Jacob Richler on "Fine dining a la biere"

In this weekend's edition of the National Post, food critic Jacob Richler writes about a beer dinner that he recently attended at North 44 along with Innis & Gunn rep Dougal Sharp. The article - which you can read here - makes it clear that Richler holds to standard attitude that wine pairs better with high-end food than beer, as this excerpt illustrates:

While I like beer -- OK, I like it a lot -- and think that in a pinch it goes well with just about everything from fried eggs to pissaladiere to foie gras poele, beer seldom shows up on the podium as my first choice with food. With choucroute garni, sure. With moules-frites, definitely. With fish and chips, naturally. But with asparagus and morels, I'll take the New Zealand sauvignon blanc, thanks.

Of course, his opinion may have been influenced by the fact that three of the six beers served during the dinner were from the ubiquitous Inbev line-up of mediocre Belgians - Stella Artois, Leffe Blonde & Bellevue Kriek - and of the remaining three, the only truly world-class offering was Duvel.

It's also interesting to note that Richler claims that Toronto has no true "gastro-pubs", where fine food is paired with an extensive beer list. Perhaps it was a different Jacob Richler who wrote this review of beerbistro back in January, 2004...

Discuss this topic in the Bar Towel Forum

Posted by Bar Towel News Editor at May 14, 2006 03:26 PM