Special dinner pits wine against beer

A Wasilla restaurant’s ongoing quest to determine whether wine or beer goes better with food will be renewed next week, when Grape Tap unveils another edition of its Grain vs. Grape tasting dinner.

Always a customer favorite, the newest version of the culinary battle will take place Oct. 17 at 6 p.m. It will feature a five-course dinner, and each course will be paired with a beer and a wine selection. Reservations are required.

Beers will be supplied by Midnight Sun Brewing. Specialty Imports, an Anchorage liquor distributor, will supply the wine.

Gretchen Hopping, Grape Tap’s executive chef, said she always looks forward to doing special dinners, like the Grain vs. Grape showdown. She has assembled an ambitious menu that will serve as the playing field for the competition.

“I pick a menu, then we give it to one of our beer purveyors and one of our wine purveyors. They pick the pairings,” she said.

This time around, the first course, a welcome plate, will have two kinds of goat cheese accompanied by two different condiments and crostini. That will be followed by steak tartare, Grape Tap’s riff on the classic seasoned raw beef dish. The third course is a puff pastry filled with gruyere cheese and rosemary, and topped with hot honey. That will be followed by the entrée, ribeye and French onion stew, topped with duchess potatoes and melted gruyere.

A smores pastry roll will be the dessert course. Chef Hopping described it as being like a cinnamon roll, but with chunks of chocolate, marshmallow fluff, and cinnamon graham crackers rolled in dough, baked, and topped with cream cheese frosting.

Each course is followed by a vote, when diners determine whether wine or beer won that round. Whichever beverage wins the most rounds, is the overall winner.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Hopping said. “The purveyors really get into it, and guests really enjoy participating.”

Several Grain vs. Grape dinners have not yielded a consistent winner. She said wine does not always win.

But what is consistent is the fun.

“The Grain vs. Grape dinners are always my favorite dinners to do. People always seem to enjoy it. It’s interactive,” she said. It’s good to see what the purveyors come up with for pairings. And staff love working these.”

One of those staff, longtime Grape Tap server Lisa Davis, agreed.

“Grain versus Grape is one of my favorite tastings,” she said. “It’s a challenge for the pallet to figure out which beverage pairs the best with each fantastic course. There is always a lot of debate and socializing from everyone who attends.”

Mike Finnegan, Midnight Sun’s beer ambassador, said Monday that the final beer pairings had not been made yet. But he said most courses will be accompanied by a beer that represents the company’s core line of products. “There will also be something unique and special,” he said. “Probably a new release that will be exclusive to that event.”

Despite several previous Grain vs. Grape dinners at Grape Tap, this is Midnight Sun’s first Grape Tap special dinner in 10 years.

“We’re looking forward to the challenge of beer versus wine pairing,” Finnegan said. “We’re also looking forward to the excellent cuisine that Grape Tap has helped bring to Wasilla, and the beautiful, intimate setting they have.”