“We want to do dinners that highlight the beers that we do have on tap—we really want to use the flavors of the beers in the food the chefs prepare,” said Brian Martell, CPO and chief pub officer of Druthers.
Executive Chef Sean Comiskey explained that he created a menu to cater towards foods that can be smoked for a “more natural pairing.”
“We like to differentiate ourselves from the competition with the equipment that we’re using, so we based this menu solely around smoked food,” Comiskey said. “It’s something we like to do here because we have our own smoker on the premise, so we’re looking to smoke items and foods that aren’t normally done—not ribs, not BBQ. We’re just cooking with wood and trying to complement the beer because they go really well together.”
Each meal of the five courses Comiskey is cooking up will be paired with a different beer from the restaurant’s very own taps, each meal designed to complement the beer as they get heavier.
“You need to set up the menu and beers according to how harsh they are on your palette,” Comiskey explained. “So we base our food menu off of the general lighter beers, then move to a little more powerful beer and then towards the end we get to the sweeter beers with more malt and hops that would ruin your palette for anything to follow [if you drank them at the beginning of the meal].
“We’ll start with a pilsner that I cook with on a daily basis, then a Hefeweizen, a Winter Warmer, then an IPA—that’s been the most popular beer since we unveiled it—and then lastly we’ll have a Porter to go with the cake and coffee,” Comiskey said.
Though the majority of the dinner features courses with meat, the chef will provide vegetarian options for those who request it.
“It’s fun—we’re not pretentious, we’re not trying to do a wine and food pairing—we’re pairing our beer with fun, well-prepared ingredients,” Comiskey said. “We’re trying to make it as local as possible and the beer is made onsite. It will be different than what you can get from anywhere else. It’s a good deal and there’s plenty of food and plenty of beer, so you won’t leave hungry.”
