In today's mega event-planning EaterWire: Restaurants, bars, and breweries around town team up for pairing dinners out the wazoo. Hang on tight:
OLD TOWN: Gilt Club chef Chris Carriker gets boozy with a five-course "Hog & Rye" dinner scheduled for this Saturday, January 14, featuring an all-pork menu paired with rye whiskey cocktails. After a three-item starter (spicy Thai ribs, orange-smoked foie gras, and pork rilettes) paired with a R1 Rye, Aquavit, and Cynar cocktail, expect follow-up courses like pork crackling salads and braised pork cheeks. Reservations to the $55 pairing dinner required, and are available by calling the restaurant.
SOUTHWEST: Waterfront Italian spot Aquariva pairs with NE's Breakside Brewery for the latter's first-ever brewer's dinner this Friday, January 20. The $45, four-course menu features dishes like wild boar sugo, polenta, and fried pig ears (paired with Breakside's boozy Aztec), and obviously highlights the fruit of Aquariva and Breakside's recent in-brewery collaboration (the restaurant's special brew will be paired with a poached albacore tuna). Reservations available by calling the restaurant.
DIVISION/CLINTON: With the arrival of Dungeness crab season, Bar Avignon revisits its annual "Crab Night" feast on two evenings this January: Tomorrow (Wednesday, January 11), and a fortnight later, on January 25. As per usual, crabs will be sold by the whole and half (at $24 and $13 respectively), with an array of available side dishes cooked up by newish chef Eric Joppie. Get in early if possible: On both evening, crabs are only available while supplies last.
ON THE COLUMBIA: Hood River brewery Full Sail heads down the gorge on Friday, January 20 for a four-course pairing dinner at Salty's on the Columbia. Courses include a Tuscan onion soup (paired with Full Sail's Amber Wild) and salmon Saltimbocca (paired with Wassail); the $65 reservation also includes a souvenir pint.
E. BURNSIDE: The EastBurn plays host to the second-annual Buckman-Kerns Brewfest on Sunday, January 15, which celebrates the multiple breweries within the Southeast district: Lucky Labrador, Coalition Brewing, Natian Brewing, Migration Brewing, Buckman Brewing, Cascade Brewing, and Burnside Brewing. Like brewfests of always, admission is $10, which includes a pint glass and four tasting tickets. More information here.
Image of Gilt Club courtesy MookieLuv via Flickr