I may have expressed my excitement previously about my favorite neighborhood bistro, Coquette, having a special dinner with all you can eat fried chicken, greens, watermelon, mashed potatoes, creole tomatoes, cornbread, coleslaw, accompanied by delicious beers.
It was pretty much the best night ever. Talked to really nice and cool folks, ate great food (in addition to the above, there were passed apps that included shrimp, deviled eggs, and this amaaaaaaazing boudin wrapped in collard greens and cut up to sort of approximate sushi rolls) and drank some very nice beer that was well suited to the hot summer evening.
We were greeted with a Lil' Slammer, which was a cute way to start, and having just walked in from the heat, it went down nice and easy. Then as we wandered, we found the beer table pouring Stoudt's Karnival Kolsch and Anchor's Brekles Brown.
Everyone was super nice, and after talking with a fellow ChowHound (Sanglier) and his guests for a bit, we found ourselves chatting with Brady, a beer blogger from the Washington DC area who had just moved down here. (He also told me that he found out about this from my blog, which always makes me happy tp hear!) We also ran into Rene and Lindsey who are part of the Blackened Out team, and we all 5 ended up at a table together. When we sat, I was pleased to see a wine bucket of beer in front of me!
Brooklyn's Sorachi Ace and Sam Adams' Cinder Bock. Brady ended up taking the bottles up to warm slightly, a sentiment I definitely appreciated. OK, so the food started coming out:
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| Coleslaw |
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| Creole tomato with basil and mint |
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| Stunning- watermelon with sea beans, scallions, and lime |
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| Collards, of course |
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| OMG SO MUCH FRIED CHICKEN- deep fried on the left, cast iron pan fried on the right |
It was at this time I had to stop taking photos because my hands were too greasy from eating chicken. Also, I didn't ever want to stop eating chicken. Or the mashed potatoes and gravy, which I must have had like 4 helpings of. Rene was working on a challenge he'd issued (to himself or to Chef Michael Stoltzfus, I wasn't real clear on that) and got through 8 pieces of chicken. Tom got 6, and I only had 4. That's 'cause I was eating those mashed potatoes like crazy. I was ridiculed for wasting valuable stomach space on the sides, but I stand by my decision! More and more chicken appeared on our platter, faster than we could eat it! A new bowl of mashed potatoes arrived, as if by magic. It was heaven, HEAVEN I TELL YOU.
And then... dessert. I was pretty thrashed by this point, but I did have a glass of the Southern Star Buried Hatchet Stout and most of a piece of peach crisp.
Again, good and fun times, orchestrated by a group of people who seem to really want to have fun with they way we are served and drink beer. Love it! The next beer dinner I'm going to will probably be much more formal, since it's a Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Dinner- it will feature pork in all its glory paired with various beers and beer cocktails!
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