Beer Dining At Tuskies

So the first full day on the road put me in the gentle hands of one of my favorite people to work with, Jon from Hop & Wine Beverage in Virginia. Hop & Wine distributes our beer to all of Virginia as well as DC and they do a mighty job of it. Working with Jon is always about more than just selling beer though, it's about the food. It's fitting that our final destination for the night was the Tuscarora Mill since we'd fattened ourselves with lunch there last summer (Read about it), but we had many things to see, do, and eat before we'd get there. A tasting at Red, White, & Bleu was in order for purposes of spreading my professional gospel. Last time I was in Falls Church the Stachowski meats were just starting to get out and about and this was where I'd learned about them (and tasted an amazing Duck Proscuitto). The charcuterie case was looking strong and Stachowski accounted for the vast majority. I need to ship some of this stuff back to PA soon or just end one of my trips in VA for a change so I can bring some of his amazing offerings home with me.

So after a bit of wheeling, dealing, peddling, tasting, and instigating we needed to eat some food. Now Jon has made sure I've been well fed in the past but on this day he, literally, looked me in the eye, thought for a second and said, "You're ready for Super Chicken."

Now I'm fired up. I'm going into the intersanctum of Local Gem Dining. The Northern VA/DC area has quite a bit of Peruvian Chicken stops: Crisp & Juicy, El Pollo Rico, Super Chicken, the list actually goes on and on. Jon assured me that Super Chicken was the one and only place I needed to be concerned about.

Peruvian Chicken is a preparation that employs a spice rub (cumin, paprika, and others) and rotisserie style cooking to produce a succulent and delicious chicken flanked by two sauces: Aji & Huancaina. To read up on read ups...click it.

As you stand in line and look at the clever quartering out delicious looking birds you stare right into the mouth of the spit....


As you move down and choose sides (Yucca, Plantains, salads, Peruvian style fried rice) you also choose your cut, pay up, and hope for a seat. I couldn't have been more excited to eat Super Chicken. I was starving, it had been built up so perfectly by Jon, and the whole joint smelled delicious.



Hot damn, was that good. I actually peeked back at my phone several times through the day at that picture wondering when I'd eat food as good again, not remembering it would be only a few hours until Jon & I were deep in the plates of fine food. Eventually we rounded out the sales day and fancied up for dinner. Tuscarora Mill, (as you've read from my link above) was a highlight meal of 2009 for me. From the day we were sitting at Tuskies for lunch I made it a point to get lined up with a beer dinner and just 6 months later the preparations had been made, the tickets sold, the tasting meeting held (that's a meeting I wish I was in town for), and the night had come. We had about 27 people for dinner, which isn't too shabby for a January night in my estimation. Chef Patrick Dinh took a multi-ethnic approach to the dinner menu and really knocked everyone's socks off. By the time he and his sous-chef came out to speak everyone was ready with a hearty round of applause.

So without further ado, a walk through Tuscarora Mill & New Holland Brewery's most recent beer dinner:


Thai Spiced Beef Jerky & Daikon Pickles with Full Circle Kolsch Style Ale


Moroccan Chicken On Cous Cous with Preserved Lemon & Olives with Golden Cap Saison


Spicy Caramel Pork On Sticky Rice with Cashews & Tangy Onions with Cabin Fever Brown Ale


Sesame Seared Lamb Loin On Crispy Noodle Cake with Napa Cabbage with Imperial Mad Hatter


Bourbon & Cola Braised Short Ribs with Smoked Coleslaw & German Potato Salad with Dragon's Milk


Banana Creme Pie with Macadamia Crust with 2006 & 2008 Vintages of Pilgrim's Dole Barrel Aged Wheat Wine

The food was incredible, the pairings were spot on, the beer was tasting wonderful. For night one of a two and a half week journey things were certainly getting off on the right food I'd say. More to follow, but enough for now.