Marissa's Musings: Iron & Beer at Deschutes Brewery

Tuesday, 13 December 2011 13:30 | Written by Byron

Chefs NIght Out at Deschutes Brewery in the Pearl District

PORTLAND BREW-HA-HA: Monday night, the Pearl District's Deschutes Brewery was the site for The Chefs Challenge Dinner to raise money for Morrison Child & Family Services.

What it featured was a slew of five chefs all-competing for not only a group of “celebrity” judges: Tracy Howard, associate editor of Imbibe; Steve Body, author of Seattle P.I.'s beer blog The Pour Fool; Sal Zizzo, Portland Timber and owner of Zizzo’s Food Cart; Caprial Pence, Caprial + John, The Kitchen; and Gary Fish, owner of Deschutes Brewery. But also the votes of the guests, yes the “common man” had a say in what the dish of the night was. We were all given ballots to vote on taste, creativity, and how well it paired with the beer. The event was MC’d by Chloe Houser from PDX TV. And there was no shortness of pork dishes. Check out the menu here.

The place was packed; I couldn’t see any open seats in the large dining room. Everyone was having a great time when a lovely romantic surprise happened at the end of the night. Taken from a gentleman’s love of Deschutes beer and his girlfriend, he proposed to her before dessert and (spoiler alert) she said yes! I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t get teary eyed for a second.

In short, I ate a lot of pig cooked confit, meaning “in fat”. The six courses were all amazing in there own right, with my two stand outs of the night being the dessert by Deschutes own pastry chef Jill Ramseier which was a “Burnt Sugar Cube” Espresso Crusted Beignet. And the Turkey Confit by Ned Ludd’s own Jason French. While I couldn’t finish any of the six courses, I have to say it’s a good thing I wasn’t counting calories last night, and I surely don’t need to eat again until 2012. Rich must have been the secret ingredient—Marissa Sullivan