Nora McGunnigle

Chef Lopez and Root's management staff have decided to have the one dinner in August so they can really focus on it, and it will be on August 27 (not the previously stated date of two weeks previous). AUGUST 27!  BE THERE! SO THEY WILL DO MORE! I've changed my previous post to reflect the accurate information.

After the Times-Picayune article by Todd Price came out profiling me as a beer blogger and Root as a restaurant that valued the pairing of beer with fine food, we (me and the guys at Root) came together to talk about promoting/expanding/improving their beer menu. Root decided to host a beer dinner on August 27th. They invited me to choose the beer pairings based on the menu that Chef Lopez put together! Obviously a huge honor for me as well as an extremely fun project. See below for the menu with the pairings. Many of the courses chosen are Root's most lauded dishes - the stars of their menu. Although I was given free reign to request any beer that is distributed in this market, I wanted to show how their beer menu as it is now complements the regular food menu. The dinner will $75 per person, not inclusive of tax and gratuity. The beer will be served in five ounce portions. Reservations will be available by phone (504-252-9480) only for seatings at 6:15, 6:30, 6:45, 8:30,...

I take terrible pictures of food! Trust me, the food looked much better than my pictures may have led you to believe. Man, I wish dinner had started at 7 instead of 8.

Butterscotch pudding! Bacon ice cream! Bourbon ... bubbles? OK, roll with it. Cocktail is a flip style called the Flip Wilson with Evil Twin Imperial Biscotti Break stout, bourbon, egg (of course) and pecan syrup. Well, dang. What a way to end this meal. Gonna need another spoon for all this puddin'. Whoa. That is some decadent shit right there. Both the dessert and cocktail. Daaaaaaaaaamn.

Four year manchego cheese, cracklin,smoked pork. Cocktail... oof. Some sort of bloody mary variation with tomato juice, mezcal (!!)  Tiliquin Geueze (!!!!!!!!) OK, from the description I did not get what it is. It is the "cheese course" described as their version of nachos. This course is pretty crazy. Everyone loves the nachos, but the cocktail is controversial! Some people like it, some people hate it, some people kind of think it's sort of OK with the chicharrone nachos-slash-cheese-course but pretty out there. I am that last one. Tom hates tomato juice, mezcal, and Geueze,  so this drink was not a winner for him. Loved them nachos though. Man! Best. Nachos. Ever. NACHOS BUILT ON CRACKLINS, PEOPLE.

Because the beer and shot course has MANY SPECIAL PICTURES THAT ARE NOT AT ALL BLURRY OR BORING.

Roast pork loin, smoked field peas, sunchoke. Cocktail: Kopstootje with a shot of Bols Genever. Beer and a shot! Come at me, bro. Brewer sez: "sooooo, this is where the night will take a turn." Fun fact: Belgian tripels were created after genever was banned in Belgium because of excessive drunkenness. Brewers responded to the demand for getting drunker faster. Cannot load all pictures I want to in one post; stay tuned!

Scallops, blood sausage, sweet corn, chantarelles. Cocktail: Rob Base. A crazy looking list of ingredients including a syrup made from Monk Suffers Serious Sugar Rush on Barbados beer (brewed by Evil Twin) Cocktail also has sherry vinegar. Surprisingly, it works. Never tried this beer before, less sweet than I thought it would be. Cocktail pairing more successful than beer. Scallops- perfectly cooked. Blood sausage and sweet corn puree, excellent contrast. Have been mocked soundly for my blogging. Such good food and drinks, I may die of happiness. Or hangover tomorrow.

Pied de Cochon, foie grass, pickled radish greens. Cocktail: Godot- Stillwater Existant, and other awesome stuff. Garnished with a fig. Again, as with the previous course, the chef made a somewhat questionable pig part- foot, ear- and made it amazingly delicious. We're at a table with Polly from the Avenue Pub and other Avenue denizens. Table talk is fun, and I'm being super rude blogging! Yay me. This may not be the best idea for my blogging audience or my dining companions. Hmm. But seriously, the contrast between the foie torchon and the pig foot croquette was amazing. Opinion at the table is that while the cocktails are fantastic, the beer seems to complement the food better. We'll see if that holds.

Local vegetables, pigs ear, and burrata. Cocktail pairing: "Imperial 75" (a take on the French 75, natch) Stillwater Cellar Door, Bonal Gentiane-Quina, lemon, simple syrup, orange bitters. Excellent,  both aspects.

Been a while since I liveblogged and I have a feeling that I will be too drunk tonight and too hungover tomorrow! Enjoy.

So, although I have about 3 cases of beer from Florida, I've been obsessed with obtaining a beer called Brux which is a collaboration between Russian River Brewing and Sierra Nevada. Because Sierra Nevada is distributed here in Louisiana (and, um, everywhere else in the country), this beer is able to get in this market. However, not a lot (allegedly), so there's been a run on it. Right after I heard about the beer, I went to Stein's after work to pick some up. There weren't any bottles out on the shelves but when I asked Andre, he brought one out from the back. "One per customer," he said. I asked if I could buy one and if Tom could buy one, and was denied. I think they may have milked the "last bottle sold" thing, as I heard that the Beer Buddha got the last bottle on Friday, but then heard about other folks buying bottles through the weekend. It's all a game, a show. Having bought my bottle, I heard that it's a beer meant to continue ...

Been more or less laying low since the fried chicken beer dinner- we went on vacation to our neighboring state of Florida and we were able to drink and buy Bell's, Lagunitas, Sweetwater, Terrapin, Victory, Southern Tier, and others to our hearts' content. Ahh. Couple of awesome things on the horizon: Next week is Coquette's Spirited Dinner that will involve beer and beer cocktails! Also pork. Lots and lots of pork.  Needless to say, I'm super excited. Also super exciting: Root will be doing beer pairing dinners on August 13 and 27 .  I'll have more info on the menu and the pairing next week- I'm going to help choose the beers to go with Chef Lopez's amazing food! That should be early next week so I am hoping to have a formal announcement by this time next week with the menu, pairing, pricing, etc. Needless to say, I'm honored that Root reached out to me to assist them in planning these dinners. The managing partners/owners have a real love of be...