Back in February I was invited by my good friends Emily & Andy to visit D.C. and host an event at Lyon Hall where Andy is the head chef along with pastry chef Rob Valencia. I'd been wanting to visit since they opened the Alsatian influenced brasserie a little over a year ago. My passion for Alsatian cuisine runs deep so I didn't hesitate at the opportunity to finally make it and help out with one of their incredible seasonally focused dinners held every month. Eager to take The Pickled Tomato on TOUR I got crackin' on the menu with Andy. After hearing word of early strawberries in April, I was enthusiastic to meet the challenge of pairing wine with the bright tart little monsters. My first instinct was to pair wines with just a touch of residual sugar, perceived ripeness, or in beer's case, a malty backbone. After going back and forth a few times with Chef Andy I started to pin down the pairs. It was a bit of a challenge to try and pair stuff up from 600 miles away. Conceptually I think a lot of my ideas made sense after bouncing ideas off a few of my colleagues here in Chicago, but I had no idea if they would work once the food was plated and in front of the diners. For me, that's ended up being the most fun part about the event. Having the chance to walk around the room and get plenty of constructive feedback from everyone. I believe in candid criticism when it comes to food and cheers to everyone of the diners for diving in head first with me! 
Last year I was in Alsace with the Webster's crew and I'll never forget one particular dinner following a 50+ wines power tasting with Pierre Gassmann from Domaine Rolly-Gassmann. Dehydrated, famished, & palette-fatigued we showed up for our reservation at La Bacchante. Not even 5 minutes after sitting down coupes of crémant appear in front of us, strawberries dancing amongst the ribbons of bubbles. This not only slaked our thirsts, but it woke us (and our palettes) right up. I just knew I had to share this apértif experience with the diners of Lyon Hall. Biodynamically produced from 11th generation winemaker Gerard Boesch, the Domaine Leon Boesch Crémant d'Alsace (50% Pinot Blanc, 25% Pinot Noir, 25% Riesling) served as the perfect vehicle alluding to the berry blitz ahead.
First Course: La Quercia proscuitto/macerated strawberries/pistachio/aged balsamic.
Pairing: Dios Baco Amontillado, Jerez, Spain.
I have to say that I was very confident in this pairing knowing how well salty ham works with sherry, especially amontillado. The balsamic lended to the complex secondary notes developed by the layer of flor yeast used in the making of this particular style of sherry. What was most intriguing, for me, was the length of the finish of the amontillado and how it was perfectly integrated with the pistachio. The harmony of the finish with the last bite stuck around all the way up until the next course. Some folks weren't as enamored as me by the pairing but admittedly weren't all that familiar or comfortable with sherry in general. I was very impressed with the diner's efforts and capability to start off a tasting with an amontillado! Cheers to you all!
Second Course: scallop ceviche/ginger/strawberry/sake
Pairing: Kiuchi Brewery, Hitachino Nest "Ginger Brew," Japan
My first instinct for this pairing was definitely beer knowing how well it goes with the classic Peruvian dish. Typically wine & ceviche don't work because of the excess of acidity. Originally I wanted to do a saison, The Lost Abbey "Red Barn Ale" came to mind. Brewed with ginger, grains of paradise and a nice malty backbone I thought this would be perfect, however, I was unable to source the beer before the event. After arriving in D.C. David, the beer director at Lyon Hall, came to me with the suggestion for using the (on-hand) Hitachino Ginger Brew... "YES!" "PERFECT," I exclaimed. I was also familiar with this beer, knowing it had a richer malty note, brewed with plenty of ginger, and would compliment the element of ginger in the dish nicely. Also the Hitachino would allow for some continuity giving nod to the Japanese notes in the dish (i.e. sake). People really dug this pairing, as did I. Earlier in the day I picked up a similar style (as the red barn ale) saison from The Bruery just to give a quick comparison with the course, later confirming that the Hitachino "Ginger Brew" was perfectly serendipitous.
Third Course: roast duck breast/caramelized strawberries/amaretti/black pepper
Pairing: Christine et Joël Ménard 2009 'Les Copines Aussi' Gamay, Anjoy, Loire, France
Talk about a quaffer! Elaborated biodynamically and using native yeasts, this slick & juicy gamay for "The Girlfriends" was a true joy to pour for everyone. It's hand harvested from schisty soil, followed by a 5 day maceration of the grapes, 6 months in tank, then bottled without filtration or sulfites. Despite my spastic ramblings introducing this wine, I think the crowd was with me 100% on this one. I didn't think it was a knockout pairing but the ripeness of the fruit lent well to the richness and subtle sweetness of the nutty amaretti. The drinkability of the wine alone is what I think sells people on this particular bottling (me included), but I won't deny that ripe gamay and duck definitely work.
Fourth Course: housemade goat's cheese with herbs/strawberry-almond salad/lavender honey
Pairing: Domaine Marcel Deiss 2007 Pinot Gris, Bergheim, Alsace, France
One of the world's most charismatic proponents of biodynamics, Jean-Michel Deiss crafted a lavish, spicy and honey laced pinot gris in 2007. Even though Jean-Michel's main focus is the terroir based "premier crus," I think his varietal based wines are still very expressive and in this case work very well with food. This seemed to be the favorite pairing of many. I thought the almond in the dish was a touch overpowering to the wine but ultimately the textures here are really what set it all off. Deiss' wines consistently demonstrate exquisitely polished mouthfeel (except his pinot noir, of course, which is savage). The pasty goat cheese with the crunch of the almond and the tender give of the strawberry allowed for a fun pairing with the viscosity of the pinot gris. I decanted this an hour and a half before the course to make sure it was showing in all it's golden glory.
Fifth Course: strawberry custard napoleon/strawberry-apricot sorbet/oven-roasted strawberries
Pairing: Patrick Bottex 'La Cueille' Gamay, Bugey-Cerdon, Savoie, France
BUGEY! MORE GAMAY! MORE STRAWBERRIES! After introducing the wine to the group I settled back to my plate radiating with intense bright red strawberry color. I poured myself a glass of Bugey and took my first step into a full on ASSAULT of strawberries. I was so engulfed in strawberry flavor that I stepped back into the room to gush out: "I don't know about you guys but this is strawberry OVERLOAD." I seem to recall a few laughs (somehow)... my geekiness can't help but show its face here. The pastry dough of the napoleon was perfect and I thought this worked well with the bubbles. The cru "Cerdon" within Bugey is entirely dedicated to sparkling wine and mostly made in method ancestrale which actually pre-dates method champenoise. In this case the wine is fermented up to about 5% abv then bottled with some of the sugars remaining. After bottling, the secondary fermentation takes place producing the bubbles and results in a delicious low-alcohol (i'd rather say "ripe" than sweet) rosé sparkler. In my opinion, a perfect end to a delicious meal.
CHEERS to Chefs Andy & Rob, Mark, Andrew, Dave, all of the staff at Lyon Hall, and my dear friend Emily for giving me the opportunity to work with you all... it was a BLAST. Most of all, thank you to all of the diners for giving me so much wonderful feedback and creating, what I thought to be, a truly memorable dining experience.
Santé!
.Matty
(and a big shout to JC for never putting that camera down!)
Lyon Hall
1020 N Highland St
Arlington, VA 22201
(703) 741-7636
