Joe Billhartz emailed this morning to let me know that the Neruda dinner scheduled for this evening has been postponed.  He’ll let me know when a new date has been set.

On Thursday, August 28th, Neruda in Edwardsville, IL is having a beer dinner, hosted again by Joe Billhartz of Specialty Import Distributing Company. Joe chose three of his favorite Midwestern breweries for Chef Rick Counts to pair his meals with. Here’s what they came up with:

Course 1
Salad of Frisee with fennel and mandarin orange and a citrus vinaigrette
Founder’s - Dry Hopped Ale

Course 2
Grilled Jumbo Shrimp on a snow pea and walnut salad stir-fry
Two Brother’s - Monarch Whit

Course 3
Grilled Pork Tenderloin topped with a peanut-honey glaze served with apple-raisin chutney
Two Brother’s - Domaine de Page

Course 4
Thinly Sliced Seared Yellowfin Tuna, served on grilled homegrown tomatoes and yellow squash
Founder’s - Red Rye

Course 5
French Vanilla Ice Cream on puff pastry drizzled with a sweet stout reduction
Oscar’s - Stout

The cost of this event is $55 per person plus tax and gratuity. A reception begins at 6:30 p.m. and dinner begins at 7:00 p.m. A reservation is required and can be made by calling Kurt or Libby at 618-659-9866.

If the beer dinner trend was a train, it would almost seem out of control by now. I’m just glad I’m a passenger on this train. Neruda is hosting another beer dinner with O’Fallon as this month’s featured brewery. The dinner is Thursday, July 31st at 7PM. The cost for the dinner is $55 and reservations can be made by calling 618-659-9866. Here’s the menu for this month’s dinner:

Deep-fried Asiago and Gourmandise on grilled flatbread with microgreens, paired with O’Fallon Wheach

Chicago-style Spinach Salad (tangy ketchup dressing, bacon, hard-boiled egg and baby spinach), paired with O’Fallon Wheat

Orange Barbecue Pork Steak served with sweet coleslaw, paired with O’Fallon 5-Day IPA

Coffee-Rubbed Lamb Chop with Dijon-style potato salad, paired with O’Fallon Smoked Porter

Beer Float with O’Fallon Goat’s Breath Bock Ale