and on diets..Conclusion: Americans taste for food is chain, supermarket, convenience store, frozen, fat-free, Vegan, choose a label..
We have become our own worst enemy – the labels on food define us as a consumer – Slow Food has 3 strikes against it: “slow” is jargon for “stupid” or “wasteful” in American culture, “food” or “real food” is a foreign concept to the majority of Americans who eat Protein bars, and drink Energy drinks, and take dietary supplements, rather than actually get nutrition from a carrot or steak, and finally, Strike 3 – Slow Food is LITERALLY a foreign concept from Italy! Since Americans can’t even figure out why spaghetti and meatballs don’t go together, how will we as a nation understand such a philosophical concept as “slow food” unless we are seriously “Foodie”??
Conclusion?
The Grouponater Effect
Photo from a TasteDC Wine Making 101 Class in 2007
I knew the day would come, but I was pushing it off as long as possible..after 14 years, over 1,000 wine tastings, 200 cooking classes and dozens of specialty culinary events (Unique Food and Wine Festival, Chorizo Making class, etc.) would I give up TasteDC?? I knew some current facts:
The game had changed post 2008 Recession:
People spent their home’s future value – the ’08 Recession in a nutshell..banks were lending against a home’s equity..or estimated equity..a bubble..yep, it burst, go figure! When you run a small tasting event business, you need to focus on high margin, low volume events – in other words, lots of small wine classes, cheese tastings, and an occasional mini-festival. I never reached Big for the large events preferring to stay with a small staff (often just me and part-time help!) and slowly increasing the number of events. From 1997 to 2007, TasteDC went from organizing one event a month to as many as fifteen a month. When the bubble burst, people didn’t want to splurge – no one wanted to act like they had any disposable income, it just wasn’t the thing to do. My business dropped by over 50%..
Perceptions of value had changed:
In 1999 a wine dinner was something pretty unique and unusual – wine lovers were still a rarified group who often spoke in a language that no one understood. Wine was prestigious, intellectual and sophisticated and the people who drank it often travelled around or had lived abroad, were college educated and possibly even a bit snobbish. Wine dinners – defined as multi-course seated meals with at least one wine paired per course (but often 2 or more wines per course!) and normally a wine presenter discussing the pairings were relatively expensive – a 4 course wine dinner at a fine dining restaurant would cost you $85 to $150 per person inclusive of tax and tip. Believe it or not, many of these dinners sold out at 35+ people and there never seemed to be enough inventory of this kind of event.
Over time, wine became less prestigious and more of a daily consumable – this is actually a good thing. No longer is wine placed on a pedestal, it’s something you can pick up for a meal at the local grocery store or 7-11 and even casual dining restaurants normally carry at least 20 different kinds of wine in the DC area. Economically speaking, wine dinners have actually gone down in price and consumer perception of value – today, a 5-course wine dinner is often under $100 per person, and many of them barely get ten people to sign-up.
And recently, wine dinners are being replaced with the newest premium beverage to hit the DC Foodie scene – craft beer dinners. Most craft beer dinners are 5-courses and under $70 per person inclusive of tax and tip. Craft beer is perceived to be more approachable and fun than wine, so these dinners are often raucous affairs with a younger more urban crowd. Frankly, these dinners are refreshing to the wine dinner scene which seemed to be constantly inundated by the new rich who just wanted to make sure that everyone knew about their newly built wine cellar in their McMansion and the value of their recent stock option sales. Beer is real, or as I often here quoted “It’s just f***ing beer!”
The Groupon Effect:
This only occurred in 2010 or so, but has had a huge impact – when Groupon, LivingSocial and other online coupon companies began to discount restaurants and stores, it was only a matter of time before events and promotions also began discounting. I makes sense – these sites have millions of potential users and they can really bring new customers. The problem is primarily two-fold: the cost of “grouponing” and the “wait and see” attitude it creates.
If your event is say $70/person, then Groupon will suggest 50% off, so they will sell your ticket at $35/person. Groupon makes money by taking 50% of YOUR HALF, so that means you net $17.50 (LivingSocial and some other sites often don’t take as high a percentage). You can see that as a gain of new consumers and some money, but normally an event doesn’t have higher than a 50% margin, and often lower. Events make money once their fixed costs are covered – stating the obvious. Some of an event’s cost is often covered by corporate/retail sponsors, but in a slow economy, these sponsorships are hard to come by – event tickets are the main income..so how do you make money at $17.50/person? Good question..
I know I’ve only touched the surface of this subject, but the bottom-line is that the ROI on tasting events – the wine classes, cooking classes and other tastings that TasteDC specialized in – has become so low, it’s often negative. Will it ever come back? Who knows..Is TasteDC a dead business proposition..well, not quite yet, there is an alternative business plan, and no it is not a discounting concept, stay tuned..
Cheers!
Charlie “I Drink on the Job” Adler
Get Real..Ale That Is!
So what is “Real Ale” and what is a Real Ale Festival?
Please Note: I went to the Chesapeake Real Ale Fest 2011 which you can read about below, but I also want to mention that I’m planning a DC Based Real Ale Fest some time in late 2011. My next local Real Ale Festival is in Bel Air, MD, in early September – you can purchase tickets at: Real Ale Festival
My Quest for “Real Ale”?
This was my mission on Saturday, May 14th, 2011 as I visited the Chesapeake Real Ale Fest 2011 at the Pratt Street Ale House in Baltimore, MD. To make things even more interesting, my Verizon DSL, phone and FAX were under repair for the 3rd day – seems that 3 visits from Verizon Repair Techs couldn’t resolve the problem – the concept that the phone line had actually been cut was confirmed by Tech 1, but seemed to baffle Tech 2..until he went up on the Poll and confirmed that..OK, back to Real Ale..
My curiosity with Real Ale has alot to do with my background in wine – in wine, the concept of “terroir” or the “placeness” of wine (some would call it “micro-climate”, but that’s over-simplified..) is an integral factor in the taste and composition of wine. Wine is alive and represents all the factors involved with grapes and wine-making – including yeast. Real Ale is very much about the yeast – keeping them alive and allowing them to flourish and remain alive and change the flavors in the beer. But first, let’s clear up a few terms and concepts..
What Is Real Ale?
From Wikipedia: Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) in 1973 for a type of beer defined as “beer brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide“.
Real Ale = Cask Ale?
YES -Right from Wikipedia: Cask ale or cask-conditioned beer is the term for unfiltered and unpasteurised beer which is conditioned (including secondary fermentation) and served from a cask without additional nitrogen or carbon dioxide pressure. Cask ale may also be referred to as real ale, a term coined by the Campaign for Real Ale, often now extended to cover bottle-conditioned beer as well.
Bottle-Conditioned Beer
Is “Bottled-Conditioned” Beer the Same as Real Ale?
Yes - Bottled conditioned ale has living yeast that will generally consume and alter the aging compounds in a beer, making it evolve instead of degenerate with age. Thus, some bottled conditioned ales could be of over ten years of age, evolving in flavor during that time.
If My Ale Isn’t Real, Is it Fake? This is very similar to the argument about wines that having no terroir or character because they’ve been over-manipulated by man – I don’t believe that’s true, because a good brewer just like a good winemaker can take good ingredients and make them taste excellent. Making wine or beer is a talent that can be learned and is not wholly based on the raw ingredients – then again, if the grapes had a difficult growing season or the Hops are used incorrectly, that will have an outcome on the final product. The good news is that beer producers have choices on how their final product tastes – West Coast brewers LOVE hops, while other brewers ususally use hops more sparingly. And then there are breweries that use local hops, possibly even organic hops. The same goes with grains – brewers can choose many different grains like wheat and barley, and where they are produced. Ultimately, beer is more about the brewer’s style, while wine is a split between the quality of the grape harvest and the winemaker. Ultimately, the consume must decide.
Me? Well, I drink Real Ales when possible because I like the often sour notes or unusual flavor conditions of the beer for a truly unique drinking experience! Do I think Real Ale will someday surpass those of regular beers? No – and why should they – to enjoy something unique, special and unusual is all about the personal experience, and no one wants those to be copied..just like individuality, craft beer should be enjoyed simply for the experience occasionally, but most of the time it really just quenches my thirst – Cheers!
Charlie “I Drink on the Job” Adler
Cooking with Beer on TV
I’ve been on local TV five times since I wrote the book “I Drink on the Job” and it was mostly to give the book exposure – the title doesn’t suggest it, but really I wrote mostly about my experiences with wine and how much of what I learned was wrong or flawed. Now that I’m moving into the craft beer industry (I’m organizing DC’s Own Beer Festival – MAC Brew Fest on Saturday, Oct. 15th, 2011) I’ve decided to switch gears a bit. About one year ago I became seriously interested in the DC craft beer scene after reading Tammy Tuck’s article in Citypaper “Back to the Future: Inside D.C.’s First New Breweries in Decades”. Since then, I’ve lined up all the local breweries that recently opened in DC (DC Brau, Chocolate City, Port City, and Lost Rhino) and I’ve spent quite a bit of time tasting, meeting and participating in the local DC beer Renaissance – it’s a train that’s just starting to move! So when I received a call from Lindsey Gustin of Fairfax, VA’s Channel 10′s Chef’s Recipes to cook on TV in August, 2011, I thought it was finally time to break into beer as part of a meal – in my case, that meant cooking with beer.
This was my 3rd time on this show and each time I had a different role – the first time was pretty wide open cooking, the 2nd time was “Composing a Cheese Tray” and on August 16th, 2011 it was “Cooking with Beer”. I’m including Youtube videos of the cooking on the show, but my goal was clear:
- 1)Show that craft beer is flavorful to cook with just like wine,
- 2)Use as many local craft beers in the region to cook beer-centric dishes while supporting MAC Brew Fest sponsoring breweries (and also one Food Sponsor – Dolci Gelati
- 3)Treat beer more like wine – something to be savored and enjoyed with meals
The first dish I demonstrated was Beef Carbonnade made with Stillwater Ales Stateside Saison. Carbonnade is a fancy Belgian name for essentially long slow braised beef in beer. Traditionally Belgian beer is used in the recipe, but many American brewers travel to Belgium and learn how to use their native yeasts and produce comparable styled beers. Stillwater Ales is a brewery run by friend Brian Strumke – he’s known as a “Gypsy Brewer” – in other words, he doesn’t have his own physical brewery, but because of his creativity with producing flavorful and innovative beer styles, many breweries throughout the world collaborate with him to produce artisanal beers that have real flavor and character. The combination of this dark flavorful malty beer with browned meat and slow cooked caramelized onions had the whole camera crew salivating during taping – here’s the video:
The next dish was a New Orlean’s favorite: BBQ Shrimp. BTW, there is NO BBQ Sauce in BBQ Shrimp, the name is misleading – essentially it means shrimp soaking in butter – two whole sticks for 1 pound of shrimp! In this case, I actually wanted a more neutral lighter style of craft beer and since I found Starr Hill Festie on sale at Whole Foods on P St., in DC, that was the perfect beer. Essentially, you brown onions add 2 sticks of unsalted butter, a little garlic, then spices, salt and pepper (I always adjust recipes with my own spices I mix together after purchasing from Penzey’s Spices) and finally some crab boil (again, I was more creative with some Miso and Asian Shrimp Paste combined), beef stock, lemon and of course beer. You pour this sauce over the shrimp in a casserole and broil for about 15 minutes..let sit, eat shrimp and soak up Italian bread with the butter goodness!
Finally, I’m normally too lazy to bake a dessert, so I went for an old favorite – a Beer Float. I learned about this after reading and trying a Guinness Stout with a scoop of vanilla ice cream – the contrast of rich malty beer and vanilla sweet ice cream is just ecstasy to the senses! I used in this case Alexandria, VA’s Port City Porter and one scoop of Dolci Gelati’s Creme Brulee – the combination of rich caramelly roasted malty beer and the cool gelato is such a delicious contrast, you have to try this!
It was a really enjoyable taping, and of course, I got a chance to talk about MAC Brew Fest and to treat craft beer as a gourmet product fitting for both cooking in recipes and serving with the final dish – see you all in DC on Saturday, October 15th, 2011 at MAC Brew Fest – Cheers!
Cooking with Rum – Legg Mason Chef Challenge Monday, August 1st, 2011
Hey – you get to watch Professional Tennis and you get to taste these two chefs competing while cooking with Rum! I’m not really doing anything other than enjoying the event, but remember – I Drink on the Job – Cheers!
Chef Challenge – Experience the Flavor of Puerto Rico hosted by Rums of Puerto Rico Reception: 6pm-8pm
Tickets: $70/person – PURCHASE TICKETS HERE – LEGG MASON CHEF’S CHALLENGE
Rums of Puerto Rico hosts Chef Challenge – Experience the Flavor of Puerto Rico, pitting Executive Chef Roger Villalobos of Mio Restaurant against Executive Chef Raynold Mendizabal of Lima Restaurant in a battle to determine who most masterfully creates flavorful and original Latin dishes infusing a variety of rums as theme ingredients.
The entertaining culinary showdown will take place on Monday, August 1st from 6 until 8 pm, in the tournament’s Hospitality Tent. Among the judges are International Tennis Hall of Famer Gigi Fernandez – the first-ever female Puerto Rican athlete to turn professional, Shannon Shaffer – Executive Chef of Design Cuisine, Mary Beth Albright – 2011 Food Network Star finalist and WTOP’s Man About Town Bob Madigan. Judges will sample both chef’s dishes and rate on taste, look/presentation and creativity to determine the Chef Challenge champion! NBC 4’s Eun Yang will be the emcee entertaining the audience throughout the competition.
The judges will prepare the First Course using DonQ rum, the Second Course using Bacardi rum and the Dessert Course using Barrilito rum.
Tickets for the Chef Challenge competition hosted by Rums of Puerto Rico includes food and drink during the reception, a ticket to all the Monday session main draw matches, and the chance to meet Hall of Famer Gigi Fernandez, all for just $70.
Availability is limited, so call the Tournament Hotline at 202-721-9500 or visit
http://www.leggmasontennisclassic.com to reserve your spot.
