Diners in the know keep an eye peeled for any of the special dinners area restaurants periodically offer, highlighting special wines or beers, with off-the-usual-menu dishes that showcase the ingenuity of the chefs. In the next few weeks, there are a bunch of such excellent dining opportunities arising. Here are a few of the coming up soon. Join the cognoscenti, and reserve a spot at one of these.
Tuesday, Aug. 4 at 6:30 p.m. Crescent Hill Craft House, 2636 Frankfort Ave., will feature the beers of Apocalypse Brew Works in a five course dinner. Leah Dienes of Apocalypse will be on hand to talk about the small-batch craft brewery.
The beer focus will be on low-alcohol summer session beers, the logic of which Dienes will discuss between courses such as white grit cake with watercress, Shuckman’s spoonfish caviar and fried quail egg; canary melon salad with house-made mozzarella; and rabbit croquettes over sweet corn risotto. The dinner will cost $50. Call (859) 200-2102 or email leah.zellers@yahoo.com.
Lilly’s Bistro, 1147 Bardstown Road, will host a West 6th beer dinner Wednesday, Aug. 5 at 6:30 p.m. A four course dinner created by Chefs de Cuisine Allen Grimm and Kellye Hendrix and will feature a tasting of a different West 6th beer for each course. Ben Self, owner of West 6th Brewing Company, will be at the dinner to discuss his brewing philosophy. The dinner and beer pairings will be $45. Call (502) 451-0447) or email jeff@lillyslapeche.com.
Winston’s Restaurant, 3101 Bardstown Rd., every year recently has celebrated local tomatoes (of which there is no summer food better. Except maybe for white corn. No, corn has to be cooked.) This year there are two opportunities, Friday, Aug. 14 and Saturday, Aug. 15, to feast on five courses, all of which include tomatoes and other produce from Ambrosia Farm in Finchville, prepared by Winston chef John Castro and his team.
Dishes include “Mrs. Castro’s summer salad with grilled lobster,” a salad he ate as a child made from vegetables in his mother’s garden and a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich without bread. Even dessert will have a tomato inclusion – cornmeal cake with tomato blackberry conserve and whipped cream.
The dinners will begin at 6:30 p.m.; cost is $70. Optional wine pairings are available for an additional $40 per person. For reservations, call 502-456-0980.
