Belgian Beer Junket

March 13 was the chosen date for Megan and I to tackle our second "event" from the Top 10 of 2010. Several weeks prior, I had received a save the date for a Belgian Beer tasting dinner hosted by Perman Wines and X-Marx. (If you are interested in wine, visit Craig at Perman Wines. He is knowledgeable and unpretentious.) We were so eager to attend that before realizing it was only a SAVE THE DATE, I responded with a request for a reservation for 2. Oops! So we jumped the gun a little. Oh well! We wanted to make sure we got a seat, there were only 20 available!

The day before the dinner, we received an email with the address where the dinner would be held. Saturday night, catch cab (total nightmare given that it is the Saturday before St Patrick's Day & apparently the majority of Chicago is out drinking green beer), exchange nervous glances at the several turrets-style outbursts from the cab driver, and find way to designated address. Ring bell. Nothing. Hmmm. Ok. Ring again. Nothing. I don't think this is how this is supposed to go. We most certainly were not given instructions for a secret knock. Crap. Check address. Damn. The accountant wrote it down wrong. Yes, that would be me. So I transposed two numbers and we are standing at the wrong door. Thankfully, I messed up the last two digits, so we were just across the street and a few doors down. Haha!

Once past the rocky start, it was a fabulous evening! The food was absolutely amazing. See menu board in the pics for the menu. I ate every last bite. We started with a before dinner cocktail & an appetizer of fried pig ears. Yes, you read correctly. Fried pig ears. Just before Megan took her first bite, I tried to calm her apprehension (I swear my timing was unintentional!) with "don't worry, it's just fried skin". I thought she might spit it on me. Sorry, Meggo! Can't say I need to eat pigs ears again, but it didn't really taste like anything other than the spices that it was tossed in after frying. The six-course meal that followed was beyond words. See the pictures. And visit X-marx website for future events. I HIGHLY recommend attending one of their dinners; they have various themes. But ONLY if you are open-minded about food & not afraid of a little spice.

The beers that were paired with each course were yummy & 2 of them were inaugural pours in the U.S.!!!! HOW AWESOME!! All in all, wonderful evening, and interesting conversation. We were seated at the table with the husband and wife whose company imports the Belgian beers that were on the menu, and who were partly responsible for the creation of one of the beers that was making it's U.S. debut that night. Also with the editor of a Chicago foodie blog/website and long-term girlfriend of a very famous Chicago chef. Let me just put this out there -- as much of a foodie as I sometimes feel that I am, and as much as I know about Chicago restaurants, sitting at the table with these folks made me out to be a completely uninformed novice of a consumer. Way out of my league!

Enjoy the pics and broaden your horizons with an underground dinner. So much fun!


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