I know it’s late notice but Sean Paxton, the Homebrew Chef, is doing a beer dinner tomorrow night, Thursday April 11, in conjunction with the Sonoma Film Festival. The dinner is sponsored by New Belgium Brewing but also features beer from several breweries. It starts at 6:30 p.m. and will be held at Ramekins Culinary School & Inn located at 450 West Spain Street in Sonoma. Tickets for the four-course dinner are $75 and can be purchased at Eventbrite. Sean’s dinners tend to be amazing, and I’m confident this one will be no different. And because it’s a school night, it’s a modest dinner by his standards, a good one to start with if you haven’t been to one his extravaganzas before.

Here’s the menu:

Pre-Movie Snacks

Popcorn
Duck fat fried heirloom popcorn, dusted in fennel pollen, grains of paradise and truffle salt
cedar smoked bacon fat popped popcorn with tomato powder, thyme salt and porcini mushroom dust

Flatbread
“The Bejkr” dough baked in the wood oven with Russian River Consecration barrel staves, shaved fennel, Sonoma Dry Jack, local olive oil, sea salt and chili

Paired with Hoppy Bock and Fat Tire

First Course

Unicorn Sashimi
Carpaccio of beets, carrots, radishes, fennel fond, arugula, shaved Cypress Grove Midnight Moon, hazelnut sesame sunflower seed butter, tarragon, sunflower sprouts, Ranger IPA foam

Paired with Rampant Imperial IPA

Second Course

The Man Who Lived on His Bike
Sea scallops poached in Sunshine Wheat and bergamot peel, sautéed lacinato kale with sage, green beans, and Tripel coriander sabayon

Paired with Brewery Vivant Biere De Garde

Third Course

Bird and Business
Sonoma County chicken and duck, mixed with Lips of Faith Cascara Quad soaked dates, caramelized shallots, black garlic sausage on a breaded Paul’s Produce rutabaga film reel, escarole & green garlic topped with a abbey coffee mustard sauce

Cheesy Movies
Pt. Reyes Bay Blue, Laura Chenel Cheese, Delice de la Vallee with Abbey Ale orange peel honey, La Folie beer jelly, clove smoked cashews, hop salt, local breads and crackers

Paired with Lost Abbey Bretta Beer and Prickly Passion Saison

Concession Stand

Movie Treats
1554 beer brittle topped with dark chocolate, toasted pistachio and smoked salt with Heavenly Feijoa beer marshmallow dipped in white chocolate with rose dust

Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream
Peach Porch Lounger ice cream with Tripel caramel ripple with Biere de Mars goat milk sherbet

Paired with Imperial Coffee Chocolate Stout and Transatlantique Kriek

Sean Paxton, the Homebrew Chef