Beer and food - Kitsilano Daily Kitchen

Chef Brian Fowke is a bit of a culinary hero of mine. I have been following him through his restaurant adventures (Rare, Metro, Mon Bella and now Kits Daily Kitchen) and have always enjoyed his cooking immensely. He is the kind of chef who always finds the freshest, most local and high-quality ingredients and turns them into a wide array of sumptuous dishes. He also has a great personality, obviously passionate about his food and willing to talk to anyone who wanders into his restaurant or kitchen.

Brian likes to organise food events, Kits Daily holds frequent wine dinners and he recently collaborated with R&B brewing, a great local Vancouver brewery on a beer paired dinner. I love these types of things so signed up immediately after I got the email announcing the event.

Last Monday I arrived at Kits Daily, ready for what was surely going to be a fairly epic dinner. Knowing Brian, he never skimps on these things. The first thing of notice were the kegs of fresh beer awaiting opening:

We started off with a rose petal pilsner, a light and refreshing beer with a hint of the sweet rose petal extract they used when brewing the beer. We then sat down and enjoyed a Paella-inspired dish paired with a ginger pale ale:

spot prawns, Alaskan diver scallops, swordfish, baby peppers and chorizo...

Following this was a rich pasta dish with freshly foraged chanterelle mushrooms in a brown butter sauce, paired with a chanterelle wheat ale. Mushroom flavored beer...it was actually quite good!

papardelle pasta, chanterelles, chard, brown butter sauce

Next up was a braised Bison dish paired with a East Side Bitter, followed by a beautiful piece of beef with mashed potatoes and some blackberry jam.  This one was paired with a blackberry IPA. An apple pie pale ale with cinnamon, ginger and allspice came along (sweet and flavorful). The potato bread with caramelized Parmesan was also delicious:

Dessert was a sourdough chocolate cake paired with a Mayan chocolate stout with cocoa nibs and cayenne, both were supreme.

I walked home that night, feeling extremely satisfied and considering myself very fortunate to have experienced these unique beers and the amazing food. Somehow, Brian managed to do all this for $50 a plate which is quite the deal!