This week’s cool temperatures are the perfect way to welcome September—and start daydreaming about all the cold-weather comfort fare headed our way this fall. I hadn’t heard much from the Nectar team all summer, so I was very excited to receive an e-mail from Chef Patrick Feury filling me in on his latest plan: a monthlong beer-and-food pairing series, conjured up to highlight the innate peanut-butter-and-jelly relationship between “sea and suds.”
Personally, I haven’t understood why so many chefs continue to focus on wine-and-food pairings while the dynamic relationship between beer and food goes underappreciated. Several years ago, I went to such a tasting at Alison’s in Blue Bell, and it really opened my eyes to how craft brews, in particular, offer a whole new palette of flavors when paired with just the right foods. Since then, I’ve bugged a few of my chef friends about doing a beer-and-food pairing, but they always told me that “management” says it “doesn’t sell.”
So, of course, I was thrilled to hear about Feury and hops-and-barley guru Bill Covaleski’s new plan, Sea & Sip in September. And, although I can’t attend opening night next Wednesday, Sept. 9, you can.
Night one promises both daring and refined pairings, such as sea urchin and toasted nori risotto with bonito in a yuzu emulsion, served with Prima Pils, to show off more sophisticated nuances than you’d be able to appreciate with more typical pairings like bratwurst and potato salad. Guests can help ring in the event, which begins at 5 p.m., with a ceremonial tapping of a wooden barrel of Victory lager.
The 
primary beers that the duo will focus on are lager-style—likely for their characteristically clear and subtle flavors, which will enhance (rather than overpower) the fresh fish and shellfish they’re paired with.
Feury ensures the series will also feature intriguing pairings of more seasonal, unusual catches like Nunavut Wild Arctic Char (a close relative of salmon from the icy cold Paliryuank River in Canada) and Victory Braumeister Pils (this version brewed with whole-flower Tettnang hops grown near Lake Constanz in Germany). Smoked white shrimp sausage, roasted skate, and a house-smoked King salmon and grilled cheese sandwich are also on deck sometime during the month.
I don’t know about you, but I’m curious—and salivating.
1091 Lancaster Ave., Berwyn; (610) 725-9000, tastenectar.com
Â
