Beer at Taste

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Los Angeles Ale Works which is located near Space X in Hawthorne  poured their libations for a dinner at Taste. www.taste-wbk.com.  Dinner was sold out but what I found interesting was that the women in attendance out numbered the men 3 to 1.

We started out with a Lievre Saison, infused with kumquats and calimonte fruits. Interesting and pleasant taste to this beer.  Paired with a onion tart which was just two bites but was wonderful, Frankly the best came first at this dinner.

First course looked familiar. Grilled market peach salad, mesclun, fried goat cheese, toasted pecans, shaved fennel and lemon vinaigrette. Almost a duplicate of the salad at the Tamber Bey dinner a few weeks ago. Beer was a Berliner Weisse (sour). called Blume.  Did not care for the beer. Not my style.

Second course is a pan seared pacific halibut, summer vegetable-basil stir fry with lemon butter sauce, Halibut was good but slightly over cooked for me. I prefer my fish more moist that what I got. Vegetables were tiny but loads of flavor. The basil stir fry complimented the beer. Lemon Basil Goldilocks,  which was a Kolsch infused with lemon basil hand picked that day from Farmlot 59.  I did like this beer, again interesting taste with the infusion.

Third course was my least favorite beer. A Space XPA Full Thrust, double IPA. Not and IPA fan and this beer was so hoppy its a wonder it didn't just hop on down the bunny trail. One sip and that was enough for me. The food dish was Carribbean style tacos. grilled jerk chicken, mango salsa, cilantro and house made tortillas. Good flavor but small in size. 

Dessert was very good.  A Thai iced coffee, baked alaska made with sponge cake, Lord Windsor coffee ice cream and toasted meringue.  Coffee beans for the ice cream and the stout were roasted at Lord Windsors on 3rd street in Long Beach.   A Long Beach roasted coffee infused oatmeal stout was the beverage of choice. Loved the nose, intense coffee flavor that struck you nose several inches away. Great pairing and my second favorite combination of the night.

Nice evening, good company but this restaurant is so noisy and as the evening wears on you want to find those egg plugs.  Adding alcohol to the mix doesn't make it any quieter.